Thank you for your personal views on this album. In my opinion, a relatively common misconception is that the band's shift from rather prog to rather mainstream/pop is largely credited to Phil Collins. Songs like "Takin' It All Too Hard" on this album as well as "In Too Deep" or "Hold On My Heart" are mistakenly mentioned as more potential Collins solo songs. However, all three were primarily written by Tony Banks, who has always been a huge Beach Boys fan. Despite his public image as "Prog-God", his goal has therefore always been to write catchy pop songs. And anyone who has listened to Mike + Mechanics' output knows that it contains even less prog elements than Phil Collins' solo stuff. In terms of songwriting, Banks had the largest share and Collins the smallest. However, Collins was the one who accelerated the fairly original, mainly Banks/Rutherford compositions to success through his presence, particularly as a singer and frontman.
It's a pop masterpiece! I love it. For all of the Genesis cork-sniffers that poo=poo this album, I'd just ask them to listen again. I prefer Gabriel-era Genesis, but this stuff is great in a different way.
The First time hearing the record was when I was a Little Kid and my Dad was showing me his Record Collection. I sat there and my Dad wanted to make a Cartoon for "Just A Job To Do" and he showed me the cover and played me the record. This record became more nostalgic for me and the music is great! I love how it swells up and down. Yet, it's not as cohesive as the newer records but it's a groovy dark album!
When this record first came out and I saw the cover, I legit thought this must be some other band named Genesis. It didn't look like it would be part of the band's discography. But then early on I thought the same about the 1973 Genesis Live album.
For years I thought the shapes on the Genesis album cover were pieces from the children's game Perfection. It was actually Shape-O-Toy from Tupperware. Makes sense, as you can't see any stems on the pieces on the album cover (the stems on the Perfection pieces were obviously made to easily grip them). Perfection was a timed game and Shape-O-Toy wasn't since it was more or less round ball with shapes to put the pieces in. Anyways, this was my second exposure to Genesis after ABACAB, which my parents bought back in the 1980s. As a pre-teen at the time, I thought of Genesis as an '80s band completely unaware they released their debut album in 1969 (and debut single in 1968). I do remember hearing radio stations playing the title track to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway which was my only exposure to Gabriel-era Genesis as my parents only owned ABACAB and the s/t 1983 Genesis album.
I like this album . For a long time it was my favorite of that Era. Saw the tour. It was good. But it was a time when they stopped doing some of the older stuff I love. But, it's a strong album!
I am a huge Genesis fan from all the eras and I think this is a solid album and I saw them on this tour as well, it was a fantastic show and 3 of my favorite songs are “Silver Rainbow, “Just a Job To Do” and “It’s Gonna Get Better”. It’s an 8.5 out of 10 for me.
Wow guys, thanks for bringing this one back into my ethos. I consider myself an out of the norm Genesis fan in that I just cannot get into the Peter Gabriel era, though as a solo artist he is absolutely 1 of my favorites and for me, its a toss up between this album and Abacab as my favorite Genesis album. Haven't heard this in quite awhile, was really good revisiting it.
as a teenage Genesis fan, I was hooked on the Peter Gabriel era. I got to be an insufferable snob against Phil Collins for A) not being Peter, and B) pushing my favorite rock drummer of all time away from the kit. I've slowly grown up and my tastes have matured a little, and I can now appreciate what Phil brought to the table. but alas, I was able to find some great music on Abacab but not so much Genesis. it's a very not bad album. I'm still an obsessive Gabriel-era fan, so I may need more time for this one to resonate with me.
For me, the only two albums worse than this one are We Can’t Dance and Calling All Nations. I prefer the folksy psychedelia of From Genesis To Revelation. I just think it’s boring. The most interesting/exciting thing about it is the opening percussion of Mama, but it’s all downhill from there. For perspective, I quite enjoy “Abacab,” even more than “Duke.” For the record, I think Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is one of the best 3-album runs in rock and roll history.
I wasn't into this album when it came out because of Mama. The "Ha Ha, ohhhhh" part along with the keyboards made this ridiculous to me at the time. I've since gotten to relisten to it and it's a great album! Mama is a gem of a track and I love it even if I still cringe a little the fifth or sixth time he says "Ha Ha, ohhhhh"! On a side note, is there a reason the theme song for the contrarians is so much louder than the videos? It can be a bit too much for second hand sound when someone else is nearby. I get asked why I'm listening to videos so loud when I forget to turn it down for the theme music.
A lot of the songs are the natural progression of the original band. I hear hints of Wind and Wuthering, and Then There Were Three and Duke. But I also hear the new era band emerging. This is the cutoff point for me. 9/10 because it's GENESIS!
From this album onward the Genesis Turn it on Again The Hits album is all I need, even though it of course leaves off the most prog sounding songs from that era, except for Mama. This album isn't bad though. It still has the Genesis sound from Duke and Abacab. I'd give it a 7/10.
Nothing Darkhorse About This Album. It was a massive hit, with multiple hit songs. The only people who don't like this album are obnoxious Gabriel SNOBS.. I love every track here, love the variety of songs. This album and Duke are tied for top Genesis albums.
I'm with Martin on this one. Its towards the bottom of the Genesis discography. Only "We Can't Dance" and "Calling all Stations" are less intellectually stimulating. Unlike Martin, I actually prefer "Genesis to Revelation" to this outing as its more outré. This is a clean MOR album of its time that ticks all the pop boxes.
I think out of all the Genesis albums, this one always seems to get the most mixed reviews. It definitely has it’s shining moments but “ Illegal Alien “ constantly receives more grief than any of the others. I can understand that but I always thought Second Home by the Sea was the strongest track along with the ominous “ Mama. “ I’m typically more into the vintage Genesis from the 70s. So for me, this self titled album is more of a guilty pleasure piece.
I like the Genesis "pop" years, but I can't handle "Illegal Alien." I've tried. I even like "Whodunnit" from Abacab, but I cannot get there with "Illegal Alien."
For me, anything past Duke is almost unlistenable, mostly due to the 80's production tropes. I can't hear Simmons drums without thinking about Paula Abdul or Ghostbusters. My favourite band, up to 78.
The first side's terrific and a sop to the Genesis Prog fans. As was the post Duke era was prone to be - the pop was balanced with the Prog. So we get a whole side of poppy songs on the second side. Such a shame to have the embarrassing Illegal Alien as the first track on side two (er, it's not a very good song at all IMHO and it is disrespectful whatever anyone says. The faux character fills out his immigration forms in pencil for goodness sake. The video is even worse in terms of naffness and stereotypes). The remaining tracks are much better and I'm sure they could have provided a better first track or used the extended It's Gonna Get Better or included That's All and left it off the first side. 6 out of 10 for me. God I wish I had been their manager!
Saw this tour at the Richfield coliseum (Cleveland). But was also the start of me losing interest in the band. Some good stuff, but That's All, Illegal Alien and maybe Taking it All to Hard were tracks I didn't care for, played too much on the radio which meant over never wanted to play/own this album.
I hate Mama and find Illegal Alien kind of annoying and kind of catchy but I like the rest of the album. More laid back than Abacab but not as adventurous. I love the song That’s All.
When it came out, I thoroughly enjoyed it, save for " Illegal Alien "(was, is, and forever will be utter crap) Now, still mostly enjoy it, but, I find " Taking It All Too Hard " a tedious ballad, and " That's All " an irritating earworm. Best song on the album is both parts of " Home By The Sea ", " Mama " and " Just A Job To Do " a millimeter behind. " It's Gonna Get Better " and " Silver Rainbow " are still great songs Better than Abacab, not as good as Duke(or the rest of the 70s stuff). Their last very good album, the stuff afterwards was utter crap, save a few songs
I think I'd just be there saying "Ach...I liked That's All...but that's all" . My big issue is that a lot of the self titled is just..fine. It's OK. That'll do. Not bad. And to me ambivalence and safety are not goals I like my music to score. This is the start of the decline - InvisibleTouch was the nadir. When "Phil's making a fortune in the middle of the road...let's do more there" became mantra. I Can't Dancet has a couple of good tracks that may not be great Genesis but are solid music anyway.
I hate almost every aspect of this album; even ABACAB got some better songs on it, and some worse, of course. I hate "Mama" (it's all grando, not substantiell). Same goes for "Home by the sea" compared with the Gabriel-years. It's all basic chords pretending to be as great as their seventies work, but it is just a poor shadow of that once achieved greatness. "Illegal Alien" is almost as much rubbish as "Who Dunnit", I absolutely hate it. The only thing I can stand is "It's gonna get better". But in case of Genesis, it never was getting better again. I blame Rutherford and Banks for giving all the direction of the band to Collins in order to mirror his success. I started to give up completly on them from there.
When you say Just A Job To Do is a good “hard-rocker” you’ve lost all Hard Rock credibility. I mean, turn in yer man card, right? Unless you stipulated that it’s a good hard-rocker for a Genesis song, then I could let it slide. 5.5/10
Genesis overall wud b considerably more. Hard Rock than bands like the doors, the who and the sex pistols which some idiots classify as 'heavy', in fact Phil Collins solo wos in the heavy metal charts in the early 80s with in the air tonight
The song Mars has been covered by many metal bands, most notoriously Am I Evil by Diamond Head, which Metallica would cover later. Also Triumph and Super Mario 3.
Thank you for your personal views on this album. In my opinion, a relatively common misconception is that the band's shift from rather prog to rather mainstream/pop is largely credited to Phil Collins. Songs like "Takin' It All Too Hard" on this album as well as "In Too Deep" or "Hold On My Heart" are mistakenly mentioned as more potential Collins solo songs. However, all three were primarily written by Tony Banks, who has always been a huge Beach Boys fan. Despite his public image as "Prog-God", his goal has therefore always been to write catchy pop songs. And anyone who has listened to Mike + Mechanics' output knows that it contains even less prog elements than Phil Collins' solo stuff.
In terms of songwriting, Banks had the largest share and Collins the smallest. However, Collins was the one who accelerated the fairly original, mainly Banks/Rutherford compositions to success through his presence, particularly as a singer and frontman.
One of my favorite Genesis albums, this got me into the band. Love all their eras, the 1983 self titled I'd give 10/10.
YES!!! (Grant)
It's a pop masterpiece! I love it. For all of the Genesis cork-sniffers that poo=poo this album, I'd just ask them to listen again. I prefer Gabriel-era Genesis, but this stuff is great in a different way.
This is actually my favorite Genesis album
Great panel. Great episode.
Thanks Scot! (Grant)
The First time hearing the record was when I was a Little Kid and my Dad was showing me his Record Collection. I sat there and my Dad wanted to make a Cartoon for "Just A Job To Do" and he showed me the cover and played me the record. This record became more nostalgic for me and the music is great! I love how it swells up and down. Yet, it's not as cohesive as the newer records but it's a groovy dark album!
When this record first came out and I saw the cover, I legit thought this must be some other band named Genesis. It didn't look like it would be part of the band's discography. But then early on I thought the same about the 1973 Genesis Live album.
I am quite a fan of Tony Banks's The Fugitive, he was a very able pop songwriter at one time imo
For years I thought the shapes on the Genesis album cover were pieces from the children's game Perfection. It was actually Shape-O-Toy from Tupperware. Makes sense, as you can't see any stems on the pieces on the album cover (the stems on the Perfection pieces were obviously made to easily grip them). Perfection was a timed game and Shape-O-Toy wasn't since it was more or less round ball with shapes to put the pieces in.
Anyways, this was my second exposure to Genesis after ABACAB, which my parents bought back in the 1980s. As a pre-teen at the time, I thought of Genesis as an '80s band completely unaware they released their debut album in 1969 (and debut single in 1968). I do remember hearing radio stations playing the title track to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway which was my only exposure to Gabriel-era Genesis as my parents only owned ABACAB and the s/t 1983 Genesis album.
makes sense to me!!
I like this album . For a long time it was my favorite of that Era. Saw the tour. It was good. But it was a time when they stopped doing some of the older stuff I love. But, it's a strong album!
The run from Duke to Invisible Touch was stellar pop music with an edge.
I am a huge Genesis fan from all the eras and I think this is a solid album and I saw them on this tour as well, it was a fantastic show and 3 of my favorite songs are “Silver Rainbow, “Just a Job To Do” and “It’s Gonna Get Better”. It’s an 8.5 out of 10 for me.
Wow guys, thanks for bringing this one back into my ethos. I consider myself an out of the norm Genesis fan in that I just cannot get into the Peter Gabriel era, though as a solo artist he is absolutely 1 of my favorites and for me, its a toss up between this album and Abacab as my favorite Genesis album. Haven't heard this in quite awhile, was really good revisiting it.
I give this one an edgy 8.75.
Nice!
Not their most criticized album, but it still fits the criteria for this show. I love the album, personally.
Rating out of ten? (Grant)
I came into Genesis on this Album. And I think it’s great. For me 8/10
as a teenage Genesis fan, I was hooked on the Peter Gabriel era. I got to be an insufferable snob against Phil Collins for A) not being Peter, and B) pushing my favorite rock drummer of all time away from the kit. I've slowly grown up and my tastes have matured a little, and I can now appreciate what Phil brought to the table. but alas, I was able to find some great music on Abacab but not so much Genesis. it's a very not bad album. I'm still an obsessive Gabriel-era fan, so I may need more time for this one to resonate with me.
For me, the only two albums worse than this one are We Can’t Dance and Calling All Nations. I prefer the folksy psychedelia of From Genesis To Revelation. I just think it’s boring. The most interesting/exciting thing about it is the opening percussion of Mama, but it’s all downhill from there.
For perspective, I quite enjoy “Abacab,” even more than “Duke.”
For the record, I think Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is one of the best 3-album runs in rock and roll history.
I wasn't into this album when it came out because of Mama. The "Ha Ha, ohhhhh" part along with the keyboards made this ridiculous to me at the time. I've since gotten to relisten to it and it's a great album! Mama is a gem of a track and I love it even if I still cringe a little the fifth or sixth time he says "Ha Ha, ohhhhh"! On a side note, is there a reason the theme song for the contrarians is so much louder than the videos? It can be a bit too much for second hand sound when someone else is nearby. I get asked why I'm listening to videos so loud when I forget to turn it down for the theme music.
Have soft spot for this album… not better than Abacab, but more “Genesis” to me than Invisible Touch.
A lot of the songs are the natural progression of the original band. I hear hints of Wind and Wuthering, and Then There Were Three and Duke. But I also hear the new era band emerging. This is the cutoff point for me. 9/10 because it's GENESIS!
From this album onward the Genesis Turn it on Again The Hits album is all I need, even though it of course leaves off the most prog sounding songs from that era, except for Mama. This album isn't bad though. It still has the Genesis sound from Duke and Abacab. I'd give it a 7/10.
a 7/10 isn't bad! Thank you (Grant)
Nothing Darkhorse About This Album.
It was a massive hit, with multiple hit songs. The only people who don't like this album are obnoxious Gabriel SNOBS..
I love every track here, love the variety of songs.
This album and Duke are tied for top Genesis albums.
Enjoyable album.....Mama, quite a dark song, but great.
I'm with Martin on this one. Its towards the bottom of the Genesis discography. Only "We Can't Dance" and "Calling all Stations" are less intellectually stimulating. Unlike Martin, I actually prefer "Genesis to Revelation" to this outing as its more outré. This is a clean MOR album of its time that ticks all the pop boxes.
A video document on the making of this album here >> ua-cam.com/video/ClX42OjmbuE/v-deo.html
Thanks for sharing! (Grant)
This is the first album I discovered Genesis with, because of MTV, so I do not consider it a dark horse album
this is my favorite Genesis album bar none! (Grant)
I think out of all the Genesis albums, this one always seems to get the most mixed reviews. It definitely has it’s shining moments but “ Illegal Alien “ constantly receives more grief than any of the others. I can understand that but I always thought Second Home by the Sea was the strongest track along with the ominous “ Mama. “ I’m typically more into the vintage Genesis from the 70s. So for me, this self titled album is more of a guilty pleasure piece.
Hi Steve, a guilty pleasure? It deserves more than that! hahaha (Grant)
@thecontrarians2438
😆 honestly, I grew into Genesis through this album so I should definitely give it more props. It's special in its own way.
To Tate: Trespass is my favorite Genesis album too. Second: Abacab.
What would you rate this album out of ten?
Genesis - Genesis? 7 out of 10
I call it the yellow album
I like the Genesis "pop" years, but I can't handle "Illegal Alien." I've tried. I even like "Whodunnit" from Abacab, but I cannot get there with "Illegal Alien."
Even the pop years are more heavy metal than bands like the who
This isnt a great Genesis album. Its not bad though for an 80s rock album. Most of it is pretty good.
Byron, Byron, Byron...
For me, anything past Duke is almost unlistenable, mostly due to the 80's production tropes. I can't hear Simmons drums without thinking about Paula Abdul or Ghostbusters. My favourite band, up to 78.
So this album doesn't leave a minty fresh taste in your mouth..lol (Grant)
How about Tusk as the best Fleetwood Mac album for a show?
For a Dark Horse episode? (Grant)
@@thecontrarians2438 brain fart, yes, that's what I meant. Not sure how dark it is, but compared to the previous two might fit.
The first side's terrific and a sop to the Genesis Prog fans. As was the post Duke era was prone to be - the pop was balanced with the Prog. So we get a whole side of poppy songs on the second side. Such a shame to have the embarrassing Illegal Alien as the first track on side two (er, it's not a very good song at all IMHO and it is disrespectful whatever anyone says. The faux character fills out his immigration forms in pencil for goodness sake. The video is even worse in terms of naffness and stereotypes). The remaining tracks are much better and I'm sure they could have provided a better first track or used the extended It's Gonna Get Better or included That's All and left it off the first side. 6 out of 10 for me. God I wish I had been their manager!
Great comment! Love it! (Grant)
Saw this tour at the Richfield coliseum (Cleveland). But was also the start of me losing interest in the band. Some good stuff, but That's All, Illegal Alien and maybe Taking it All to Hard were tracks I didn't care for, played too much on the radio which meant over never wanted to play/own this album.
I hate Mama and find Illegal Alien kind of annoying and kind of catchy but I like the rest of the album. More laid back than Abacab but not as adventurous. I love the song That’s All.
When it came out, I thoroughly enjoyed it, save for " Illegal Alien "(was, is, and forever will be utter crap) Now, still mostly enjoy it, but, I find " Taking It All Too Hard " a tedious ballad, and " That's All " an irritating earworm. Best song on the album is both parts of " Home By The Sea ", " Mama " and " Just A Job To Do " a millimeter behind. " It's Gonna Get Better " and " Silver Rainbow " are still great songs
Better than Abacab, not as good as Duke(or the rest of the 70s stuff). Their last very good album, the stuff afterwards was utter crap, save a few songs
I think I'd just be there saying "Ach...I liked That's All...but that's all" . My big issue is that a lot of the self titled is just..fine. It's OK. That'll do. Not bad. And to me ambivalence and safety are not goals I like my music to score.
This is the start of the decline - InvisibleTouch was the nadir. When "Phil's making a fortune in the middle of the road...let's do more there" became mantra. I Can't Dancet has a couple of good tracks that may not be great Genesis but are solid music anyway.
Well...I still love it :-) (Grant)
Hame by the see
I hate almost every aspect of this album; even ABACAB got some better songs on it, and some worse, of course. I hate "Mama" (it's all grando, not substantiell). Same goes for "Home by the sea" compared with the Gabriel-years. It's all basic chords pretending to be as great as their seventies work, but it is just a poor shadow of that once achieved greatness. "Illegal Alien" is almost as much rubbish as "Who Dunnit", I absolutely hate it. The only thing I can stand is "It's gonna get better". But in case of Genesis, it never was getting better again. I blame Rutherford and Banks for giving all the direction of the band to Collins in order to mirror his success. I started to give up completly on them from there.
What would you rate it out of ten? (Grant)
When you say Just A Job To Do is a good “hard-rocker” you’ve lost all Hard Rock credibility. I mean, turn in yer man card, right? Unless you stipulated that it’s a good hard-rocker for a Genesis song, then I could let it slide. 5.5/10
Genesis overall wud b considerably more. Hard Rock than bands like the doors, the who and the sex pistols which some idiots classify as 'heavy', in fact Phil Collins solo wos in the heavy metal charts in the early 80s with in the air tonight
The song Mars has been covered by many metal bands, most notoriously Am I Evil by Diamond Head, which Metallica would cover later. Also Triumph and Super Mario 3.