The Watcher Observes From A Distance

Gabriel Bows Out of RRHOF Genesis Induction

To be snubbed or not to be snubbed. This is the conundrum facing the former members of Genesis, as they ponder the band’s upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – assuming their rightful position amongst recent or upcoming inductees/rock ‘n roll legends Abba, Madonna and The Dave Clark Five. Prog fans worldwide have groused over the years, complaining about the obvious lack of a progressive rock presence, as if bands like Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, ELP, etc., had never existed or didn’t really sell all those millions of albums and influence millions of musicians back in the glory days of 1969 through 1975. The Hall of Fame snub wasn’t really surprising, considering the American rock ‘n roll “intelligentsia” (if such a thing is even possible) led by Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner never really got Progressive Rock in the first place – thus, consigning it to illegitimate bastard/stepchild status among musical genres through predominantly negative reviews in his magazine. Until now. As Prog fanatics rejoice, merrily donning capes and prancing around their mellotrons in a fit of celebratory intoxication, there is still one snub yet to be snubbed. Seems former Genesis lead vocalist Peter Gabriel, lead singer – now a portly, white-haired and goateed gent – has decided to skip the induction ceremony, claiming he’s too busy planning his upcoming tour. For those not familiar with the history of Genesis, Gabriel left the band in 1975…a time when many claim the band had reached an artistic peak with their immense concept masterwork The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Gabriel then jumped ship, embarking on a long (and extremely slow-moving) yet highly respected solo career. This forced the band to morph, mutate and eventually become the polar opposite of its earlier quirky, groundbreaking, Gabriel-led incarnation – a slick, MTV-friendly ‘80s hit-making machine. Ironically, Gabriel himself scored a huge hit right around the same time with So…an album that itself contained several chart-topping hits. But along the way, Gabriel seems to have distanced himself from his old band mates. It's as if he’s protecting his artistic “street cred” by disassociating himself with the band he once fronted whilst donning bat wings, old man masks, and red dresses among other dramatic special effects – all to reinforce the unique fractured fairy tales put to classical rock music that Genesis had created in the early-‘70s. Now, nothing pisses of Prog fanatics more than an artist becoming an apologist for his former work…as if admitting, “Yeah, the critics were right and it was all just a bunch of crap back then…” Not that this is necessarily Gabriel’s intent with his Hall of Fame snub. When all is said and done, he was only with the band for about seven of its 20-something years of existence. And let’s face it – the casual fan on the street probably remembers Genesis more for Invisible Touch than for Nursery Cryme anyway. So, come time for the big induction ceremony, band mainstays Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford will most likely be joined by former members/guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett for the big bash. Prog will finally be represented in these hallowed halls, gaining at least some critical respect, albeit a bit late in the game…but respect nonetheless. Yet, the guy who really helped lead Genesis to its historic progressive heights – the singer whom most fans fondly remember as fronting Genesis at its legendary creative peak – is passing on the party. The 800-pound gorilla in the room, conspicuous by his absence. Seems the Watcher would prefer to observe these festivities from the sidelines.

2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and The Stooges. Also being inducted this year as individual recipients of the Ahmet Ertegun Award will be David Geffen and songwriters Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell. The ceremony will take place on March 15, 2010 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Foxtrot

Genesis/1972

Belying its shake-a-leg title, Foxtrot is most definitely not a good soundtrack for dance lessons. With the somber, droning mellotron chords of opening cut “Watcher of the Skies,” it becomes clear that this is more an album to be given a proper, serious listen with clear and open ears. No, you can’t dance to it. But once you become immersed in Foxtrot’s strangely beautiful, bizarre little universe, it won’t really matter. Many bands of the era, if they were lucky, would create the iconic album of their catalog – the one where everything magically comes together after several initial, yet not-quite-perfect stabs at greatness (in this case, the two previous albums Trespass and Nursery Cryme). Foxtrot is such an album for the then-relatively unknown (at least in the U.S.) Genesis. Brimming with musical self-confidence, strong songwriting and an insanely unique and creative musical/lyrical vision, Foxtrot in a way is the coming out party for Genesis…a musical statement that says “Go ahead, just try to ignore us now.” Anchored by the lush keyboard layerings of Tony Banks’ classically derived organ and mellotron phrasings (amazingly, he used no synthesizer on this album and his keyboard work still boggles the mind), these fractured fairy tales with titles like “Can Utility and the Coastliners” and the sidelong, multi-section epic “Supper’s Ready” wrap themselves around your head and take you for one intense, scary ride: Mind-warping time signatures that’ll have you beating your head against the wall trying to figure them out; Steve Hackett’s float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee guitar attacks; Mike Rutherford’s massive, wall-shaking bass pedal notes; Phil Collins’ precision, rat-a-tat-tat stick work advancing things along; all topped off with absurdist, otherworldly lyrics sung by resident mime/madman Peter Gabriel in heavily caked white face makeup (as Gabriel had now begun to perfect his costumes/characterizations used in live performances). There are probably more scholarly discussions pertaining to these lyrics, but for now let’s just say this is stuff one might overhear whilst taking a stroll through your local British insane asylum:

"If you go down to Willow Farm,
to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies
Open your eyes, it's full of surprise, everyone lies,
like the focks on the rocks,
and the musical box.
Oh, there's Mum & Dad, and good and bad,
and everyone's happy to be here."

"There's Winston Churchill dressed in drag,
he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag.
The frog was a prince, the prince was a brick, the brick
was an egg, and the egg was a bird
Hadn't you heard?
Yes, we're happy as fish, and gorgeous as geese,
and wonderfully clean in the morning."

Granted, those are from the wacky “Willow Farm” section of the “Supper’s Ready” song suite – the aforementioned epic that takes the listener on what could only be described as a guided tour through a biblical apocalypse, as seen through the eyes of an absurdist clown (who, BTW, morphs into the Savior upon the album-ending climax). Again, it’s all pretty heavy and makes more sense when listening, cross-legged on the floor, headphones cranked up, with album sleeve opened wide in your lap to read along with the lyrics. Genesis had certainly arrived with Foxtrot, and there was no turning back now. Subsequent albums would merely cement the band’s rightful place in the pantheon of the era’s prog giants. Personnel changes (the bane of many a prog band) would ultimately change the look and the sound of Genesis. And, if in 1972 you were to predict that the progressive juggernaut responsible for a masterpiece like Foxtrot would evolve into a slick, hit-making pop music machine of the 1980s…why, you’d have been considered just as mad as some of the characters in these songs.

Essential Tracks: “Watcher of the Skies” “Get ‘Em Out by Friday” “Can Utility and the Coastliners” “Supper’s Ready”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_Alpu4hFM

Voyage Of The Acolyte

Steve Hackett/1975

It’s commonly referred to as “an embarrassment of riches.” In the case of Genesis, it was an overabundance of talent. Not only were these guys great players, but also great songwriters/composers. Problem was, there's only so much space on an album. So somebody's material had to be sacrificed. This great wealth fueled the five albums leading up to their magnum opus in 1974, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, before the wheels abruptly came off. Lead singer Peter Gabriel quit immediately after The Lamb tour for an ultimately successful (but maddeningly slow) solo career. Genesis was now left to wander in the wilderness sans that one crucial element: a lead singer. Having lost their eccentric, much-talked-about vocalist and media focus (Gabriel was getting all the buzz, the guy on stage wearing bizarre costumes and scary masks, acting out the characters in the songs, etc.) some fans felt the band had lost its soul. If not its soul, then at least its bat-winged figurehead. So it was, during this tumultuous downtime when people were unsure if Genesis would even continue to exist, that guitarist Steve Hackett decided to take a break from the madness and record a solo album – using all the music floating around in his head that would probably not make it onto a Genesis album, especially with material from keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist Mike Rutherford crowding him out. Thus, Voyage of the Acolyte was released and – in the absence of a proper Genesis album – was looked upon as a legitimate Genesis album in its own right. And why not? Reinforcing this perception was the fact that both Rutherford and Genesis drummer/vocalist Phil Collins contributed mightily to Acolyte. Not surprisingly, the album sounded very much like a Genesis album…minus Gabriel, of course. The familiar lush mellotrons were present and accounted for, wafting across moody-scary-symphonic landscapes like “Hands of the Priestess” and “Shadow of the Hierophant,” both tracks resembling long-lost instrumental sections from some alternate-universe Genesis epic. Add to that Collins’ familiar voice on "Star of Sirius" (having sung harmonies and the occasional lead vocal on previous Genesis albums) plus his drum playing throughout the album, and things are sounding more and more like Genesis all the time. Add one final and recognizable Genesis ingredient – Hackett’s wailing, sighing, bobbing and weaving guitar lines – and who needs Genesis when you’ve got all this? What keeps Acolyte from actually becoming a Genesis album clone (aside from the fact that Banks didn’t participate) is a pervading atmosphere of longing, melancholy and menace. Whereas a Genesis album would lean a bit toward the ominously quaint and quirky, this one is more ominously solemn and spooky. When not sounding like the mournful music one might hear at a church memorial service for a lost friend, it pummels you with martial riffs like an aural army of darkness marching through your living room. Genesis, as it turned out, would survive just fine and reach even greater success (with Collins eventually taking on the front-man/lead vocalist role) than ever attained in the Gabriel/Hackett years. And Hackett, after thoroughly enjoying his first taste of a musical dictatorship (where he, most importantly, was the dictator) would stay with Genesis for only two more albums before embarking on his own full-time solo career, thus eliminating any limitations on his contributions to an album. In a sense, it was this “phantom” Genesis album that inspired another crucial loss for the real Genesis – and a fateful new voyage for Hackett.

Essential Tracks: “Ace of Wands” “Hands of the Priestess/A Tower Struck Down” “Shadow of the Hierophant”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_9085G-hM&feature=related