Calling All Stations (1997)

Artist: Genesis
Release Year: 1997

Rating: 2/10

Track Listing: 1) Calling All Stations; 2) Congo; 3) Shipwrecked; 4) Alien Afternoon; 5) Not About Us; 6) If That's What You Need; 7) The Dividing Line; 8) Uncertain Weather; 9) Small Talk; 10) There Must Be Some Other Way; 11) One Man's Fool.

A lot of good bands go bad.  Fewer good bands go terrible.  Even fewer bands traverse the entire territory of "terrible" and cross over into "bizarre", but that's what Genesis did with this turd of an album.  

Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett are long gone, and now Phil Collins is out as well, leaving the questionable duo of Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford to carry on the mantle of Genesis.  But who would sing?  Of all people, that ended up being Ray Wilson of Stiltskin, a decent alt-rock band from Scotland.  Trouble is, Wilson's gruff, pained voice works a lot better in Stiltskin than in Genesis...but that's hardly the only flaw.

The much bigger issue is that this is not even a Genesis album in anything but name.  In fact, I don't know what to call it.  Imagine taking the alt-rock hits of the Nineties, removing all the cool guitar fuzz and any sort of edge they once had, slowing them all down to a sluggish tempo, then handing the whole mess to a half-intelligent computer and telling it to produce over an hour of what it considers to be music.  That might give you some sense of what this album is like.  It's godawful and no innocent person should have to sit through it.  It's like Pink Floyd circa 1987, but without the flashes of inspiration like "Learning to Fly".  It's rock structures, played at radio ballad speeds with weird electronic dribbling all over the place.  I literally said "Oh God, no" the first time I heard the opening of "Small Talk".  Even the passable chorus can't save this abomination from the hilarity of the little chants of "small talk!" everywhere.  Where's the barf bag?

The opening track sounds interesting for the first few seconds, until you realize the guitar riff is completely unsupported by the whiny, lifeless dronefest of a song.  Songs like "The Dividing Line" and "Alien Afternoon" are even worse: this time the absence of melody (and pulse) is dragged out for anywhere from five to eight minutes.  And with Ray Wilson moaning and slurring all the time, the songs sound even more tired and castrated, not to mention the listener's own fatigue as this album drags on for over a bloody hour.  Why are these songs so long?  Why are there all those industrial-sounding clangs and booms everywhere?  For atmosphere?  Sure reminds me of the cold, soulless factory of moribund pop music production, in that case.  

There may be some tolerable moments, like "Congo" and "Shipwrecked", and maybe the chorus of "Uncertain Weather", but even those are drenched in this album's lifeless production.  I admit it took me almost ten years before I could endure this whole thing in one go.  Four or five songs, max, and I wanted to clutch my head and rock back and forth in the corner.  This album is excruciating.  Maybe I wouldn't hate it as much if it were by someone other than Genesis, but it's hard to say for sure.  Why?  Because I don't listen to bands who make this kind of music, let alone review them-- this is just a special case to complete the Genesis discography.  

But, despite all this, I shall refrain from rating this album a 1/10, because that badge of shame is reserved for insipid Top 40 acts.