Genesis

Genesis

Genesis is an English rock band formed in 1967. With approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide, Genesis is among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time. In 1988 the band won a Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video. Genesis' members have included Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Ray Wilson and Phil Collins, all of whom have achieved success as solo artists.

Genesis began as a 1960s pop band playing moody, simple keyboard-driven melodies. During the 1970s they evolved into a progressive rock band and began to incorporate complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation, while their concerts took on a more theatrical tone. This second phase was characterised by lengthy performances such as the twenty-three minute "Supper's Ready" and, in 1974, the concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The 1980s saw the band produce more accessible pop music based on melodic hooks; this change of direction gave them their first number one album in the United Kingdom, Duke, and their only number one single in the United States, "Invisible Touch".

Genesis have changed personnel several times. Collins, previously the band's drummer, replaced Gabriel as lead singer in 1975, and was replaced by former Stiltskin singer Ray Wilson for the 1997 album Calling All Stations. Due to the commercial failure of that album, the band announced an indefinite hiatus. In June 2007, Collins, Banks, Rutherford, Steurmer and Thompson reunited for a world tour.

Genesis was formed in 1967 when founding members Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse School in Godalming. Formed out of school bands "Garden Wall" and "Anon", the original line-up consisted of Peter Gabriel (vocals), Anthony Phillips (guitar), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass & guitar) and Chris Stewart (drums).

Genesis recorded their first album in 1969, From Genesis to Revelation, after being discovered by Jonathan King, a Charterhouse School alumnus. King was a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon." King named the band "Genesis", recalling that he had "thought it was a good name... it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling". This was in fact King's second choice for the band's name. His first suggestion was "Gabriel's Angels".

The album was released on Decca Records. During the sessions, Stewart left and was replaced by John Silver. The band recorded a series of songs influenced by the light pop style of the Bee Gees, one of King's favourite bands, and The Beatles. King assembled the tracks as a concept album, and added string arrangements during the production. Their first single, "The Silent Sun" (sample (help·info)), was released in February 1968. The album sold poorly but the band, on advice from King, decided to pursue a career in music.[6] King still holds the rights to the songs on the From Genesis to Revelation album and has re-released it many times under a variety of names, including In the Beginning, Where the Sour Turns to Sweet, Rock Roots: Genesis, ...And the Word Was and, most recently, The Genesis of Genesis.

Silver was replaced by John Mayhew before the recording of Trespass. However, during a show alongside the band Smile, Gabriel had offered the job to Roger Taylor, later of Queen. The band secured a new recording contract with Charisma Records. The band built a following through live performances which featured the band's hypnotic, dark and haunting melodies.

Trespass was the template for Genesis' albums in the 1970s: lengthy, sometimes operatic, pieces and occasional short, humorous numbers resembling the style of progressive rock bands such as King Crimson, Yes and Gentle Giant. Trespass includes progressive rock elements such as elaborate arrangements and time signature changes. Trespass features Gabriel's nine-minute "The Knife", which shows "how all violent revolutions inevitably end up with a dictator in power".

Ill health and recurring stage fright caused Phillips to leave the band in 1970. Phillips went on to record many solo albums, one of which, The Geese and the Ghost, has vocals by Phil Collins. Phillips' departure traumatised Banks and Rutherford, and the remaining members had doubts over whether the band could continue] However, the remaining members decided to continue, replacing Mayhew with Phil Collins on drums and recruiting Steve Hackett, formerly of Quiet World, on guitar.

1970–1975

Collins and Hackett made their studio debut in 1971 on Nursery Cryme, which features the epic "The Musical Box" and Collins' first lead vocal performance in "For Absent Friends". Foxtrot was released in October 1972 and contains what has been described as "one of the group's most accomplished works"[11], the 23-minute "Supper's Ready" (sample (info)). Songs such as the Arthur C. Clarke-inspired "Watcher of the Skies" solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous costume changes and surreal song introductions, made the band a popular live act.[12] Genesis Live, recorded on the Foxtrot tour, followed in 1973.

Selling England by the Pound followed in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans.[13] Gabriel insisted that the album be titled Selling England by the Pound, a reference to a Labour Party slogan at the time, in an effort to counter the impression that Genesis were becoming too US-oriented.[14] The album contains "Firth of Fifth" (sample (info)) and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"; these songs became part of Genesis' live repertoire, with the latter reaching #17 on the UK singles charts. During this period Hackett became an early user of the electric guitar "tapping" technique, which was later popularized by Eddie Van Halen, as well as "sweep-picking", which was popularised in the 1980s by Yngwie Malmsteen.[15] These virtuoso guitar techniques were incorporated in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight".

In 1974 Genesis undertook a double disc concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (sample (info)) which was released on 18 November. In contrast to the lengthy tracks featured on earlier albums The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a collection of shorter tracks, connected by a number of segues. The story describes the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and his quest to establish his freedom and identity.[16] During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters including the Slippermen and The Lamia, the latter being borrowed from Greek mythology.

The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, performed it 102 times in its entirety, with Gabriel adding spoken narration. During their live performances, Genesis pioneered the use of lasers and other light effects, most of which were built by the Dutch technician Theo Botschuijver. A customised handheld unit was used to channel laser light, which allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.

Creating the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album strained relations between band members, particularly Banks and Gabriel.[4] Gabriel wrote the lyrics, while the other band members wrote the music, with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers". "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" was co-authored by Banks and Rutherford. The other-worldly, blurbling, sequenced synth sounds and shattering glass loops in the track "The Waiting Room", as well as the vocal effects in the track "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" coined "Enossifications", were produced by the ambient composer Brian Eno.

During the Lamb tour, Gabriel announced that he was leaving the band,[17], because he felt estranged from the other members, and because his marriage and the difficult birth of his first child added to his personal strain. In a letter to fans, entitled Out, Angels Out, Gabriel explained that the "... vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard."[18] Collins later remarked that the other members "...were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while." The band decided to carry on without Gabriel. [19]

Gabriel's first solo album, Peter Gabriel 1977, features the hit single "Solsbury Hill", an allegory that refers to his departure from the band.

1976–1977

The group began to audition lead singers to find a replacement for Gabriel, including Jeff Lynne, Phil Lynott, Peter Frampton and David Cassidy. Collins, who had provided backing vocals, coached prospective replacements. Eventually, the band decided to consider using Collins as the lead vocalist [20] for 1976's A Trick of the Tail. The album was well received by critics, and outsold all previous albums combined. The new producer David Hentschel, who had served as engineer on Nursery Cryme, gave the album a clearer-sounding production. Critics noted that Collins sounded "more like Gabriel than Gabriel did".[21]

Despite the success of the album, the group remained concerned with their live shows, which now lacked Gabriel's elaborate costume changes and dramatic behavior. Since Collins required the assistance of a second drummer while he sang, Bill Bruford, drummer for Yes and King Crimson was hired [22] for the 1976 tour. Genesis' first live performance without Peter Gabriel was on March 26, 1976, in London, Ontario Canada.

Later that year, Genesis recorded Wind & Wuthering, the first of two albums recorded at the Relight Studios in Hilvarenbeek in the Netherlands.[4] Released in December 1976, the album took its name from Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights, whose last lines—"how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth"—inspired the titles of the seventh and eighth tracks.[23] Wind & Wuthering features the songs "Blood on the Rooftops" and "Afterglow", as well as the complex multi-part suite "One for the Vine". The animated film B.C. Rock features sections of "Afterglow". The band signed with new manager Tony Smith, who published all subsequent Genesis songs through his company Hit & Run Music Publishing.

For the 1977 Genesis' tour, the jazz fusion-trained Chester Thompson—a veteran of Weather Report and Frank Zappa—took on live drumming duties. Collins's approach to Genesis shows differed from the theatrical performances of Gabriel, and his interpretations of older songs were lighter and more subtle. At the 1982 Milton Keynes reunion show, Gabriel admitted that Collins sang the songs "better", though never "quite like" him.

Guitarist Hackett had become increasingly disenchanted with the band by the time of Wind & Wuthering's release,[17] and he felt confined. He was the first member of the band to record a solo album, 1975's Voyage of the Acolyte, and greatly enjoyed the feelings of control over the recording process that working within a group could not provide. Hackett had asked that a quarter of Wind & Wuthering be allocated to Hackett's songs, which Collins described as "a dumb way to work in a band context".[25] While Hackett was given songwriting credits on the two instrumental tracks "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..."/"...In That Quiet Earth" , Hackett's "Blood on the Rooftops" was never performed live, and his song "Please Don't Touch" (which appeared as the title track to his next solo album released in 1978) was replaced by the three-minute instrumental "Wot Gorilla?". Hackett left the band following the release of the 1977 Spot the Pigeon E.P. while the band was in the studio mixing together the live album Seconds Out.

The Seconds Out live album was recorded during the 1977 tour, and was to be Hackett's final release with Genesis. Rutherford took on guitar duties in the studio, and during live performances alternated guitar and bass with the session musician Daryl Stuermer.

1978–1979

Following the departure of Hackett, Rutherford took on guitar duties in the studio and the band was getting closer to a balance of what each member provided from a creative standpoint. The group decided to continue as a trio, a fact they acknowledged in the title of the 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three.... The album was a further move away from lengthy progressive epics, and yielded their first American radio hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", whose popularity led to ...And Then There Were Three... being the band's first U.S. Gold-certified album.

For live performances that year, Rutherford alternated between guitar and bass with the session musician Daryl Stuermer. Generally, Rutherford played the guitar pieces he composed during the most recent album, but stuck with bass playing for all of the material recorded prior to 1978. Stuermer effectively played everything that Hackett would have performed had he remained with the band. Genesis' 1978 world tour took them across North America, over to Europe, back to North America, and, eventually, to their first performances in Japan at the end of 1978.

As the band had been recording and touring constantly since the winter of 1969-70, it was decided by Messrs. Banks, Collins, and Rutherford to take the majority of 1979 off. Collins had previously informed his bandmates that he needed to attempt to save his marriage by following his wife to her new home in Vancouver. If they planned to go back into the studio, they were going to have to count him out. Banks and Rutherford responded by proposing that the band go into hiatus for the majority of 1979 while he sorted out his family issues and they would record solo material in the meanwhile.

1980–1984

After his attempt to save his marriage had ended in divorce, Collins returned to the UK in August of 1979, and found himself in a holding pattern while Banks and Rutherford were working on solo recordings. With time to spare and new equipment in his home, Collins immersed himself in the recording of home demos that would become his first solo album Face Value (released in 1981) and provide two songs for the upcoming Genesis project. When the three bandmates came back together to begin recording their next album Duke the product was much more the result of all three working together equally. Duke was real transition from their 1970s progressive rock sound to the 1980s pop era.[17] The use of a drum machine became a consistent element on subsequent Genesis albums, as well as on Collins's solo releases. The first Genesis song to feature a drum machine was the Duke track "Duchess". The more commercial Duke was well received by the mainstream media, and was the band's first UK number one album, while the tracks "Misunderstanding" (sample (info)) and "Turn It On Again" became live performance favorites.

Duke was followed by the minimalist Abacab, which features a collaboration with the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section on the track "No Reply at All." Much of the album's rehearsals took place at The Farm, the band's newly-built studio in Surrey, and the site where all of Genesis' subsequent albums were recorded. The album used a forceful drum sound which used an effect called gated reverb, which uses a live—or artificially reverberated—sound relayed through a noise gate set, which rapidly cuts off when a particular volume threshold is reached. This results in a powerful "live" sounding, yet controlled, drum ambience. The distinctive sound was first developed by Peter Gabriel, Collins, and their co-producer/engineer Hugh Padgham, when Collins was recording the backing track for "Intruder", the first song on Gabriel's 1980 solo album. The technique, in addition to Padgham's production, had been apparent on Face Value (1981), Collins's debut solo album. The "gated" drum sound would become an audio trademark of future Genesis and Collins albums.[26]

In 1982, the band released the live double album Three Sides Live. The U.S. version contains three sides of live material—hence the album's title—in addition to a side of studio material. The studio material includes the song "Paperlate", which again features an Earth, Wind and Fire horn section. In the UK and the rest of Europe, the studio material was replaced by a fourth side of live recordings from previous tours. 1982 closed with a one-off performance alongside Gabriel and Hackett at the Milton Keynes Bowl, under the name Six of the Best. The concert was hastily put together to help raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD project, which at the time was suffering from considerable financial hardship.[27] Hackett, who arrived late from South Africa, performed the final two songs of the show with his former bandmates.

1983s eponymous Genesis album became their third consecutive number one album in the UK. The album includes the radio-friendly tracks "Mama" and "That's All", and re-introduced the band's flair for lengthy pieces in "Home by the Sea". The track "Just a Job to Do" was later used as the theme song for the 1985's ABC detective drama The Insiders. Although the album was a success worldwide, all three members were suffering from a bit of writer's block and had precious little material "extra" at the end of the recording sessions. The sessions from the previous five studio albums dating back to 1976's A Trick of the Tail had all generated excess material that would be released as b-sides to singles or on EPs.

1986–1992

Genesis' highest-selling album, Invisible Touch, was released in 1986, at the height of Collins's popularity as a solo artist. The album yielded five U.S. Top 5 singles: "Throwing It All Away", "In Too Deep", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land of Confusion" (sample (info)) and "Invisible Touch" (sample (info)). The title track reached #1 in the United States; the only Genesis' song to do so; however, it stalled at #15 in the UK. In 1987, Genesis became the first band to sell out four consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium. Genesis were the first band to use Vari*Lite technology, and the Prism sound system, all of which are now standard features of arena rock concerts.

Earlier that year, Collins viewed a spoof of himself on Spitting Image, a satirical British television show which used puppets to lampoon politicians and celebrities. He was impressed with the representation, and commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck and Roger Law, to work on the video for the "Land of Confusion" single. The video was formed as an ironic commentary on the Cold War, and played on the perception that the coalition's leaders were "trigger happy" with the nuclear "button". In addition to puppet representations of Banks, Collins and Rutherford, the video showed Ronald Reagan dressed as Superman. It was nominated for the MTV Video of the Year, losing to Gabriel's "Sledgehammer".

"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was used in a Michelob commercial—as was Collins's "In the Air Tonight"—while "In Too Deep" was featured in the film Mona Lisa.[23] The instrumental "The Brazilian", appreared in the animated movie When the Wind Blows, alongside a score written by Roger Waters. At the 1988 Prince's Trust concert held in the Royal Albert Hall, Collins and Gabriel performed together for the first time since 1982. Collins was drummer for the house band, while Gabriel performed his hit single "Sledgehammer". As of September 2007, the two Genesis' frontmen have not publicly played together since, although they did play together at Gabriel's wedding in 2002.

After a hiatus of five years, Genesis reconvened for the 1991 release of We Can't Dance, which was to be Collins's last studio album with the group. The album features the hit singles "Jesus He Knows Me", "I Can't Dance", "No Son of Mine", "Hold on My Heart", "Tell Me Why" and "Never a Time" (a U.S. release only), as well as lengthy pieces such as "Driving the Last Spike" and "Fading Lights". The album which was produced by Nick Davis includes "Since I Lost You", which Collins wrote in memory of Eric Clapton's son Conor.

Collins left in March 1996, having served in Genesis for over 25 years. He later admitted that he "felt it time to change direction in my musical life. For me now, it will be music for movies, some jazz projects, and of course my solo career. I wish the guys in Genesis all the very best in their future. We remain the best of friends."

Rutherford and Banks decided to continue as Genesis. However, they required more than one new member, because the band had lost not only Collins, but also the live musicians Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson. Stuermer was approached, but was touring with Collins at the time; Thompson inquired regarding the vacant drum stool, but after he was refused full-band membership, he ended his 19-year association with the band. Eventually, drumming duties were shared between Nir Zidkyahu, an Israeli session drummer who had played with Hidden Persuaders, and Nick D'Virgilio, from the progressive rock band Spock's Beard.[9] The difference in their playing styles was marked; D'Virgilio played softer, more subtle rhythms in comparison to Zidkyahu's bombastic technique.

Ex-Stiltskin singer Ray Wilson was appointed as the new lead singer of Genesis. Other candidates had included Paul Carrack from Rutherford's Mike and the Mechanics, Francis Dunnery (ex-It Bites) and ex-Marillion vocalist—and two-time Banks collaborator—Fish. Kevin Gilbert was offered an audition just before his death in 1996. On the band's criteria in the search for a singer, Banks noted: "We needed someone who fits as many of the things you require as possible—being able to improvise with the kind of music we write and also someone capable of jumping in at the deep end and fronting a band." Wilson was immediately incorporated into the songwriting process, being given "half-a-dozen" songs to work on and ending up with three co-writing credits on the final album.

1997's Calling All Stations sold well in Europe, while the track "Congo" (sample (info)) reached #29 in the UK. The album was not successful in America, where it failed to reach the Billboard Top 50. During 1997 and 1998, Genesis toured across Europe; Banks, Rutherford, and Wilson were joined live by Zidkyahu and the guitarist Anthony Drennan, who previously worked with Paul Brady and The Corrs. However, a planned American tour was cancelled due to the album's poor sales performance. Following the truncation of the Calling All Stations tour, Genesis dismissed Wilson and went on an extended hiatus, although the members remained in regular contact. In an April 2007 interview, Wilson expressed his disgust at how his dismissal was handled, saying "it was like death by silence."[35] He also said he regretted his time spent with the band, feeling uncomfortable as a self-described "working class" man with the wealthier likes of Banks and Rutherford, and also revealed one of Phil Collins's assistants told him Collins "wasn't happy that they had continued".

In 1999, the 1971–75 lineup of Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett and Rutherford recorded a new version of "The Carpet Crawlers" for the Turn It On Again: The Hits compilation. In 2000, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford performed an acoustic rendition of "I Can't Dance" at the Music Managers Forum, in honor of their manager Tony Smith. Most of the original members were involved in compiling the two Archive boxed-sets.

2006–present After much speculation regarding a reunion, Banks, Collins and Rutherford announced Turn It On Again: The Tour on 7 November 2006; nearly 40 years after the band first formed. The tour would take place during Summer 2007, and play twelve countries across Europe, followed by a second leg in North America. The trio had wanted to reunite as a five-piece with Gabriel and Hackett for a live performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. While Gabriel reportedly agreed in principle to perform, he was unable to commit to a date. Collins later observed that "Peter is a little over-cautious about going back to something which fundamentally is just fun". Hackett agreed to participation, but without Peter joining in on the tour, Phil, Tony and Mike thought that it would be more appropriate to bring back Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer. Hackett, however still maintains good relations with the rest of the band. A short note expressing his good wishes for the reunion tour currently appears on his Web site. In their stead, both Stuermer and Thompson returned as backing musicians

The band and long-time producer, Nick Davis, are due to re-release their back catalogue in three batches over the course of 2007, each comprising a third of the band's albums (from Trespass to Calling All Stations) in a boxset-style release. Each will comprise a double-disc set containing a multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CD, as well as a DVD-Video with DTS 96/24, and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The DVD will include extras such as promo videos and new interviews in which the band discuss the period surrounding each album release. The Hybrid SACDs will be standard CDs for the U.S. and Canada, and are to be issued as box sets, starting with Genesis 1976-1982 on May 15.

On 12 May 2007, the band were honourees at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Heart and ZZ Top. The setlist was, "Turn It On Again", "No Son of Mine" and "Los Endos" the performance aired on VH-1 in the US on 24 May 2007.[38] On 11 June 2007 Genesis officially kicked off their 2007 Turn It On Again World Tour in Helsinki, Finland. The band will perform over 50 shows in 2007 as they make stops in several countries including Denmark, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States and Canada. The German show was broadcast live to several cinemas across the UK and Europe. On 7 July 2007, Genesis participated at Live Earth, a series of concerts to promote action to confront global climate change at the new Wembley Stadium in London, along with other artists including Madonna, Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In an August 2007 interview, Collins has stated that the recording of a new album is currently "very, I repeat, very unlikely" [emphasis in original], citing a lack of both time and inspiration.[40] However, Banks, on August 22, stated "The three of us would be quite keen to have a go and see what happens."

On October 2nd Starbucks released the CD Sampler "Genesis: 14 From Our Past", the track list is The Knife, Happy The Man, Watcher Of The Skies, I Know What I Like, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Squonk, Your Own Special Way, Follow You Follow Me, Turn It On Again, Abacab, That's All, Land Of Confusion, Hold On My Heart, and Congo.

Also on October 2, 2007, Genesis released their second box set, Genesis: 1983-1998, in Europe on the EMI International label, and is expected to be released in North America on November 20, 2007 by Rhino and Atlantic Records. This set features the music of the power-trio era of the group, including the albums 'Genesis', 'Invisible Touch', 'We Can't Dance' and '... Calling All Stations'. Each of the albums include the original album in a remastered stereo mix (Hybrid SACD format in Europe and regular CD in North America) and a bonus DVD with the original album remastered in DTS 96/24 and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. In addition, the DVDs have music videos from each album's period, rarities and band interviews from this year discussing each of the albums.

Inspiration and influences

Genesis has taken influence from a wide range of music, ranging from classical music to mainstream rock and jazz. Banks drew influence from Alan Price of The Animals, whom he regarded as "[t]he first person who made me aware of the organ in a rock context".[42] Other organists cited included Procol Harum's Matthew Fisher, and Keith Emerson of The Nice and later Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Classical influences include Rachmaninov, Ravel, Mahler, and Shostakovich. Many of their contemporaries and immediate predecessors, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, have affected the band's music. Collins has cited Buddy Rich and the jazz outfit The Mahavishnu Orchestra, while Gabriel's early career with Genesis took influence from Nina Simone and King Crimson.[43] Musical arrangements on the band's first album From Genesis to Revelation drew on the works of The Moody Blues, Family, and the Bee Gees—Jonathan King was a self-professed admirer of their music. Though Gabriel and David Bowie similarly relied on on-stage theatrical performances, neither claimed to be influenced by the other.[44]

As a group that influenced the growth of the progressive rock genre, Genesis has been cited by a number of progressive rock groups, including Dream Theater, Camel and Kansas. Several Genesis tribute bands, including Re-Genesis, The Musical Box, Duke, and In the Cage, routinely perform material from the Peter Gabriel era.

Collins became the first artist to cover a Genesis' song—"Behind the Lines"—which he included on Face Value one year after the original's release. Other former members subsequently performed the band's material live during their solo shows—Gabriel played "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Back in NYC", while Hackett has performed "In That Quiet Earth", "Los Endos", "Horizons",[23] "Firth of Fifth" and "Blood on the Rooftops", among others. Hackett has performed "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" on his own solo tours, and on a 1986 tour with his short lived supergroup GTR. Rutherford has performed "I Can't Dance" during his tours with the Mechanics. Collins also later formed The Phil Collins Big Band, which played jazz arrangements of Genesis songs, which were "That's All", "Invisible Touch", "Hold On My Heart" and "Los Endos" (renamed "The Los Endos Suite"), during its 1998 world tour. Ray Wilson has covered the most Genesis songs during his solo concerts. His two solo live albums, Live and Life and Acoustic, feature the Genesis songs "The Carpet Crawlers", "Follow You Follow Me", "I Can't Dance", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "No Son of Mine", "Shipwrecked", and "Mama". He has interpreted two songs from the solo careers of his two predecessors—"In the Air Tonight" (Collins) and "Biko" (Gabriel).

Jeff Buckley reworked "Back in NYC" for the posthumously released 1998 Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. The Swedish death metal band In Flames covered "Land of Confusion" on Trigger, as did Disturbed on their 2005 album Ten Thousand Fists. Disco-pop band Alcazar, also from Sweden, has covered parts of "Land of Confusion" on their song "This is the World We Live In". Dream Theater covered Turn It On Again as part of their song "The Big Medley". In 2007 Simon Collins recorded his own version of "Keep It Dark" as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of his father's band.

Beyond purely musical ventures, the theatrical style of Genesis's 1970s concerts with Gabriel and advanced lighting of their 1980s shows have provided inspiration for Cirque du Soleil's productions: the 2004 anniversary show Midnight Sun and the arena-based touring show Delirium trace their musical and multimedia elements back to these concerts. According to Victor Pilon, co-creator and co-director of both shows, "We're not inventing anything. Genesis did it years ago. We're just using new technology."

Album cover art

Genesis' album covers incorporate complex and intricate art intended to reflect the themes explored in the song lyrics. Their first album, From Genesis to Revelation, used a plain black sleeve with Genesis written in a green gothic typeface on the top left. The cover of this album has changed with its numerous re-releases. Genesis' three subsequent album covers were developed by the popular Charisma Records graphic artist Paul Whitehead, who had developed the Charisma "Mad Hatter" logo. The Foxtrot sleeve is popular among Genesis fans; the front image depicts a feminine figure in a red dress with the head of a fox. Whitehead has said in an interview that Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" was an inspiration for the character.[46] After Whitehead moved to Los Angeles, Genesis signed with the reputed Hipgnosis, whose artists had created high profile album covers for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. Hipgnosis's first Genesis album cover was for The Lamb, which for the first time in Genesis's history featured a male model. The model, credited simply as "Omar" on the album sleeve, portrayed the The Lamb's protagonist "Rael".

Through the 1970s, various Hipgnosis artists—among whom Colin Elgie contributed heavily—designed all Genesis studio albums. The Trick of the Tail cover is representative of many of the characters in the album, including the robber from "Robbery, Assault and Battery", the beast from the title track, and a metaphoric image of old age reminiscing youth from the song "Ripples". Beginning with Duke, Genesis albums have featured caricatures designed by Bill Smith Studios. The band's highest-selling album Invisible Touch, features the artwork of Assorted Images, which had previously designed sleeves for Duran Duran and Culture Club. The We Can't Dance cover art features the work of Felicity Bowers, and is reminiscent of Wind & Wuthering, now presented in hazy watercolour. The Calling All Stations and the compilation Turn It On Again: The Hits sleeves were designed by Wherefore Art?.

Criticism

Genesis' progressive rock roots set them apart from contemporaries Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. An article in Q Magazine describes a 1977 Ray Lowry cartoon which depicted an arena of "either asleep, moribund, [or] comatose" fans watching a live Genesis performance, with the band's name emblazoned on a banner above the stage reading "GENESNOOZE".Much of the criticism surrounding the band in the 1970s centered on progressive rock in general, which many dismissed as over-intellectual and pretentious. More specifically, some in Britain - especially supporters of the punk movement - regarded Genesis in particular, but also the genre more generally, as overtly middle class (paying particular attention to Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford's private education), and claimed that rock music was being taken away from the working class, whom they regarded as its core audience. But Peter Gabriel is quoted as saying in a Genesis biography that their audience was a "mixture of social classes" and that was a fabrication of the critics <"The Book of Genesis". By Hugh

Gabriel's theatrics were unpalatable to most of the mainstream rock audience, as well as to many Genesis' fans. This was exemplified during live performances of Gabriel's last Genesis album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, during which he appeared on stage as various characters in the album's lyrics. The elaborate storyline for The Lamb proved difficult to understand and accept, and caused friction within the band. Collins later recalled that "he'd be in a Slipperman costume trying to get a mike anywhere near his throat, and be out of breath - all twisted up. Towards the end I felt the singing wasn't really being heard; the songs weren't really being heard".

Genesis' transition from lengthy, complex songs to more compact, radio friendly material was not welcomed by some critics; one particular review of ...And Then There Were Three... read: "[i]n short, this contemptible opus is but the palest shadow of the group's earlier accomplishments. Not only is the damage irreversible, it's been widely endorsed: ...And Then There Were Three... is Genesis's first U.S. gold record". Collins himself has often been blamed for Genesis' transformation, in part as he plays much the same type of music as a solo artist. "I don't feel we've bastardised the way we were", Collins remarked in an interview with Music Express: "on a generous day I'll blame me for the change, but I just think it is us growing up, listening to different things".But as Tony Banks said about the group's criticism in a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone, "Well, we've never been fashionable." And, as Phil Collins summed up in the same Rolling Stone interview, "We know that people like us, because our records sell."