Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Genesis
Label: Virgin Records
Release: 1976
Rating: 4.5/5
“Wind & Wuthering” is the last true classic album the band ever made. Its overall ambience, as the cover also hints, is mysterious, autumnally romantic and countryside-idyllic. Put the music on and you can picture falling leaves, a crackling fireplace and a view over the snowy British countryside while evening fantasy tales are told and you sip hot tea. The album’s title comes from Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights”, which also inspired the last three tracks on the record.
With the previous album, “A Trick Of the Tail” (1976), the band proved it could successfully bridge the gap left by the departure of charismatic singer Peter Gabriel and carry on while keeping its classic sound, complex compositions and symphonic arrangements. This record confirmed it and showed the critics these are musicians for whom no hurdle is too high. Both the music and the lyrics still carry a good dose of the mysticism and surreal storytelling the band was known for in the Gabriel era. Collins too, even though in places he still sounds a lot like Gabriel, was increasingly establishing himself as a singer in his own right (a lovely example is the ballad “Your Own Special Way”) and stepping out of his shadow. On the other hand, sadly, it’s the last record on which Tony Banks uses the mellotron and, even more importantly, the last one by the brilliant, romantic guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett, who then left the band to focus on his solo career. Hackett’s frustration with the band had been growing ever since Gabriel left, as he craved more and more creative freedom, and after his first solo album “Voyage Of the Acolyte” (1975) he devoted himself more and more to his own work. Still, before leaving he created some of his best compositions on this, his “farewell” album.
The opening, highly symphonic epic “Eleventh Earl Of Mar” brings back the Victorian romanticism so typical of the band and, somewhat in the vein of “The Musical Box” (Nursery Cryme, 1971), tells the story of an old baron and his son (it’s about a real historical figure, John Erskine, 11th Earl of Mar, an 18th-century Jacobite leader). The majestic keyboard sounds, especially Banks’ mellotron and organs, and Collins’ wildly inventive drum fills in the opening section are truly magnificent. The whole epic has incredibly fluid transitions between its harmonies. A seriously fine track that’s without a doubt among the band’s many classics.
“One For the Vine” is one of the best epics the band ever did, perfectly capturing the autumn idyll, the time when nature goes into “winter sleep”, and images of the English countryside on autumn nights, even though the lyrics are about political manipulation and abuse of power. The track is full of gorgeous arrangements with Collins’ superb vocals out front. It opens with a quiet, melancholic intro that gives way to a brilliant, highly melodic chorus with Collins singing remarkably high (for him, anyway). The middle section turns cataclysmic, ruled by Collins’ varied percussion and the interplay between Banks’ keyboards and Hackett’s guitar riffs. It’s a brilliant example of how the band managed to combine high complexity with a refined touch and wrap it in highly melodic colors with a seriously catchy, classic chorus.
The only weaker moment on the album, especially for fans of classic Genesis and progressive rock in general, is the ballad “Your Own Special Way”, written by bassist Rutherford, which already hints at what was coming, when the band would gradually steer toward AOR and pop waters. Even though it has more in common with classic rock and pop than with prog, it’s a perfectly solid, romantic composition that gave them their first hit in the US and a high chart placing around the world. It’s built on a highly melodic chorus with Collins’ heartfelt vocals, a simple rhythm and Hackett’s acoustic guitar accompaniment, which includes one of his most striking riffs on the album. In many ways a turning point for the band, and after this album more tracks of this kind started to creep in.
The excellent instrumental “Wot Gorilla?” is a completely different beast, and despite its silly name it’s one of the most complex and interesting pieces on the album. It’s marked above all by Banks’ mellotron, Collins’ jazzy drum transitions (in the best style of his jazz fusion project Brand X at the time) and especially Hackett’s wonderful guitar work.
“All In A Mouse’s Night” is an epic piece full of highs and lows between its instrumental passages. Once again the mellotron opens the track and spreads a wide orchestral curtain, and the other instruments soon join in. The lyrics are pretty bizarre and surreal, though in a somewhat different way from the sarcastic Gabriel. Picture a brood of mice partying in their hideout at night while the cat is out, until the cat comes home and gobbles them up. Collins’ narration about the giant mouse in particular sounds rather grotesque. But anyone who doesn’t care much for the bizarre lyrics will be blown away by the pastoral, Celtic instrumental passage in the second half of the track, where all the highly symphonic elements are laid over a jazzy rhythm line and all the band’s main strengths can be heard.
One of the best moments on the record is “Blood On the Rooftops”, which belongs among the band’s classic compositions and, in their finest tradition, is loaded with drama. Hackett’s melodic acoustic guitar opens the first part of the track. Banks’ synthesizer and mellotron soon join in, along with Collins’ mysterious vocals. Another brilliant piece from the band, full of Celtic pastoral feel with a majestic, epic chorus.
The remaining three tracks are linked together and effectively form a conceptual trilogy based on the aforementioned Emily Bronte novel.
“Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers…” is a brilliant short instrumental built on Banks’ cataclysmic mellotron and other keyboards, plus Hackett’s fast-fingered wizardry. The drama is incredible, and a transition into…
“…In That Quiet Earth” soon follows, shaking with Collins’ many excellent jazzy drum fills and monumental, this time almost “Floyd-like” keyboards from Banks, plus Hackett’s excellent soloing in the final section (ironically, on this, his last studio album with the band, Hackett showed some of his best work). It’s definitely one of the band’s most jazzy pieces.
“Afterglow” is the best possible epic closer for the record, a perfect triumph that in a way also symbolizes the end of an era (Hackett’s imminent departure, the band’s gradual move toward shorter and less complex songs) and the farewell of “classic” Genesis. The majestic symphonic curtains of mellotron, a wonderful instrument Banks never used again after this album, make up one of the most emotional moments in any Genesis track.. The song became a popular closer to the main part of the band’s concerts at the time and is certainly one of the band’s finest epic endings.
After this superb record and Hackett’s departure, the band lost another big chunk of its magic and romanticism, and nothing was quite the same again, even though the group carried on with its mission and, even in its “weakened” lineup, made plenty of good records, which had less and less to do with progressive rock. This record is once again close to perfection, with the possible exception of Rutherford’s slightly sugary but commercially very successful ballad “Your Own Special Way”, which was already a herald of the band’s musical future. It was hard to follow up a masterpiece like “A Trick Of the Tail” (1976), but the same could be said of every previous classic album by the band going back to “Trespass” (1970). Like most of the great classic prog rock bands that put the genre on its feet, Genesis too turned toward more commercial waters at the end of the 70s, with the arrival of punk and, a bit later, new wave, partly to secure their musical survival and partly out of a wish for bigger commercial success. “Wind & Wuthering” is thus their last progressive, classic masterpiece, marking the end of their most creative period, when the band, together with the other giants of its genre, was exploring the limits of rock music.
Lineup
Phil Collins – lead vocals, drums, percussion
Steve Hackett – electric guitar, classical nylon-string guitar, 12-string guitar, kalimba, autoharp
Mike Rutherford – 4-, 6- and 8-string bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, electric guitar
Tony Banks – piano, ARP 2600 and Pro-Soloist synthesizer, Roland String synthesizer, Hammond organ, mellotron
Production
David Hentschel and Genesis
Track list
1. Eleventh Earl Of Mar (7:41)
2. One For The Vine (10:00)
3. Your Own Special Way (6:18)
4. Wot Gorilla? (3:19)
5. All In A Mouse’s Night (6:37)
6. Blood On The Rooftops (5:27)
7. Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers… (2:23)
8. …In That Quiet Earth (4:49)
9. Afterglow (4:12)
Running time: 50:46
