Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Genesis
Label: Edsel Records
Release: 1969
Rating: 3/5
Genesis’ first record had little to do with the progressive rock that later became the band’s trademark. On it, the band played pop songs under the influence of the then-“hot” Bee Gees, plus psychedelic-symphonic rock in the style of early The Moody Blues. The latter influence ended up winning out, and the band then changed its style completely. Still, to this day plenty of Genesis fans can’t come to terms with the fact that one of the most innovative prog bands of the 70s started out as a fairly simple but solid symphonic-psychedelic pop band.
The band, mostly at the urging of then-producer Jonathan King, who undoubtedly had a huge say in how the young group operated at the time, was trying hard to record its first radio hit. That’s exactly why we also need to know about some of the other factors that shaped their music in the band’s early period (1967-1969), and why their first record went relatively unnoticed even back then. The lads were high school classmates, and the band came together from a merger of two school bands: The Garden Wall (Gabriel, Banks) and Anon (Rutherford, Phillips). The fact that the members were only 17-19 years old at the time, and that this record therefore lags far behind the artistry that followed, both technically and artistically, is far from negligible. The record sold a miserable 600 copies in total, and the band failed completely to make a name for itself.
Even so, you can already spot quite a few quality elements at this stage that later helped transform them into one of the giants of progressive rock. It’s also an interesting fact that “From Genesis to Revelation” is actually a concept album, which is now one of the common, typical features of records by prog bands. Through its lyrics and song titles, “From Genesis to Revelation” tells the story of the creation of the world, i.e. the biblical genesis, hence the name of the band.
Despite the simplicity of the songs, they already showed real quality back then with a few “gems” like “Fireside Song”, “In the Beginning”, “In the Wilderness” and ”The Conqueror”.
Peter Gabriel was already singing excellently and had a distinctive voice, he also wrote all the lyrics, and he played a great flute too. Classically trained keyboardist Tony Banks, with his splendid orchestral touches, was the second most important factor in the young band. His orchestral arrangements are tasteful and fit nicely with the overall simplicity of most of the songs (especially his use of the latest musical gadget of the time, the mellotron). Mike Rutherford also showed intelligent, melodic bass playing for those days. The other important member of the band at the time, guitarist Anthony Phillips, added a big dose of romanticism and pastoral feel with his classical approach to the guitar, both of which remained trademarks of the band later on, too. As for drummer John Silver (who replaced original drummer Chris Stewart before the record came out), he wasn’t on the level of his “brothers-in-arms”, but he still laid down a solid rhythm line.
”Silent Sun”, for instance, is a typical “upbeat” folk pop song, very much in the style of the Bee Gees. Overall, on most of the songs the band gives very little sense that it would make a light-years leap just the following year. The slightly psychedelic “In the Beginning” is one of the few songs that at least hints that much bigger things were in store for Genesis. And “Fireside Song” in particular is surely one of the best moments on the record. “Am I very wrong?” is obviously reminiscent of the late, psychedelic Beatles (as are most of the “bonus” tracks, which were written back in 1967 and 1968).
The guys were also already distinguished by their refusal to do covers (you won’t find any on this record or on any of their later ones). That says a lot about the philosophy of this band, whose mastermind was really, from the very start, the charismatic Peter Gabriel with his distinctive voice.
He and Tony Banks were undoubtedly the main drivers of the whole project, a big idea that just kept getting built upon over the years. One of the standout songs is also “The Conqueror”, where Anthony Phillips’ guitar (a nice solo at the end of the song) and the band’s splendid performance as a whole really come to the fore. Overall, most of the songs have plenty of psychedelic elements, even though most of them are built on simple pop structures. The woodwinds on “One Day” seem like an unimaginable addition to Genesis’ music today, but back then the band was still searching for its true direction. There’s even a “legend” that Gabriel and Banks were forced by management to remove majestic compositions, which then only surfaced on their second and third records! Overall, and this stayed quite present in their music later on, there’s a lot of nostalgia and melancholy. The whole record is also actually very listenable, even though it contains neither any transcendence nor any intellectual depth (of which there was plenty on the following records), and you can feel that it’s a product of its time. If nothing else, it can make a pleasant backdrop for reading books in the evening.
The latest remaster, released on two CDs by Edsel (the original record plus bonus tracks, some of them previously unreleased versions), is worth checking out for all fans of the band. I can credit it as a plus right away for having (for the first time ever) the original cover that was on the vinyl and the correct running order of all 13 original songs. In other words, it manages to get closest to the original in every respect. There are as many as 13 bonus tracks, and they’re on the second CD. There have always been problems with releases of this record in the past, since it was put out without the band’s approval by lots of assorted “dodgy” labels. That’s exactly why I’d say this is, for now, the definitive release of this record on this format, and I recommend it to all fans of the band.
After the guys got rid of the ambitious and manipulative producer, an important change of style followed (practically a 180-degree turn), and Genesis’ golden era could begin.
Lineup
Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute
Anthony Phillips – guitar, backing vocals
Mike Rutherford – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tony Banks – keyboards, backing vocals
Jonathan Silver – drums
Production
Jonathan King
Track list
CD1:
1. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet
2. In The Beginning
3. Fireside Song
4. Serpent
5. Am I Very Wrong?
6. In The Wilderness
7. Conqueror
8. In Hiding
9. One Day
10. Window
11. In Limbo
12. Silent Sun
13. A Place To Call My Own
CD2:
1. Patricia
2. Try A Little Sadness
3. She Is Beautiful
4. Image Blown Out
5. Silent Sun
6. That’s Me
7. A Winter’s Tale
8. One-Eyed Hound
9. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet * Demo
10. In The Beggining * Demo
11. In The Wilderness * Rough Mix
12. One Day * Rough Mix
13. Image Blown Out
