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(More customer reviews)I'm writing this review for people who are actually trying to decide whether to buy the album. No doubt, reading the reviews here is confusing because half the people love it and half the people hate it. Genesis is one of the biggest acts of the rock-pop era...and that's without the solo work of its members, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford (of Mike and the Mechanics) and various more obscure projects. THIS album is the band's biggest POP album success. It's got FIVE top 10 singles and two more songs that charted in the top 40. How many albums can you say that about?? So why do some people hate it? Well, Genesis started as a progressive rock band that focused on long (10 to 20 minute), complicated songs that displayed a huge degree of musicianship. Unlike most prog bands, the vocals were always good. Still, the poetic, complicated lyrics about mythical creatures, etc, do turn off general audiences. When Phil Collins took over on lead vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel (Phil had just been the drummer up to that point), the band stayed prog for a while, but in the 80s, drifted into more melodic, romantic, shorter, and, yes, poppier songs. Some musical snobs pretend that the Gabriel era was all about art and the Collins era was all about selling out. It's just not true. Some of the Gabriel stuff still sounds great, but some of it is hopelessly dated. Gabriel stopped making that kind of music when Genesis did. It ran its course. And make no mistake: EVERY Genesis album, including this one, ALWAYS features great musical playing and some progressive elements (the big prog track here is Domino, a three part song). Not only was Phil a great singer; he was one of the best rock drummers of all time. The title track of this album is a great pop song, but most of the other "pop" songs here have some weird little edge to them or some kind of darkness that make them stand out from other pop songs. Tonight, Tonight is pretty murky for a pop song. The few ballads are about as good as ballads get and deserved their "hit" status. This was actually the first album I bought. I was a radio kid until I heard this album. This was my "gateway album" that steered me from solely radio pop toward more complicated fare. Domino changed my life. I'd never heard a 10 minute song before...with lyrics about melting children, no less! And a whole instrumental track? But the album is so LISTENABLE. It's like a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down--progressive music in a tasty pop frosting. NOTE: If you like this, the NEXT step in Genesis is Duke. That 1980 album had what I consider the best mix of real progressive rock and melodic or pop sensibilities. It's my favorite Genesis album. Best Gabriel album? Selling England By the Pound. Working your way BACKWARDS in Genesis a great way to discover the band for people unfamiliar with progressive rock or technical music. It's a fun band with a diverse catalogue of music. Enjoy!
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