Phil Collins peaked with this, his first solo album. I'm not sad that the albums that follow exist but none of them even attempt to capture the restrained intensity of this album. It definitely sounds related to the late 70s/early 80s Genesis output than his later, more poppy albums. While it definitely still falls into the Soft Rock category, it's not quite the Limp Rock he'd soon embrace. 

1. Tomorrow Never Knows

First a slow snare, then a pounding bass drum rise out of squeaking whistles. Someone is breaking through a wall of progressive rock. When the vocals hit, they don't sound like lilting Genesis. The timbre is there but there is a sharper enunciation. While still definitely something you could hear on soft rock radio, this jagged Beatles cover sets a menacing but upbeat tone for this, in my opinion, best album to come out of any member of Genesis.

2. In The Air Tonite

Peak Genesis. Peak Collins. Peak drum fill. Peak creepy. I've loved this song since I was in elementary school. I sighed and nodded when it was used in NBA commercials. Overplayed? Oh yea. But with reason. It's the most iconic song he was ever a part of.

3. If Leaving Me Is Easy

This is the smokey pop ballad on every late 70s/early 80s album. It's the drippiest track on what is, otherwise, a pretty restrained album. There is, of course, obligatory 80s sad sax on the intro and outro.

4. I Missed Again

Horns! Big checkered suits! Jilted lover! Near-falsetto! Basic Betty chorus! Catchy lyrics! Only cheesily dancable! This is the upbeat song that this album doesn't actually need. It's great, and it has the sound production vibe that is pretty much exclusive to this one Phil Collins album. It's just so much happier than this mostly monotone album. The sax is as neutral as it can be but it's overpowered by the brightest horns in this discography.

5. Thunder & Lightning

Maybe this album isn't as monotone as I remember? The horns get no less dull on this song that sounds somewhere between early 80s Billy Joel and late 70s Genesis. How come this feels so nice? Phil asks. And, yea, why does it? I never remember this song when I'm thinking of the album but it's definitely catchy, inoffensive album rock. It even has a fairly listenable guitar solo between all the horn breaks and hand claps.

6. The Roof Is Leaking

This is the song I tend to think of when I remember this album. Oh, sure, "In The Air Tonite" is unquestionably both the best and most well-known track, but this spare track with it's weirdly country-esque twang just seems to best embody the album. The lyrics are passionate, and Phil definitely puts the right spin on them but he's not straining or completely rocking out. He soft rocks the piano out of this not quite ballad. It also has crickets as an intro and outro, which is Very 80s version of alternative.

7. Droned

This track really feels like a continuation of "The Roof Is Leaking". The floating piano starts to brighten and increase in volume, while the synths remain in the spooky background. This is a sort of instrumental track. There are wordless chant style vocals. And drums, of course. It's a very percussive track.

8. Hand In Hand

The 80s tried to be very tropical for a while. More organic drum sounds, a wider variety of woodwinds, and a spare ... chiminess to the sounds. This is another instrumental track that gives the impression of a spooky atmospheric piece but then the drums and horns kick in proper, and it starts to morph into an 80s TV theme song. A sitcom about a family of grifters. We also get the return of those non-word chanty vocals. 


9. This Must Be Love

The title gives the impression that we're going back to the weepy sax of "If Leaving Me Is Easy", but nah. We're continuing with the tropical beat, pushing the synth back into the forefront, and Phil's vocals have a restrained, whispery quaver. It really doesn't feel like a love song at all. I really appreciate its incongruence.  This isn't a "Wow, I'm so happy, THIS must be love." It's more a "I thought I had indigestion but it turns out this is as close to happy as I can get right now."

10. I'm Not Moving

We kick the falsetto up higher. And the piano and drums return to 80s Billy Joel level, as Phil sings a much more wishy-washy version of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down". This is as close to New Wave as Collins ever gets. It has vocoded background vocals, which is one of the better uses of vocoded vocals I can think of. 

11. Behind The Lines

This is the only song on the album that I believe sounds more like a B-side. It's definitely from the neighborhood of "I Missed Again". It's not quite as catchy. The brightness seems a bit tarnished, and the lyrics are an instructino manual for introspection. t's weird that this track works as part of any Phil Collins album, but it definitely fits here.

12. You Know What I Mean

The crickets are back! The piano goes from Billy Joel to Meatloaf/Bonnie Raitt territory. Phil's vocals are suddenly 70s singer/songwriter. very broody and more natural than anywhere else on this album. If there was a video for this song, it would take place in the rain. There would be a hole in an umbrella. The camera would be looking down at Phil's upturned face as someone he loved walked away from him. 

13. I Don't Care Anymore

This is technically from Phil's next album, but it Belongs To This One. I love this song with an equal passion as I do for "in The Air Tonite". I love the snarl to the vocals. The strict drums. The teen angst lyrics.  I also love how it threatens to fade out, and then just stops in a nearly acapella fashion. It's a great end to this weird album.

Much of my reimagined discographies center around bands I know inside and out. I've owned every album. I've listened to them at least dozens of time. Years ago, I consolidated them to my favorite tracks.

Some of these, however, are learning experiences for me.

This Genesis discography is a little of each. I'm totally familiar with all of the Genesis albums. I know the post-80s output of Peter Gabriel. I've lived through all of Phil Collins career at a time when I was very impressionable. I've owned the first two Mike + The Mechanics albums. But until this project, I'd never listened to a Steve Hackett solo album. It's just not my thing. Steve Hackett is one of the primary reasons 70s Genesis sounds so prog rocky. And prog rock is something that doesn't hold my heart the way alternative rock,conscious hip-hop, 70s funk, or girl group R&B does. I can respect it. And, sure, in the late 90s, I owned every Rush album that they'd put out, which is at least seven million albums. But I wasn't popping on a Rush album and going for a walk. Same with Steve Hackett's material.

I respect it. I recognize why some tracks are more popular with his fans than others, but his stuff isn't really aimed at me so it doesn't hit me just right.

I debated doing a White Album approach, including tracks from the various solo members to make a more diverse sounding album, but, ultimately that would lead to me skipping around tracks when I listened to it, so I decided to keep things By Artist.

While Peter Gabriel was the first member to leave and have a big solo career, Hackett is the first departure who's post-Genesis material still sounds Very Genesis. I've pieced this together from his first three albums. I was going to use his first five but as soon as Deflector, his fourth album, started playing I said, out loud "Ok, this is when he decided to something new." I'm excited to get to that era of his solo work. But I like what's here. It's Way More Instrumental than almost any reimagined album I've put together/am ever going to put together. He just has more instrumental tracks in his output, and, well...some of the vocals on his non-instrumental tracks are too treacly 70s or wannabe spacey vocoder vibes for my taste.

1. Clocks

The other day, I turned on the toaster and ended up with "No Son Of Mine" being stuck in my head for an hour. Metronomic drums are Monster Earworms. This track is like an even more soundtrackey version of Pink Floyd's "Money". It sounds very 70s in the way that a lot of soundtracks to 80s movies with low budgets sounded very 70s. This isn't a bad thing. But I see cops walking the beat while credits roll to this song. The rolling guitar riff in the middle is where the names of the cameo actors pop up. It is a completely instrumental track.

2.  Ballad Of The Decomposing Man

In an alternate dimension, this is the theme song to a very silly British sitcom that only your coolest friends know about. It's got a mid-era Kinks vibe, a Monty Python vibe, and an out of nowhere, and yet recurring,  Honkey Tonk section. The lyrics are very silly. It's a working class carnival dirge, and 100% my favorite Hackett track that I've heard so far. I would put this on a Greatest Hits of Genesis album as a counterpoint to "I Know What I Like". I fucken love this song, and wish I'd encountered it earlier in my life.

3. Kim

I'm going to put aside my prejudice against this name. This a is a beautiful, haunting instrumental flute and guitar ballad. I love how the strum and the mournful flute play off each other. I also appreciate that it does all it needs to in two minutes and then ends before it wears out its welcome. I do imagine this track plays on loop at a theme park with long ride lines. It's very calming.

4. Hermit

Now we're back to early Kinks or 70s British hippie rock. Bands who listened to The Beatles but falsely viewed them as peers instead of inspiration. There's a sweet orchestral feel to it (again, lots of flute bouncing off  guitars) . This is the outro music to a Lord Of The Rings knockoff from the 70s. Instead of a ring in a volcano, they need to throw a necklace into the sea while hiding from someone who is represented by a giant ear.

5. Hoping Love Will Last

Have you ever wondered what would early Genesis sound like if they had a talented soul/r&b female vocalist? You have? Really? WHY? How high were you? Well, it turns out, it's a good mix. It's definitely montage music for a 70s romance flick with a creepy vibe. Something they showed late in the afternoons on 1980s television stations that weren't affiliated with NBC, CBS, or ABC. Definitely Dialing For Dollars material. But damn does Randy Crawford sing the absolute shit out of this song. 

6. Every Day

If you liked "Dance On A Volcano" by Genesis, here's its natural follow up. It sounds like it would fit right in on the post-Steve Hackett Genesis albums. Its vocals are by Pete Hicks, who I am unfamiliar with, but his harmonies with Hackett have a very Kansas vibe. But with definite Hackett Genesis guitar riffs. This would be in some crunchy coming of age sci-fi movie. Something Last Starfightery.

7. Icarus Ascending

Richie Havens serves as vocalist for the song that most sounds like it could have been played on commercial radio. I mean, the first section. There is a long schwoozy Mellatron infused breakdown in the middle before the vocals kick back in. Any movie with this on the soundtrack would have been written by someone who took the job to maintain their coke habit. It's eclectic and I can't decide whether I like the way it's sort of folky pop r&b, and then it's definitvely prog rock, and then it's some haunted hybrid. I think I do. I do much prefer the first half to the second. That sun is just too damned close.

8.  Hands Of The Priestess (Part 1)

Another instrumental track. This is a flute ballad callback. Very New Age store trying to sell you crystals to soothe your chronic arthritis. It could also pop up in the soundtrack to a movie just after the love interest has died and the emo protagonist is trying to go about their life. There is a fake fade-out where, when it fades back in, it's just peppier enough to give you hope that things are going to be okay. Maybe.

9. Star Of Sirius

Somewhere between Kansas and Genesis is this harmony-vocaled track to close out the album. It feels like the logical musical conclusion to this album, and yet also a bridge to post-Hackett Genesis. It's definitely the scene in an adventure movie where the clouds clear and, whether everything is better or not, the characters are moving on to the next stage in their lives. There's even a na na na na sort of chorus before Hackett reminds us that this is Still A Prog Rock record. 

The 1970s saw the birth of Super Groups. Rock and roll bands filled with legendary members of already famous bands, or successful solo artists, coming together to form commercial rock monsters. Cream, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, Journey. Genesis is a reverse-engineered supergroup. Nobody knew these theatre kid rockers with their flutes and special effect noises, recording their best Beatles riffs underwater and then stuffing a four minute jam solo in the middle of it. They were just a transient band credited with being one of the earliest progressive rock bands, and creating some of the most successful solo artists and side projects of 1980s pop. When their lead singer and, arguably, most interesting songwriter decided to go solo, they replaced him with their third drummer, and not only became More Commercially Successful, but also elevated him until he was one of the most successful artists of the 1980s. 

When I was a college student in Florida, I was asked to audition for a prog rock band that was forming in Gainesville. Not because I had The Best Voice In Florida but because, when they asked me if I knew any prog rock bands, I was the only one who could name someone other than Rush or Dream Theater (but it was really only Yes, Genesis, and Queesryche). I ended up not joining the band because, honestly, I don't like most prog rock. Even much of early Genesis just isn't my thing.

When I was first discovering rock music as a pre-teen, Genesis was the Phil Collins pop rock band. And I loved them. I don't think I knew Peter Gabriel had been a member until I was in high school. Shortly after We Can't Dance hit, they released a couple of live albums. One of them called The Way We Walk 2: The Longs, which included several early songs that I'd been unfamiliar with. So when I went away to high school and started spending too much money on albums, I tracked down as many early Genesis albums as I could find. 

This first album is really an early Best Of Genesis album. Sorry. I've listened to all their albums. Like many prog rock bands, I recognize their talent and complicated sound. But I'm not often longing to listen to eight minute slow build rock symphonies. I just don't get high enough. That's not a dig. I think there is a lot to early Genesis that I haven't been willing to take the time to properly appreciate. But here's what I like of their early work. 

1. I Know What I Like

I love an opening track that climbs from silence. Slap a brief spoken word piece on it before the melody kicks in, and it's going to be the track I choose to open an album. I know what I like / and I like what I know. The vocal melding of Gabriel and Collins is lush here. This was the first song that charted, coming seven years after they dropped their first album. It really makes me think of a charming small-cast play in a black box theater. 

2. Misunderstanding

Their first 80s hit, this is clearly a transition from progressive rock to pop rock. It's gott some background wooooo-oooo-ooohs behing Phil Collins's lead vocals. There's something both very Beach Boys and very early Phil Collins solo work about it. It's catchy but you might feel guilty if anyone saw you singing along to this in your car.

3. Turn It On Again

Sticking with the transition period of Duke is this fun track. I promise there's more Peter Gabriel tracks coming on this album. It's way chronologically out of order. But I love Collins's vocals on this. It just feels close to his work on Face Value, which is my favorite Collins album by a wide stretch. 

4. ABACAB

We reach all the way into 1981 for this somewhat grimier rock. This is more of an evolution of prog rock than the previous tracks. But synthy. Definitely more synthy than early Genesis. But fear not, it's not as synthy as C- New Wave rock. It really works to the band's strength here. It's an organic part of a long jam break.

5. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Ok, now we're going back to the early 70s Gabriel era for the intro track to the one of the greatest Broadway Rock Shows to never actually be performed. I won't get into the plot. But if you're curious, the whole album, for which this is the title track, is solid. I didn't know that when I first heard it. I just enjoyed the progression of several different musical tricks, and the very simple chorus. It's so Clearly a rock musical track. Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy. It's very catchy in a very different ways from the earlier Collins tracks.

6. Follow You Follow Me

Before Collins became the centerpiece of the group, Genesis had a rotating cast of five or six members. And Then There Were Three signalled one of their final evolutions, which was also their most long-tenured and successful. Phil Collins is certainly soft rocky. But this song still has a heavy foot in prog rock instrumentation. This is the closing tack to that album. I think it works better as a bridge between Gabriel Theater Rockers.

7. The Musical Box

This is the earliest, and also longest, track on the album. The opening song on Nursery Cryme, which is the eldest album I bought from them in high school. The harmonies are beautiful. The flutes are oh so happy 1970s. It's a lovely, sleepy lullaby dream sequence. 

8. Firth Or Fifth

Another early Gabriel track. This is very prog rock, and oh so 70s. There are a ton of great instrumental breaks on this, from Banks's opening piano solo to Gabriel's soothing flute to Hackett replaying the flute melody on the guitar. It's gorgeous. In live shows they segue the guitar section into "I Know What I Like" and it's perfect. 

9. Dance On A Volcano

From the first Gabriel-less album, this song is mostly catchy riff and chorus. Collins hasn't yet figured out his Lead Singer vibe, but that's ok. It's kind of fun to have a track that sounds like it's just instrumental track and background vocals. It's also a bit of a preview of Face Value era Phil Collins. I also enjoy how it sort of deflates at the end, which brings us to the melancholic

10. More Fool Me

This is such a sweet, sad little Peter Gabriel number. It's shorter and poppier than most of his era, and sounds nothing like his later solo work. And yet, if it showed up as a slight departure track on any album in any era of his career, you'd sort of nod and go "Ok, I can see that."

11. The Light Dies Down On Broadway

Even though it's not the album that I love the most from their early work, if you were to ask me which early Genesis album held up the best as an album, it's definitely The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. This is a great callback to the earlier, title track from that album.

12. ...In That Quiet Earth

The previous track descends into ambient noise, and this sort of climbs out of it with a drum solo. A proper Phil Collins at the top of his game drum solo. This is the sole instrumental track on the album. Can you have a prog rock album without at least one? This is the one I like the best, and I love how it segues from the previous track to this album's finale.

13. Afterglow

A fitting end to this album, I think. It's the last track of Wind & Wuthering. It's not too far after the departure of Peter Gabriel, and it's the last track with Steve Hackett. It just feels like a closing track. It's got some ethereal "ahhhhhhhhing" to fade out on.