Maybe Someday the Kids Will Get Genesis Right
I saw somebody on the trail in Austin with a big old rat tail yesterday.
Now, these days, I’m cool with the look coming back, but it’s almost always in a pretty ironic, “haha, funny” kind of way.
In the same vein, I’ve been listening to a lot of Genesis lately.
You haven’t lived a proper rock and roll life unless you’ve been screaming down Texas back roads in an ‘80s Grand Prix coupe with the windows down, possibly T-tops open. I can’t remember if it had T-tops or not. I do remember—or at least I hope I remember—that it had a front bench seat, which is just phenomenal.
Anyway, jamming Three Sides Live as loud as you can, with no lights around in the middle of the night, driving through the Texas Hill Country, is so crazy fun I can’t even tell you.
When you think about Duke, Abacab, and then the self-titled Genesis record, there’s some pretty phenomenal work there.
That’s where I think the ironic music lovers and crate diggers of today have gotten it wrong. They’re into the Phil Collins cheese. Although I’ll put “Against All Odds” up against just about anything ever recorded.
But the real stuff is when Phil Collins finally hit his stride in Genesis.
I don’t really have much time for the Peter Gabriel Genesis people. As far as I’m concerned, he got good after he left.
There is some serious shit in that Genesis catalog.
And Then There Were Three… has “Deep in the Motherlode,” which is about as good as a song can get. And if you haven’t heard it, you’ve got to pull out Three Sides Live. It’s the culmination of that whole period.
The self-titled Genesis record with the shapes on the cover started to get a little wonky. Still some good stuff there. I stand by “Illegal Alien.” It’s ridiculous and amazing.
But if you’re plumbing the depths and digging through record bins, I bet those Genesis records are still cheap. You can put one on, start at side one, and just flip it over.
They’re wonderful.
Maybe someday the kids will get it right.