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Any old Genesis fans?


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I'm an enormous Prog Rock fan myself. Keith Emerson was my true musical hero while growing up. His style and Wakeman's were different enough that I could enjoy both.

I discovered Genesis around the time that Seconds Out was released. I instantly fell in love with the band. Tony Banks remains an inspiration to me, especially during the Gabriel years up through the 1970's. I still enjoyed them as a band even as they became increasingly commercial.

There were certain strains of Prog I never really enjoyed but the genre as a whole remains a source of much inspiration. I even enjoy a bit of Prog metal like Dream Theater as well as Spock's Beard/Neal Morse.

Great topic and I enjoyed sharing a bit of my love of Prog!

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  • 7 years later...

Let's revive this thread. Very old, but then I'm no spring chicken either, although I get up with the roosters-or turkeys in my geographical area. 

 

Out of lack of any other coherent musical material lately-so many venues are still asleep with the d*** pandemic..revisiting all my old vinyls-we knew them as "records".  Strangely enough, this generation is now "re-issuing" records as "vinyls", how the circle turns. What startles me-after not listening to some of these albums for many years-yes children we called these "albums"-try fitting all the inserts that came with the Who "Live at Leeds" album into a CD case-or post on Youtube, it's just not there. That was part of the fun.

 

What startles me-and I followed progressive rock as a logical extension of what classical and jazz musicians were not supposed to play, i thought that wonderful since I was no child "prodigy" whatever that's supposed to mean-almost kept me out of music college although i had already been playing in clubs before I could drive-I had to was trying to eke myself out of poverty-I knew classical pianists who could not play jazz or blues back then, I'm not kidding-if you asked them, they'd say it was "beneath" their skill level-but if I pressed them-I realized they didn't know how!

 

What impresses me even years later-is the degree of musicianship in so many of these older albums, its incredible.

 

Without getting into the constant futile debate about which is better-mp3, flac, CD audio, vinyl, cassette, minidisk, comb and tissue paper or jaw's harp....a good artist sounds fantastic on any of these...technology changes faster than some can comprehend and musicians have had to work hard to try to make a living with these new "paradigms"-do I stream/ do I post my older productions on Soundcloud or similar venues-do I make a website and hope someone will pay to listen to my tracks? Where are the live venues to play anything but canned music? Tony Banks was composing-live-when he played-creating motifs with what was then relatively new technology. So was every gifted jazz improviser whenever he/she took a solo. Keith Emerson-took tremendous criticism for doing what he did-and had to ignore all of it at least at first. Sadly he took it to heart later.

 

Old school guys/girls who had previously mastered piano or organ-now had resources they'd never (or maybe did) dreamed of, including me. And had to adjust not always too successfully-listening to Bill Evans play a Fender Rhodes-seems silly for someone who already had played impressionistic masterpieces with Miles-but he felt compelled to do it as a new invention at the time. Corea/Stanley Clarke/Al Dimeola/John McLaughlin/Jan Hammer-just listen to some of their pioneering work with Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra holy cr***-and then, they went back to acoustics.

 

Jethro Tull-Ian Anderson-all their other personnel-yikes! Gentle Giant, many others in the late 60's early 70's and if you've never-listen to Hendrix on Electric Ladyland-my god, he was in a different plane-and this was before synths-experimental synths were around but he didn't use them on this album or any other. Axis, Bold As Love, whew!

 

I could go on and on-listening to old Jeff Beck records-the Yardbirds-his own stuff later-so much talent-(not even mentioning Beatles, Stones, the Who etc. its overwhelming-yes there are certainly equally talented new musicians out there-some of whom are right here on this user group-but it has got to be tougher than ever now-to get yourself out there, just so someone can hear what you can do-and not just in a virtual space but out live, is still the challenge. 

 

But what a foundation to build on....I remember reading somewhere-Coltrane listened to every sax player and other musician he could-more or less "crammed" for his final exam-which was playing out himself. And then-there was Michael Brecker who stood on his shoulders. The Wrecking Crew-look them up-did most of the Monkees, Mamas and Papas, Beach Boys and on and on-Glen Campbell was one of the session musicians in that group, another virtuoso-and the Saturday Night alumni-what a roster, from the original band all featured in the Blues Brothers-these were serious players-a gifted player-doesn't matter how it comes out-as long as it comes out. I need to remind myself of that every day (well I might not be serious but)-the pandemic mustn't stop all this. Keep those fires burning.

 

And remember what John Belushi said in Animal House-Nothing is over until we decide it is!!!! and..

 

I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.

We're just the guys to do it...LET'S DO IT!

 

Edited by Jokeyman123
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  • 1 year later...
On 2/26/2014 at 11:06 PM, Mike Martin said:

Let me rephrase.  Any fans of old Genesis?  Just curious.

Now that I'm poking around the XW area here, I came across this and even though the post is nearly 8 years old, I'm wondering why you asked that and particularly in here, @Mike Martin.

 

Even though "null" (Gary) is probably gone, I was curious about the timelines in order to address the question of the bands Yes and Genesis and if one copied the other. Fortunately, Wikipedia's summaries at the top of each provide potential answers.

 

Quote

The group were formed by five Charterhouse pupils, including Banks, Rutherford, Gabriel, and Anthony Phillips, and named by former Charterhouse pupil Jonathan King, who arranged for them to record several singles and their debut album From Genesis to Revelation in 1968. After splitting from King, the band began touring, signed with Charisma Records and became a progressive rock band on Trespass (1970). Following Phillips' departure, Genesis recruited Collins and Hackett and recorded Nursery Cryme (1971). Their live shows began to feature Gabriel's theatrical costumes and performances. Foxtrot (1972) was their first hit in the UK and Selling England by the Pound (1973) reached number three there, featuring their first UK hit "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)". The concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) was promoted with a transatlantic tour and an elaborate stage show, before Gabriel left the group.

Quote

Yes began performing original songs and rearranged covers of rock, pop, blues and jazz songs, as evidenced on their self-titled first album from 1969, and its follow-up Time and a Word from 1970. A change of direction later in 1970 led to a series of successful progressive rock albums, with four consecutive U.S. platinum or multi-platinum sellers in The Yes Album (1971), Fragile(1971), Close to the Edge (1972) and the live album Yessongs (1973). Further albums, Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977) and Tormato (1978), were also commercially successful. Yes toured as a major rock act that earned the band a reputation for their elaborate stage sets, light displays, and album covers designed by Roger Dean. The success of "Roundabout", the single from Fragile, cemented their popularity across the decade and beyond. Anderson and Squire remained with the group throughout the 1970s, with Banks, Kaye, and Bruford all departing across 1970–1972, and being replaced by Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White, respectively. Wakeman would leave the group in 1974, but returned two years later, with Patrick Moraz taking his place in the interim. After a final album, Drama, and tour in 1980, both of which saw Downes and Trevor Horn replace Wakeman and Anderson, respectively, Yes disbanded in 1981.

It appears to me that they both went progressive around the same time.

 

Oh, I guess I haven't answered the question. While my focus has changed from classic prog rock, I still consider myself a fan of old Genesis. I also like later Genesis (yeah, even the pop stuff), Peter Gabriel (he has some new stuff out and more coming), and Yes. I dabbled in some other prog rock material but none of it stuck with me like early Genesis and Yes.

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18 hours ago, Mike Martin said:

@Joe MuscaraCheck that XW-P1 you might find why I was asking about this. I made a  few Arp Pro Soloist presets for the XW like Tony Banks used in "In the Cage" and other songs
Looking here on the forum, looks like I never posted them. I'll get them up here asap.

That's exactly what I was wondering, both whether you created some Genesis/Banks presets, and where TF were they on the forum? :D 

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  • 2 months later...

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