It's been a while since I last posted here, hasn't it? As I'm sure most of you are aware, I had decided to give Strawberry Peppers a reboot which I've subtitled The Second Coming, and I even outlined what I had in mind for a number of artists I listed. Among them was Genesis, a group in which I never really intended to write about at first. The idea of Kim Beacon joining them seemed like a nice idea, but in hindsight, it was pretty much plagued with issues which I've already covered. Instead, for The Second Coming, I decided to go with the question of, "What if Peter Gabriel had stayed on?" I think it's a far more realistic, plausible scenario.
In addition, I'll also be listing Peter's solo albums alongside those he worked on with Genesis for TTL, as well as a few albums by Phil Collins following his departure following A Trick of the Tail. For the most part, Phil's solo career from the 1980s and 1990s (Hello, I Must Be Going!, No Jacket Required, ...But Seriously, Both Sides and Dance into the Light) has been left more or less intact, with some changes to Face Value which I'll explain later on. I've also left the solo careers of Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford alone as I figure that they would still want to pursue side projects outside of Genesis. Steve Hackett's solo discography is left completely alone altogether for he still leaves Genesis in 1977.
So, I know what you'll like to hear (but probably not in your wardrobe), so let's get right on it!
Side A (26:27)
1. Dance on a Volcano - 5:55
2. Entangled - 6:27
3. Squonk - 6:29
4. Mad Man Moon - 7:36
Side B (24:35)
5. Robbery, Assault and Battery - 6:16
6. Ripples… - 8:06
7. A Trick of the Tail - 4:35
8. Here Comes the Flood - 5:38 (Car)
The track listing up until the final track remains unchanged from OTL. "Here Comes the Flood" was originally demoed by Peter Gabriel in 1975. The latter half of the decade is generally considered the transitional period for Genesis, going from a quintet (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) to a trio (And Then There Were Three) within a few short years. This will also apply to this scenario, albeit a bit more quickly with Phil Collins' departure as drummer. Bill Bruford takes over on drums whenever Genesis plays live, like he did in OTL. Chester Thompson becomes drummer for the Phil Collins band.
Side A (26:21)
1. Eleventh Earl of Mar - 7:45
2. One for the Vine - 10:00
3. Your Own Special Way - 6:19
4. Flotsam and Jetsam - 2:17 (Scratch)
Side B (27:06)
5. Moribund the Burgermeister - 4:20 (Car)
6. Inside and Out - 6:45 (Spot the Pigeon)
7. Slowburn - 4:36 (Car)
8. Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers in That Quiet Earth - 11:25
"Flotsam and Jetsam" was originally demoed in the spring of 1976, prior to the recording sessions for Peter Gabriel's first eponymous album. "Unquiet Slumbers..." also includes "Afterglow" at the end. This is Genesis' only full length album as a quartet.
Side A (6:37)
1. Humdrum - 3:25 (Car)
2. Pigeons - 3:12 (Spot the Pigeon)
Side B (6:39)
3. All in a Mouse's Night - 6:39 (Wind & Wuthering)
Genesis' only extended play for this scenario, as well as their final release with Steve Hackett as lead guitarist. He is later replaced by Robert Fripp for live performances (who also played with Peter for his first three solo albums) until 1981.
Side A (27:12)
1. On the Air - 5:30 (Scratch)
2. Undertow - 4:47
3. White Shadow - 5:14 (Scratch)
4. Snowbound - 4:31
5. Burning Rope - 7:10
Side B (26:48)
6. Deep in the Motherlode - 5:16
7. Many Too Many - 3:32
8. Indigo - 3:30 (Scratch)
9. Say It's Alright Joe - 4:21
10. The Lady Lies - 6:08
11. Follow You Follow Me - 4:01
Genesis' first album as a trio; all three official members have been a part of the band since its formation in 1967. There are cases in which Phil Collins contributed to the songwriting, but for some of them like "Follow You Follow Me", I simply pretended that those parts were done by Peter Gabriel instead.
Side Car (23:39)
1. Solsbury Hill - 4:21
2. Modern Love - 3:38
3. Excuse Me - 3:20
4. Waiting for the Big One - 7:15
5. Down the Dolce Vita - 5:05
Side Scratch (24:58)
6. D.I.Y. - 2:37
7. Mother of Violence - 3:10
8. A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World - 3:33
9. Animal Magic - 3:26
10. Exposure - 4:12
11. Perspective - 3:23
12. Home Sweet Home - 4:37
A straightforward compilation of leftover tracks from Peter Gabriel's first two solo albums, with each side labeling which album they came from. I picture Peter putting his solo album out around the same time that Tony Banks (A Curious Feeling) and Mike Rutherford (Smallcreep's Day) each put out solo projects away from Genesis. Hey, Phil Collins had a solo career alongside Genesis; I don't see why Peter couldn't go the same direction.
Side A (20:05)
1. Down and Out - 5:28 (And Then There Were Three)
2. Match of the Day - 3:24 (Spot the Pigeon)
3. Ballad of Big - 4:51 (And Then There Were Three)
4. Vancouver - 3:01 (Genesis 1976-1982)
5. Wot Gorilla? - 3:21 (Wind & Wuthering)
Side B (20:59)
6. Blood on the Rooftops - 5:28 (Wind & Wuthering)
7. Scenes from a Night's Dream - 3:30 (And Then There Were Three)
8. It's Yourself - 6:15 (Genesis 1976-1982)
9. Los Endos - 5:46 (A Trick of the Tail)
Phil Collins' first solo album in TTL. This is a compilation of the tracks he wrote for Genesis during the 1975-1978 period. It does feel a bit short compared to his later releases at just 41 minutes, but I think it's a nice little collection of songs there.
Side A (28:04)
1. The Duke Suite - 28:04
Side B (27:40)
2. Man of Our Times - 5:35
3. No Self Control - 3:55 (Melt)
4. Heathaze - 5:00
5. Alone Tonight - 3:54
6. Cul-de-sac - 5:02
7. Lead a Normal Life - 4:14 (Melt)
Yes, "The Duke Suite" is made one whole track as was the original intention, with the remaining tracks taking up the second side (but of course, "Duchess" and "Turn It On Again" could still be singles). This version of Duke was probably the easiest of the albums to put together alongside A Trick of the Tail.
Side A (24:05)
1. In the Air Tonight - 5:34
2. This Must Be Love - 3:55
3. Misunderstanding - 3:11 (Duke)
4. The Roof is Leaking - 3:16
5. Droned - 2:49
6. Hand in Hand - 5:20
Side B (22:30)
7. I Missed Again - 3:41
8. You Know What I Mean - 2:33
9. Thunder and Lightning - 4:12
10. I'm Not Moving - 2:33
11. If Leaving Me is Easy - 4:54
12. Please Don’t Ask - 4:00 (Duke)
13. Over the Rainbow - 0:37
As Phil didn't contribute to "Behind the Lines" in TTL, nor did John Lennon die in 1980, "Misunderstanding" and "Please Don't Ask" are brought in to fill the gaps. I think they blend in quite well with the rest of the Face Value tracks. Try it out!
Side A (17:06)
1. Abacab - 6:58
2. Games Without Frontiers - 4:06 (Melt)
3. Me and Sarah Jane - 6:02
Side B (16:01)
4. Naminanu/Dodo/Lurker/Submarine - 16:01 (Genesis 1976-1982/Abacab)
Side C (19:53)
5. Paperlate - 3:20 (3x3)
6. You Might Recall - 5:30 (3x3)
7. Wallflower - 6:30 (Security)
8. Keep It Dark - 4:33
Side D (17:08)
9. Like It or Not - 4:58
10. Another Record - 4:38
11. Biko - 7:32 (Melt)
Genesis' second double album, as was the original plan given the quantity of material recorded during that period. This was probably the most difficult album to put together, but for now, I'm happy with the album as is. "Wallflower" started off as an instrumental demo in 1979 before official recording began in the spring of 1981, which is contemporary with the Abacab sessions. David Rhodes takes over on guitar for live performances. He's another Peter Gabriel collaborator, having been a part of his studio and live performances since 1980.
Side Melt (25:47)
1. Intruder - 4:54
2. Start - 1:21
3. I Don't Remember - 4:42
4. Family Snapshot - 4:28
5. And Through the Wire - 5:00
6. Not One of Us - 5:22
Side Security (26:39)
7. San Jacinto - 6:21
8. I Have the Touch - 4:30
9. Shock the Monkey - 5:28
10. Lay Your Hands on Me - 6:03
11. Kiss of Life - 4:17
Again, I take the leftover tracks from the third and fourth eponymous solo albums of Peter Gabriel and make a single album out of them. This comes out around the time of The Fugitive (Tony Banks) and Acting Very Strange (Mike Rutherford), during a brief hiatus for Genesis.
Side A (23:37)
1. The Rhythm of the Heat - 5:15 (Security)
2. Home by the Sea - 11:14
3. The Family and the Fishing Net - 7:08 (Security)
Side B (22:33)
4. Walk Through the Fire - 4:03 (Flotsam and Jetsam)
5. Taking It All Too Hard - 3:58
6. Just a Job to Do - 4:47
7. Silver Rainbow - 4:31
8. It’s Gonna Get Better - 5:14
"Walk Through the Fire" was included on the soundtrack for Against All Odds, which also featured "Making a Big Mistake" by Mike Rutherford" and the title track by Phil Collins. I've done away with "Illegal Alien" altogether as I just can't see Peter Gabriel agreeing to it. Plus, we already had enough Mike-penned tracks on the second side as it is. I considered swapping "The Family and the Fishing Net" and "It's Gonna Get Better" around so that each songwriter has at least one spot per side, but that put both sides out of balance in terms of length, so I'll leave it as is for now.
Side A (22:47)
1. Don’t Break This Rhythm - 6:09 (Flotsam and Jetsam)
2. Sledgehammer - 5:12 (So)
3. Don't Give Up (feat. Kate Bush) - 6:33 (So)
4. That Voice Again - 4:53 (So)
Side B (22:25)
5. Mercy Street - 6:22 (So)
6. Big Time - 4:28 (So)
7. This is the Picture (Excellent Birds) (feat. Laurie Anderson) - 4:25 (So)
8. No More Apartheid (w/ L. Shankar) - 7:10 (Sun City)
Bonus track for CD and cassette releases
9. Curtains - 3:29 (Flotsam and Jetsam)I took out three tracks from So for the next Genesis album (more on that in a bit) and I replaced them with other songs from the same time period. "Don't Break This Rhythm" was originally released as a B-side to "Sledgehammer", "Curtains" was the B-side to "Big Time", and "No More Apartheid" was originally included as a part of Sun City by Artists United Against Apartheid. I originally had "Curtains" in between "Big Time" and "This is the Picture", but I moved it to a bonus track due to time constraints. However, it does maintain that original spot for remastered releases.
Side A (21:08)
1. Red Rain - 5:39 (So)
2. Domino - 10:44 (Invisible Touch)
3. Land of Confusion - 4:45 (Invisible Touch)
Side B (21:41)
4. Anything She Does - 4:09 (Invisible Touch)
5. We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37) - 3:22 (So)
6. Throwing It All Away - 3:53 (Invisible Touch)
7. In Your Eyes - 5:27 (So)
8. The Brazilian - 4:50 (Invisible Touch)
Now here's an interesting story: Red Rain started off as part of the question, "what if Peter Gabriel returned to Genesis in the mid-1980s?" Admittedly, that idea was pretty silly, and the album would've been about 57 minutes long including Phil Collins' contributions, but it was partially what sparked this whole subplot to begin with. I wanted to include "Sledgehammer" as it was a pretty big hit at the time, but at the same time, I wanted to give Peter a big solo hit, and so I ended up including "We Do What We're Told" instead. Red Rain might end up losing a big hit, but it still has "Throwing It All Away" and "Land of Confusion" to make up for that. And who can forget the ten-minute epic "Domino"?
Side A (23:38)
1. Invisible Touch - 3:29 (Invisible Touch)
2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - 8:53 (Invisible Touch)
3. Me and Virgil - 6:18 (3x3)
4. In Too Deep - 4:58 (Invisible Touch)
Side B (23:40)
5. Mama - 6:52 (Genesis)
6. No Reply at All - 4:33 (Abacab)
7. Who Dunnit? - 3:22 (Abacab)
8. Man on the Corner - 4:28 (Abacab)
9. That's All - 4:25 (Genesis)
The second "new" Phil Collins solo album, this compiles all of the Genesis songs that he wrote the lyrics to from 1981 to 1986. Given that well over half of the album features tracks that were released as singles in the 1980s, I could see this being Phil's biggest album of the 1980s, possibly even bigger than Face Value! Given that he didn't release an album in between 1985 with No Jacket Required and 1989 with ...But Seriously, I think it's only right to fill in that gap so that it looks as though he's usually releasing an album every one to three years until 1996.
Side A (15:13)
1. Love to Be Loved - 5:18 (Us)
2. Never a Time - 3:52 (We Can’t Dance)
3. Steam - 6:03 (Us)
Side B (16:31)
4. Dreaming While You Sleep - 7:21 (We Can’t Dance)
5. Washing of the Water - 3:52 (Us)
6. Digging in the Dirt - 5:18 (Us)
Side C (16:42)
7. Living Forever - 5:42 (We Can’t Dance)
8. Kiss That Frog - 5:20 (Us)
9. Way of the World - 5:40 (We Can’t Dance)
Side D (17:19)
10. Secret World - 7:03 (Us)
11. Fading Lights - 10:16 (We Can’t Dance)
Genesis' third double album for the vinyl format; on CD releases, it's a single disc running at almost 66 minutes. Phil Collins took up a whopping seven songwriting slots on We Can't Dance, and so it took some thinking to see where Peter Gabriel's tracks from Us would fit. I knew I had to cut out "Blood of Eden" and "Come Talk to Me", both tracks sung with Sinéad O'Connor as I doubt that Genesis would allow guest vocalists to take up half the song, although I could see them being released as a non-album single in September 1992. I also ended up losing "Only Us" and "Fourteen Black Paintings", but they will not go unused; I see them showing up on a future Genesis album. Again, the result is surprisingly better than the sum of its parts.
Side A (25:18)
1. No Son of Mine - 6:41
2. Jesus He Knows Me - 4:23
3. Driving the Last Spike - 10:10
4. I Can't Dance - 4:04
Side B (23:44)
5. You’ve Been in Love (That Little Bit Too Long) - 4:49 (But Seriously)
6. Tell Me Why - 5:00
7. That’s How I Feel - 5:05 (But Seriously)
8. Hold on My Heart - 4:40
9. Since I Lost You - 4:10
The last of the "new" Phil Collins solo albums. All seven of his songwriting contributions to We Can't Dance could be an entire album on their own, but I thought it came up a bit short. That was why I pulled two ...But Seriously-era B-sides onto the album - "You've Been in Love" and "That's How I Feel" - to fill that void, pushing the album to a respectable 49 minutes.
What happens next?
This is a pressing question that I'm sure a lot of you may be wondering. What will become of Genesis after 1992? Obviously, Tony and Mike continue with their solo endeavors, and Peter continues to tease a follow up to his third eponymous album that will likely never come out until he's long dead, and Phil's and Steve's trajectories won't change at all.
Well, I do see Genesis putting out two more albums, both comprising of material from Calling All Stations, Peter Gabriel's Up, as well as additional recorded material by both parties from the late-90s/early-00s. The 1997 album, Calling All Stations, is their first with Nir Zidkyahu as their new drummer for both studio and live performances, bringing in some fresh blood for the band, and the tour doesn't get cut short in America like it did in OTL. Their follow up in 2002 is called I/O (short for Input, Output, a working title for Peter Gabriel's planned solo album, whenever it comes out), and as of 2021, it's their last album of original material to date.
In addition to that, they've reunited with Steve Hackett and Phil Collins for their Turn It On Again Tour for 2006 and 2007, and since 2015, there have been rumors of Genesis recording a new album, but things have not been confirmed as of yet. But as Phil says, "Never say never."
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