From Genesis to Revelation (1969)

Artist: Genesis
Release Year: 1969

Rating: 6/10

Track Listing: 1) Where the Sour Turns to Sweet; 2) In the Beginning; 3) Fireside Song; 4) The Serpent; 5) Am I Very Wrong; 6) In the Wilderness; 7) The Conqueror; 8) In Hiding; 9) One Day; 10) Window; 11) In Limbo; 12) Silent Sun; 13) A Place to Call My Own.

I'm actually glad Genesis didn't turn out to be one of those bands that blew out all their good ideas on their first few albums, before stumbling along in mediocrity for the next ten or twenty years.  No, they took their time in developing, and so did their best ideas - but of course, what that means is that few of those ideas can be found here.  It's not that I actively dislike this album, but rather that I have a hard time remembering most of it.  It's strange when an album has plenty of very real hooks on it that mostly fade from memory once the thing is over.

The guys were barely adults when they recorded this, and while that didn't affect their playing (which is actually pretty tight), it did limit their songwriting.  Pretty much every song on here is another mid-tempo psychedelic folk piece-- indeed, there's hardly an electric guitar note to be found outside of "In the Beginning".  The drums and bass are also curiously mixed into the background, leaving only the saccharine violin and generic acoustic strumming to accompany Gabriel, whose singing is one of the things that redeems this album a bit for me.  Yes, even an unremarkable folkish arrangement can be a showcase for a great vocalist, and Gabriel delivers the trite, laughable concepts of "DESTINY!" and "INCARNATION!" in just the right style - warm yet somewhat eerie - and with his talent for lyric writing already evident.  That's another saving grace to this album: the overall themes may be the usual pretentious, universalist drivel of the day, but the lyrics themselves could have been worse.  I can only dry-heave at the thought of what Graeme Edge would have done in that position.  

And speaking of Graeme Edge, I could actually hear the Moody Blues doing a lot of these songs with their lush smoothness, or Love with a more melancholic feel; but as it is, the sound of this album is just too thin and insubstantial to occupy a spot in my regular rotation. 

There's hardly an offensive moment on here, but there's hardly an exciting one either.  Soft, sweet, and a bit cutesy here and there: no problem for a pretty psychedelic baroque album in the vein of  Donovan or The Left Banke, but something's just missing.  Maybe the fact that I keep comparing the sound to other artists of their time goes some way toward explaining whatever the problem is.  I guess it makes for a good album to relax with on a Sunday afternoon, but when your time only comes once a week, it's about time to step up your game.  Fortunately, they would do so.

P.S. - Hey, that "illusion/disillusion" chorus in "Fireside Song" sure reminds me of "I Talk to the Wind" - did King Crimson rip off these guys for In the Court?  Or maybe we're dealing with a "common ancestor" situation here.  Ironic for a band called Genesis, I guess.