Prolific pen pusher Martin Popoff has produced a companion for his Entangled: Genesis On Record 1969 – 1976 book called Behind The Lines: Genesis On Record 1978 – 1997, which explores the famous prog band’s output during their most commercially successful period.
As ‘moderator’ once again, Popoff enlists a bunch of experts to weigh in on Genesis albums — And Then There Were Three, Duke, Abacab, Genesis, Invisible Touch, We Can’t Dance, and Calling All Stations.
With guitarist Steve Hackett out of the fold in 1977, Genesis caried on with keyboardist Tony Banks, drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, and bassist and guitarist Mike Rutherford. They made their way through the studio as a trio, while on stage they augmented their sound with drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist Daryl Stuermer.
The music produced by the group saw the emergence of Phil Collins as a major singing and songwriting force (not to mention his parallel solo artist rise) as the band shifted to shorter, more radio-friendly tunes. Surely, Genesis lost some of their long-standing stalwart prog fans, but there is no denying they picked up lots more, engaging in stadium tours and MTV video repeats.
Popoff and his crew of music pundits and musicians dig deep. You might not always agree with their opinions (I did about 40% of the time), but they seem to know what they are talking about, dissecting each album song by song, even stretching into an assessment of Calling All Stations, the very last studio album to sport the Genesis name.
At that of the band’s recording career, singer Ray Wilson stepped in for Collins, producing an album often maligned by even the most ardent Genesis fan. I really appreciate Popoff and his contributors’ thoroughness, giving Calling All Stations its due, with as long an analysis as they did for the other, more popular albums.
If you’re a Genesis fan with an eye for details, both Entangled: Genesis On Record 1969 – 1976 and Behind The Lines: Genesis On Record 1978 – 1997 are great reads, full of valuable facts and fun information.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
