Artist: Genesis
Release Date: October 3, 1983
Side One
Mama
That’s All
Home by the Sea
Second Home by the Sea
Side Two
Illegal Alien
Taking It All Too Hard
Just a Job to Do
Silver Rainbow
It’s Gonna Get Better
All songs written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford
In their long career, the music of Genesis evolved from the theatrical art rock (or prog rock as it is usually called now) of their early 1970s albums to the more commercially successful pop rock of their 1980s work. It is common among certain groups of fans to disparage the group’s later work, even accusing them of selling out because they wrote songs that had a broader appeal. While taste in music is of course subjective, most of the more extreme criticisms of Genesis’s later work are by any remotely objective measure patently false. There is no evidence that the group sold out in the sense of deliberately doing work that they themselves felt had little artistic value but great commercial potential; on the contrary, all indications are that they wrote and recorded music that appealed first and foremost to the group themselves and just happened to appeal to others. What’s more, their 1980s work was not run-of the-mill pop. For the most part, their songs sounded different from most other pop music of the era and had depth that most other music on commercial radio lacked. As far as I am concerned, Genesis’s 1980s albums are just as enjoyable – and artistically worthwhile – as their early ones.
An interesting thing about Genesis is that while I think most of their albums are very good and even the few that don’t particularly appeal to me have their enjoyable aspects, the group doesn’t have any single album that has the brilliance of albums like Queen’s A Night at the Opera, Radiohead's OK Computer, Randy Newman’s Sail Away, Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited or the best three or four Beatles albums. Most of their albums have a lot of strong points and a few weak ones, making for a fairly consistent level of quality that makes it difficult to single out any single album as the best, a task made more difficult by the fairly dramatic difference between their earlier and later material, albeit a difference that evolved gradually. Nevertheless, if I had to pick a favorite, the eponymous 1983 album Genesis (also referred to as "Shapes" because of the cover image or the "Mama" album because of the opening track) would be a strong contender, along with a few of their earlier albums.
Despite progressive elements in a few songs, Genesis was the group’s most pop album yet, but this was not necessarily a bad thing, as it was very good and highly distinctive pop. With only one or two exceptions, the songs were great, and the material was highly varied, which is something I always appreciate in an album. Mike Rutherford’s guitar and bass playing created a solid foundation for the excellent keyboard sounds of Tony Banks. Phil Collins of course was excellent on the drums, even if he didn’t do as much virtuoso playing as on the group’s 1970s albums, and his vocals on this album was among the best he did with the band. While many of the band’s songs were written individually in the 1970s, with Banks and to a slightly lesser extent Rutherford dominating the songwriting (though former members Steve Hackett and especially Peter Gabriel had also written a lot), on Genesis the band wrote all the songs together in the studio, completing an evolution toward group compositions that had been apparent on their previous two albums (the one before Genesis, 1981’s Abacab, had only three individually written songs – one from each member of the group). With the three of them writing the music together (the lyrics were split among the three with each doing several songs) and all contributing more or less equally, the results were rather different from their earlier work, but just as satisfying in its way.
Genesis Song by Song
Mama: The opening track has to be one of the most unusual sounding songs Genesis ever recorded. An odd drum machine rhythm created by Mike Rutherford, strange keyboard sounds from Tony Banks, and powerful but slightly creepy vocals from Phil Collins (including a sinister laugh) combine to make one of the most original songs the group did. The lyrics, written by Collins, are about a young man in love with a prostitute some years older than himself. The song was a big hit in the UK but was too weird to get airplay in the US. While subjectively speaking there are a couple of tracks on the album I enjoy more, this one may be the most creative.
That’s All: A very melodic, slightly Beatlesque song that was Genesis's first top 10 hit in the US, this was as far as I can recall the first Genesis song I heard, and it stood out even in those days when I didn't really listen to music. Banks's keyboards are central to the song, and Rutherford plays some nice acoustic guitar at the end. Phil Collins, who wrote the lyrics, contributes an excellent vocal performance. This is still one of my favorite Genesis songs.
Home by the Sea: This is another favorite of mine. The music, dominated by Banks's keyboards but with Rutherford's guitar forming the backbone, is great, and the lyrics, about a burglar who breaks into a haunted house, much to his regret, are among Banks's best. This song segues into "Second Home by the Sea", and together they form a ten-minute song that is the most "prog" one on the album.
Second Home by the Sea: This is mostly an instrumental with Rutherford's guitar, Collins's drums and especially Banks's keyboard building constantly to a climax at the end in which Collins reprises a verse of "Home by the Sea", bringing the first half of the album to a strong conclusion.
Illegal Alien: This is the album's weakest track. Some people find the lyrics (which I had thought were by Collins, but were attributed by Banks to Rutherford in a contemporary interview I came across the other day) and Collins's fake accent to be condescending and even racist. I don't think this is really the case, as the song is intended to be tongue in cheek and is actually sympathetic to undocumented immigrants. But though it has good music and even a few good lines in the lyrics, it doesn't work very well overall, and despite the band's good intentions, it makes for slightly uncomfortable listening (and viewing, in the case of the video).
Taking It All Too Hard: This is a pleasant but not exceptional ballad in which Rutherford's guitar takes center stage. Both musically and lyrically (Rutherford was also responsible for the lyrics) it is something of a precursor to the band's hit "Throwing It All Away" from their next album.
Just a Job to Do: This is the hardest driving song on the album, and features some powerful guitar and bass by Rutherford and excellent drumming and vocals by Collins, with Banks adding color on top. The lyrics, written by Rutherford, are about an assassin or bounty hunter in pursuit of his prey. All these elements combine to make an excellent album track.
Silver Rainbow: This is probably my favorite song on the second half of the album. It is dominated by Banks's keyboards which create a surreal, slightly psychedelic atmosphere which fit well with the strange imagery in Banks's lyrics, which are actually about how people in the middle of making out can become completely oblivious to the world around them.
It’s Gonna Get Better: This mid-tempo ballad features a good melody and great vocals by Collins. The lyrics are about holding on to hope in difficult situations and so are ultimately optimistic, despite a slightly dark edge. A good if not brilliant track, it brings the album to a satisfying close.
