Tracks
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This was the fourth studio album for Genesis, following the release of Nursery Cryme in 1971. It features what is generally considered their strongest progressive rock lineup: Peter Gabriel as the lead vocalist, Steve Hackett on lead guitar, Phil Collins on drums, Mike Rutherford on bass guitar and Tony Banks on keyboards. The album features several strong tracks, but none more interesting, important, or as lengthy as the epic "Supper's Ready".
"Supper's Ready" is a track that is over 22 minutes long, but broken down into seven sections. It deals with a multitude of themes, including religion, war, change. Gabriel has said the song is something of a journey through scenes from the book of Revelation. At times the song is chaos, such as after "All change!" is shouted. At others, it seems perfectly in order, like the ending. Musical themes crop up as well, the opening melody pops up a few times. But this is certainly no simple piece of music; Apocalypse 9/8 is indeed in a 9/8 time signature. Describing the song in a vacuum is impossible, it truly must be experienced. It's something like a musical version of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Lands, a giant mass of literary references that are somewhere on the border of genius and insanity; it's truly in the ear of the beholder.
Beyond this is "Watcher of the Skies", the first of the band's songs to be reworked for release as a single. The album version is the stronger, however, featuring a somewhat melodramatic opening of keyboards into an even stronger bit on drums. This was the band's love opener for some time, and even closed their shows on occasion.
Sharing the second side of the LP with "Supper's Ready" is a very pretty acoustic instrumental from Steve Hackett called "Horizons". Another strong album track is "Get 'em Out By Friday", something of a play within a song. The story took place in what was then the present, the 1970's, and ended in what was the future, 2012. It was a somewhat political story of corporate greed, told through the eyes of three main characters. It also features some great instrumental bits and tonal changes.
It is completely impossible to do this album justice in a simple review. You really need to experience it in order to make your own judgment. The best I can do is set the scene and give you a bit of context. There is a lot of history surrounding this album, both for the band, and for prog rock in general. As a fan, I can tell you that it's worth it for "Supper's Ready" alone, but don't make the mistake of overlooking the rest of the tracks. This is an excellent album all around that any music fan should experience.
"Supper's Ready" is a track that is over 22 minutes long, but broken down into seven sections. It deals with a multitude of themes, including religion, war, change. Gabriel has said the song is something of a journey through scenes from the book of Revelation. At times the song is chaos, such as after "All change!" is shouted. At others, it seems perfectly in order, like the ending. Musical themes crop up as well, the opening melody pops up a few times. But this is certainly no simple piece of music; Apocalypse 9/8 is indeed in a 9/8 time signature. Describing the song in a vacuum is impossible, it truly must be experienced. It's something like a musical version of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Lands, a giant mass of literary references that are somewhere on the border of genius and insanity; it's truly in the ear of the beholder.
Beyond this is "Watcher of the Skies", the first of the band's songs to be reworked for release as a single. The album version is the stronger, however, featuring a somewhat melodramatic opening of keyboards into an even stronger bit on drums. This was the band's love opener for some time, and even closed their shows on occasion.
Sharing the second side of the LP with "Supper's Ready" is a very pretty acoustic instrumental from Steve Hackett called "Horizons". Another strong album track is "Get 'em Out By Friday", something of a play within a song. The story took place in what was then the present, the 1970's, and ended in what was the future, 2012. It was a somewhat political story of corporate greed, told through the eyes of three main characters. It also features some great instrumental bits and tonal changes.
It is completely impossible to do this album justice in a simple review. You really need to experience it in order to make your own judgment. The best I can do is set the scene and give you a bit of context. There is a lot of history surrounding this album, both for the band, and for prog rock in general. As a fan, I can tell you that it's worth it for "Supper's Ready" alone, but don't make the mistake of overlooking the rest of the tracks. This is an excellent album all around that any music fan should experience.