Trespass by Genesis, from 1970.
After the good start of From Genesis To Revelation, which already contained tracks like Silent Sun and Where the sour turns to sweet, which in my view are truly great pieces, this first masterpiece comes out.
The album was recorded by a record label that had come to life only a year earlier, Charisma, so one of its first albums.
Line-up made up of Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and John Mayhew: the new drummer, John Mayhew, replaces Chris Stewart and will leave the group right after the recordings of this album, like the great Anthony Phillips, guitarist and co-founder, who will then have a great career as a solo artist.
Huge differences from the first album: the style shifts from pop-rock to pieces not tied to the song form and with extended instrumental sections that blend rock and symphonic music.
The Mellotron is introduced, recalling the sounds of In the Court of the Crimson King, something later stated by Genesis themselves; basically, Genesis fully enter progressive rock.
Trespass, besides containing tracks that will make the band’s history, is the beginning of an unrepeatable era for Genesis and for music.
Stagnation and The Knife are two masterpieces, and the final theme of Stagnation will also be taken up in concerts from 1977 onwards within the song I Know What I Like, included on the live album Seconds Out.
Looking for Someone is a track with the sweetness of the opening intro, the epic gallop of the middle section, a triumph of bass that will recur in future productions and above all Gabriel’s dense, enveloping voice, in an interpretation that in my view is memorable, by a young man who already had a stratospheric voice.
Fantastic White Mountain and Visions of Angels, originally discarded from From Genesis to Revelation, are now classic tracks.
Dusk too, an acoustic track, turns out to have been written already in 1967-68.
Now-iconic cover, a work by Paul Whitehead who, besides Trespass, also handled the cover for Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot (and produced images also for Van der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill and Le Orme, just to name a few).
From Peter Gabriel came the idea that the cover drawing should look slashed by a knife, alluding to The Knife. The final artwork is Whitehead’s original drawing photographed, including on the back a real knife stuck in.
The album’s peak is reached by the oft-mentioned The Knife with guitar and organ and thrilling rhythmic interweavings: it can be considered Genesis’ first masterpiece.
The story of a large part of the music I listen to, considering the enormous influence this band had in the following decades and still has today on an incalculable number of bands that drew inspiration from them.
An essential album in every Prog collection. Immature perhaps, but already wonderful.
My Version
Label: Charisma – CHC 12, UMC – 00602567490098
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, Half Speed Master 180 gr.
Country: Europe
Released: 3 Aug 2018
Tracklist
Looking for Someone – 7:00
White Mountain – 6:44
Visions of Angels – 6:50
Stagnation – 8:45
Dusk – 4:15
The Knife – 8:55
Length 42:43
Lineup
Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute, accordion, bass drum, tambourine
Anthony Phillips – 12-string acoustic guitar, lead electric guitar, psaltery, backing vocals
Mike Rutherford – 12-string acoustic guitar, electric bass, nylon-string guitar, cello, backing vocals
Tony Banks – organ, mellotron, piano, guitar, backing vocals
John Mayhew – drums, percussion, backing vocals
.jpeg "From Genesis to Revelation (Box Set) by Genesis")
