‘What’s your favorite post-Peter Gabriel song by Genesis?’

May 1, 2015 12:09 PM

In which the crowd at Dangerous Minds get serious about the question that's been on everyone's mind.

warning: advertorial
posted by philip-random (115 comments total)

Turn It On Again FTW
posted by GallonOfAlan at 12:15 PM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

you can't hurry love - but that was when the supremes did it
posted by pyramid termite at 12:20 PM on May 1, 2015

I kinda dug I Can't Dance - - so sue me!
posted by fairmettle at 12:21 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Adapted Michelob Commercial, in which the already incomparable lyric tonight tonight tonight OH oh was made even better with the addition of not-at-all-phoning-it-in word-wizardry like I got some money in my pocket, I gotta get it to you. I'm still faint with artistic appreciation just thinking about it.

Is that enough snark? 'Cause I got plenty.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:24 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

My wife is a huge Genesis fan - both with and without Peter - so I've had the chance to listen to their entire catalog many, many times. The one that sticks with me is "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" because it is strange, compelling, percussion-driven and unlike anything else.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:26 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

seriously, dance on a volcano seems to be the one i recall without trying to shut my brain down - a trick of the tail and wind and wuthering were peter gabriel era genesis without peter gabriel and decent

the song abacab was alright

but they really kind of got annoying
posted by pyramid termite at 12:26 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Who Dunnit.

We Know We Know We Know We Know We Know
posted by sydnius at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Post-Gabriel, pre-pop "Squonk" is the best.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

And we can expect lots of not-at-all-phoning-it-in comments which essentially paraphrase "later Genesis sucks."
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:28 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

The one that everyone's going to remember is "In The Air Tonight". In the early 1980s I think it was the soundtrack to virginity being lost on a scale nearly approaching that of Frampton's "Baby I Love Your Way" a few years earlier.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:30 PM on May 1, 2015

I learned my lesson 4 years ago - I'm not gonna get embroiled in this conversation again!
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:30 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

follow you follow me
posted by Trochanter at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Oh yeah, and that vid with the Spitting Image dolls. Ace.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:31 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

OK, so, for creepy, Mama or Home by the Sea. For sing-a-long-ability (especially the backing vocals), Land of Confusion or Misunderstanding. And for pure Phil Collins vocal performance That's All or Abacab.

I was too cool to admit I enjoyed Genesis during the Replacements/Run DMC/Elvis Costello/Motorhead/Bowie years of my youth, but fuck me if they didn't produce some catchy and interesting songs even after Phil Collins took over as singer..
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:33 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

The one that everyone's going to remember is "In The Air Tonight".

That's a Phil tune, not a Genesis tune, but it can be really hard to tell the difference.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:34 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

There's a loophole! There are a couple of albums in the post-Peter Gabriel period that also qualify as pre-Phil Collins' ego getting loose and rampaging over the countryside. So for me, it's Blood On The Rooftops.
posted by MrVisible at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

That's a Phil tune, not a Genesis tune, but it can be really hard to tell the difference.

Good point. For some reason I remembered it as one of the Three Sides Live breakout hits but you're right of course.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:36 PM on May 1, 2015

honestly all i really care about is his duet with phillip bailey on easy lover.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:40 PM on May 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

Another vote for Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea, though I'm also fairly fond of The Brazilian.
posted by Auz at 12:40 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

The critical re-evaluation of Abacab cannot come too soon. An unimpeachable record.
posted by escabeche at 12:40 PM on May 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

I had a cassette tape of Invisible Touch when I was 9, and the only song I miss in my current state of non-tape deck having is The Brazilian.
posted by LionIndex at 12:41 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

"The one I really LOVE is their self-titled debut album that was recorded while they were still teenagers ... "

Produced by Jonathan King, better known for his hit "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" and being a sexual predator.

"Home By the Sea," a great pop song with a genuinely eerie feel, then "Land of Confusion," then "Abacab."
posted by octobersurprise at 12:42 PM on May 1, 2015

"Dance on a Volcano" - they did a great version of this when I saw them live. Phil Collins was quite the lively little gnome when he didn't have to be behind the drum set.

Chester Thompson did a fine job taking Phil's place and deserves to be better known.
posted by tommasz at 12:44 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

DADDY! YOU'VE GOT TO GO!

Eleventh Earl of Mar ftw
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:44 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

I consider this very question regularly -- I wish I was kidding -- and I have never landed on a song that was produced by a post-Steve Hackett ensemble. Pick what you want using that criteria, and I won't harangue you with an annoying rant.
posted by vverse23 at 12:47 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

If your answer isn't "Land of Confusion," it's probably wrong.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:49 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

Most of A Trick of the Tail is pretty good, especially Squonk and Ripples, but it wasn't fully Collins' band yet at that point.
posted by rocket88 at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

And by the way, I've been waiting for the opportunity to tell this story. A while back, against my better judgment, I ended up in an Internet argument with some kid in his early teens. In his rage, he leveled against me the vilest accusation he could conjure up:

"I bet you listen to Genesis!"
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:52 PM on May 1, 2015 [8 favorites]

I'd go with "That's All" or "Land of Confusion". "Jesus He Knows Me" is fun for the video, but I'm not sure I think it's that great of song, except for the hook is solid.

But and I can't say it, cuz it's not Genesis, but "Easy Lover" is probably one of the greatest songs of all time.

The funny thing is that I just can't stand Gabriel's era, from what little I've heard. It's too fucking pretentious. And I LIKE pretentious. I'm just not much of a Gabriel fan in general, so I guess maybe it's cuz I grew up in the 80s and knew the Phil Collins Genesis first. I like Phil. He just seems like a good chap.

Now - Mike and the Mechanics? "All I Need is a Miracle" that's just... oh god. Ow....
posted by symbioid at 12:52 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

(since I've already established that I rather like Phil Collins era Genesis, let me just get this out of my system. "Illegal Alien" is one of the worst songs - maybe the worst song - of the rock era.)
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:02 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

"Tonight Tonight Tonight," "No Reply at All," "Turn It on Again," and "Taking It All Too Hard." "That's All" and "In Too Deep" are both near-perfect moody mid-1980s pop songs.

The first thirty seconds of "All I Need Is a Miracle" before the song kicks in are also perfect 80s synth-pop.

Gabriel-era Genesis gets knocked for pretentiousness but The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is awesome (especially "Fly on a Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974").
posted by blucevalo at 1:02 PM on May 1, 2015

Wot Gorilla? Chester's Gorilla!

also: Nuclear Burn





Daddy, you promised!

Oh, all right, Eleventh Earl of Mar, then.
 
posted by Herodios at 1:05 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

"Paperlate" and "No Reply at All," both with the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:06 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

I had no idea that "All I Need Is A Miracle" and "Silent Running" were both Mike & The Mechanics.

Tangentially related: this sort of 80's AC just sounds so sad. Minor chords, warbly synths and reverb, lyrics about heartache. Personally I blame Gerry Rafferty. And all the cocaine.
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:07 PM on May 1, 2015

Abacab and Man on the Corner (Collins' best vocal, I think)
posted by jonmc at 1:09 PM on May 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

Also "Just a Job to Do."
posted by kirkaracha at 1:09 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Solo, I'd probably pick Phil's "Take Me Home." I remember being incredibly drunk and watching that video on a projection TV at a party shortly after it came out. I was starting to realize that I was going to have to do something with myself after college and the song made me feel very Rosebud-in-Citizen Kane.

But "Don't Lose My Number" wins on video points.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:11 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I might have picked Squonk, but given that you never had the things you thought you should have had, and you'll not get them now, it seemed more fitting to deny it the honor.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:12 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I am, years later, oddly embarrassed that I got a best Answer on AskMe for identifying a Genesis song from some half-remembered lyrics (It was Paperlate).
I have no idea how I knew it but I was 11 when that song came out so maybe it imprinted in my preadolescent mind somehow.

I do find Misunderstanding to be a great singalong song though.
posted by pointystick at 1:12 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

seriously, dance on a volcano seems to be the one i recall without trying to shut my brain down - a trick of the tail and wind and wuthering were peter gabriel era genesis without peter gabriel and decent

The mystery ingredient was Steve Hackett
posted by Dr-Baa at 1:15 PM on May 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.
posted by Cookiebastard at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2015 [12 favorites]

So in summary Gabriel post-Genesis is better, and Genesis post-Gabriel is better.

Gabriel and Genesis: Two Great Tastes That Taste Shite Together
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

maybe it imprinted in my preadolescent mind somehow

My brain is so full of 80s song lyrics that it is frankly astonishing I am able to remember anything else.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:17 PM on May 1, 2015 [8 favorites]

So in summary Gabriel post-Genesis is better, and Genesis post-Gabriel is better.

true, except wrong.
posted by philip-random at 1:20 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

So in summary Gabriel post-Genesis is better, and Genesis post-Gabriel is better.

Well in some ways, yes, but it's not so much better as different in a way that allowed growth and...

Gabriel and Genesis: Two Great Tastes That Taste Shite Together

PISTOLS AT DAWN, SIR
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:22 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

Against the grain my favourite Genesis album is probably "...And Then There Were Three" but my favourite song is a toss up between "Home by the sea", "Land of confusion", or "Eleventh Earl of Mar"
posted by cirhosis at 1:23 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I remember being incredibly drunk and watching that video on a projection TV at a party shortly after it came out. I was starting to realize that I was going to have to do something with myself after college and the song made me feel very Rosebud-in-Citizen Kane.

Don't anyone use this anecdote, btw. I'm going to write my own Jay McInerney novel.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:25 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

It's an epic meditation on intangibility.

No it's a sonic cathedral of sound.
posted by colie at 1:30 PM on May 1, 2015

a trick of the tail and wind and wuthering were peter gabriel era genesis without peter gabriel and decent

The mystery ingredient was Steve Hackett

"First of all I would like to congratulate Tony, Mike and Phil for flying the flag once again. Good luck to them and I really hope they have a very successful tour.

I was originally approached to discuss the possibility of a five piece which would have included Peter Gabriel and yours truly but since Peter's schedule precludes this, it makes sense for the other three to celebrate the band in their 'own special way' as it were."

-- Steve Hackett on the 2007 Genesis reunion

posted by Herodios at 1:33 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Agreed on "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight." It's somehow darker than "In the Air Tonight" IMO.

I can't say enough good things about the recent remaster of Invisible Touch. It's far and away #1 on my list of "things I didn't mind purchasing a second time."
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 1:34 PM on May 1, 2015

It's either "Home By The Sea" from "Genesis", or "Scenes From A Night's Dream" off of "And then there were three". Because I am a Little Nemo fangirl, damnit, and the idea of a pop song about that was the BEST THING EVER when I was twelve.
posted by egypturnash at 1:36 PM on May 1, 2015

Afterglow
posted by a.mosquito at 1:39 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

I really want to say "Abacab" or "Turn It On Again," but "Land of Confusion" is the song that sticks in my head. And am I the only one who feels that the melody to these lines from "That's All"

I could leave but I won't go
Though my heart might tell me so
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes

sounds exactly like the melody to these lines from Procul Harum's "The Milk of Human Kindness"?

Not content with my mistake
You behaved just like a snake
And you left me for a wasp without a sting
posted by ogooglebar at 1:40 PM on May 1, 2015

Abacab and Man on the Corner (Collins' best vocal, I think)

Abacab was a pretty good album.

Funny to follow this thread. You all must be younger; I was in high school in the '80s, and Genesis was **everywhere**, all over the radio. Christ. "Invisible Touch?" And then Phil Collins' solo album came out - Sussudio, anyone? No? Didn't think so - and then there was MORE Phil Collins on the radio, and I just got pretty sick of it all. So I changed the channel and instead listened to... Huey Lewis and the News and the Hooters, I guess.
posted by kgasmart at 1:41 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

Also I would like to note that my headcanon for "Silver Rainbow" involves alien abductions.
posted by egypturnash at 1:43 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

I misread this as "best post-Genesis Peter Gabriel song" and was getting very confused for a while there. Toss up between "Solsbury Hill" and "Mercy Street", for the record.

But answering the ACTUAL question, I really do have soft spots for "Invisible Touch" and "Follow You, Follow Me". Bonus semi-non-related: Katzenjammer's cover of "Land of Confusion". SPLENDID.
posted by angeline at 1:52 PM on May 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

I re-visit "Solsbury Hill" whenever I have a big decision to make or I need some courage to make a change in my life. It is, of course, about Gabriel's decision to leave Genesis and probably the best thing that came out of the whole breakup. Additionally, it looks like everyone in the band was so miserable during the Gabriel era, and conversely so joyful afterwards - Gabriel with his crazy, awesome videos and Genesis having fun with pop music.

So I conclude the split was good for both of them, and they were better afterwards. This seems to be the opinion of the market, too.

My favourite post-Gabriel song is kind of a toss-up betweet "Turn It On" or "Land of Confusion". Neither is anywhere near as good (IMHO) as pretty much any of the songs on Gabriel's Greatest Hits album.
posted by jimmythefish at 1:55 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

You all must be younger; I was in high school in the '80s . . .

I was in college when Peter Gabriel quit the band. So, no.
 
posted by Herodios at 2:00 PM on May 1, 2015

For some reason, "Driving the Last Spike" got completely overlooked, but it's so good it would have fit right in around the very best of the Gabriel-era stuff. Like, "Supper's Ready"-level of good.
posted by jbickers at 2:11 PM on May 1, 2015

"Mama", because my headcanon sez that Collins read up on all the cray-cray theories about "In the Air Tonight", cracked his knuckles, and chuckled to himself, "They think that ol' Phil has lost his marbles and is salting his lyrics with markers to the demons that lurk in his subconscious? Boy howdy, does ol' Phil have something for those rubes to chew on, oh yes sir."
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:14 PM on May 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

Are we also playing best post-Genesis Peter Gabriel songs? Because I have a very strong opinion on this.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:17 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Bonus semi-non-related: Katzenjammer's cover of "Land of Confusion". SPLENDID.

nice.
posted by philip-random at 2:20 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

My list:

Turn It On Again
Man On The Corner
Duke (pretty much the whole damn album)
Ripples
Blood On The Rooftops
Many Too Many and Say It's Alright Joe (off "And Then There Were Three")
That's All (this was the first 45 I ever owned, and the last song I forgot how to play on the piano)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:23 PM on May 1, 2015

Squonk or Trick of The Tail or um...god...maybe Dancing With The Moonlit Knight(Petter Gabriel? I honestly don't know)...or...wait...how about...
posted by damnitkage at 2:23 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

That's All (this was the first 45 I ever owned, and the last song I forgot how to play on the piano)

That last verse where Phil Collins suddenly sounds much more urgent - is that an octave jump or a key change or is he just singing with more urgency? Whatever it is, its a great hook and makes the song for me.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:25 PM on May 1, 2015

It's an epic meditation on intangibility.
No it's a sonic cathedral of sound.

Gentlepersons, gentlepersons! It's a floor wax and a dessert topping!

Alternative: "Hey, you got your epic meditation in my sonic cathedral!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:26 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

From "Duke", the "Behind the Lines" songs (I dunno, they all kind of run together in a theme I guess).

Heathens.
posted by disclaimer at 2:31 PM on May 1, 2015

Genesis. (The full American Psycho chapter.)
posted by chavenet at 2:36 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I agree with the murderer, Phil-era Genesis rules. It's just fun but slightly sad Dad-pop. 70s Genesis is snoozeriffiic prog gargling.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:49 PM on May 1, 2015

I do think the studio side from Three Sides Live is pretty epic, an astounding collection of 'discarded' tracks from the Duke sessions.
"Paperlate," "You Might Recall," and "Me and Virgil" are outtakes from Abacab and were also released on the 3X3 EP.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:58 PM on May 1, 2015

I had no idea that 'All I Need Is A Miracle' and 'Silent Running' were both Mike & The Mechanics.

Well, the singer on "Silent Running" was Paul Carrack, who will only be in your band if he can sing your biggest hit. See also: Squeeze's "Tempted" and Ace's "How Long."
posted by kirkaracha at 3:10 PM on May 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

First off: Land of Confusion. Secondly, Solsbury Hill has been amusingly ruined for me by this.
posted by umberto at 3:12 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Phil Collins quits music, apologizes for his success.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 3:16 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Home by the Sea and Land of Confusion are pretty much tied for me, but oh, Follow You, Follow me when somebody just broke up with you and you're hurting was always just right in the sweet spot of beautiful music to cry to, for me (especially the one on 3 Sides Live).
posted by Mchelly at 3:28 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I wonder how many people scrolled past the "American Psycho" quote in this thread without recognizing it ..... :)
posted by webmutant at 3:28 PM on May 1, 2015

I love "You're No Son of Mine" and another vote for "Jesus He Knows Me"
posted by rancher at 3:38 PM on May 1, 2015

"That's All" was one of the first 45s I owned, and it must have been when I was 4 because I played it at my family's old house. My favorite Phil Genesis song is "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight." But the best one is "Land of Confusion."
posted by infinitewindow at 3:44 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Warning: website loads at 300 baud.
posted by clvrmnky at 3:48 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Phil Collins quits music, apologizes for his success.

poor guy gets blamed even when it wasn't him.

No, it was not a f**king Phil Collins song!
posted by philip-random at 3:50 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

I always heard "Me and Sarah Jane, we had a special thing going" as "Me and Sarah Jane, we had this fishsucking going" and I was confused about what the band was up to. But in my adolescent nerd girl way, I thought it was just some cool thing I wasn't familiar with, like the marijuana or cable TV.

I always liked it when they sounded a bit dirty, like Mama and Tonight Tonight Tonight. But I also have to put in a vote for Duchess and particularly Guide Vocal, which were both involved in my second real crush giving me my first real kiss. Ah, youth.
posted by onlyconnect at 4:03 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Not sure I can answer the question as put, but Trick of the Tail is my favourite Genesis album: I like Watcher of the Skies or Musical Box or Supper's Ready, but I'm not sure I want to listen to the whole record, whereas Trick of the Tail is pleasure all the way through. Wind and Wuthering similar but nowhere near as arresting.
posted by Grangousier at 4:03 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

Voting the title song from A Trick of the Tail. Or maybe Ripples. I dunno.

I'm firmly in the camp that post-Gabriel Genesis has two albums to offer, and post-Hackett has little. It's not bad in any sort of objective sense; it just may as well be a different band appealing to a different audience.
posted by solarion at 4:41 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think that Tony Banks made Genesis fun while Steve Hackett made them interesting. Trick of the Tail is my favorite Genesis album to listen to as an album.
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 4:46 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm so happy to see the late-thread love for A Trick of the Tale . When my college roommate, eons ago, decided that I needed to understand that Genesis was oh-so-much-more than the 80s pop radio hits, he used this album as the introduction. Certain moments on this album still make time stand still for me.
posted by vverse23 at 4:53 PM on May 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Keep It Dark and Dodo are fun.
posted by stevil at 5:35 PM on May 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

So this thread is NOT about Michelle Pfeiffer trying to reform inner-city school children through the power of poetry and love.

I am a sad.
posted by Fizz at 5:49 PM on May 1, 2015

young girls are coming to the canyon ...

never mind, that's michelle phillips
posted by pyramid termite at 5:56 PM on May 1, 2015

I want to see the movie for which The Brazilian is the soundtrack.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Abacab and Invisible Touch are two albums that evoke very specific times and places for me (I can still clearly picture in my head listening to the Invisible Touch LP or the Abacab cassette for the first time ). There are so many songs but I'm going to reluctantly pare the list down and go with "Man on the Corner". "Land of Confusion" lost out based on that fucking puppet video, it gets better if you open two YouTube tabs and watch the video of Disturbed's cover on mute while listening to the audio from the original video.
posted by MikeMc at 6:21 PM on May 1, 2015

well, I guess I'm gonna finally listen to a bunch of genesis albums
/girds loins
posted by the bricabrac man at 6:24 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Abacab and Turn It On Again are absolutely great pop songs, no doubt.

But I don't get Tonight Tonight Tonight. The man can clearly compose a solid tune when he wants to, but TTT I thought was lyrically so Generic Phil that I thought it was something he did specifically for Michelob - as in, I thought they asked him to write a song that fit their campaign at the time (like when Steve Winwood did Don't You Know What The Night Can Do) and so he did. Only later did I learn both artists had composed these songs before Michelob even spoke to them. Which helped me understand how advertisers have a keen ear for creating mood and tugging at emotions in song. The guy who co-wrote the near-perfect God Only Knows went on to write a slew of commercial jingles, after all.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:26 PM on May 1, 2015

I've long had a recurring nightmare. I'm forced to sit through a documentary called "The Cinema of Phil Collins".
posted by juiceCake at 8:17 PM on May 1, 2015

For some reason I've never forgotten that episode of Miami Vice he did, which like all that series cannot be seen in its original form right now: they've WKRP'd the soundtrack, replacing the hits with generic auditory sludge. But they had the unexpected sense to leave his "Rat Race" in it, since it actually touched on a plot element. Anyway I liked him in it. I wearied of his oeuvre at the time -- he'd have been better with half as many hits -- but he seemed like a terrific guy.
posted by George_Spiggott at 8:36 PM on May 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Metafilter - don't just stare at it, eat it.
posted by benzenedream at 9:43 PM on May 1, 2015

The answer is undefined.
posted by telstar at 12:14 AM on May 2, 2015

"Land of Confusion" lost out based on that fucking puppet video

Philistine.

I wonder how many people scrolled past the "American Psycho" quote in this thread without recognizing it

So obvious it's mentioned in the original article. But the great clodhopping foot of nerd humour always finds a home in MetaFilter.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:37 AM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

In Your Eyes.

Duh.

don't watch the video don't watch the video don't watch the video
posted by clarknova at 3:37 AM on May 2, 2015

TurnitonAgainPaperlateAnotherHomebytheSeaAbacab

Easy.

Both PG and Genesis (up to 1986) were better for the split. There, I said it.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:53 AM on May 2, 2015

Only one other vote for Keep It Dark, hrm?

I was a slobbering, SLOBBERING PG fan in highschool, and for whatever reason had accumulated a bunch of Banks solo stuff, but Genesis never really gelled for me.
posted by hearthpig at 6:40 AM on May 2, 2015

No love for "Domino"? You disappoint me, students.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 6:52 AM on May 2, 2015

Post-Peter Genesis song? The album version of Abacab or the Ray Wilson era song Congo. I'm not even kidding.
posted by KingEdRa at 8:29 AM on May 2, 2015

Only one other vote for Keep It Dark, hrm?

Keep it Dark's about as late as I can go with Genesis ... in terms of still caring in a good way. Me and Sarah Jane is also nice from Abacab.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say I feel it's all diminishing returns from the moment Mr. Gabriel left the band. Trick of the Tail was nice, even astonishing in places, but it was no Lamb Lies Down on Broadway or Selling England by the Pound. Wind + Wuthering was pretty darned strong as well. I'd say that One For the Vine qualifies as astonishing, certainly from that sudden break in the middle onward ...

Then Steve Hackett left. Which isn't to say And Then There Were Three was a disaster. It wasn't. It had its moments, but one word I wouldn't be using anymore is astonishing. And then came Duke which I really, truly tried to love at the time. It certainly had some great, great music on it, but something else was going on that I just couldn't ignore anymore. Which is that the culture had shifted. I mean, look no further than Peter Gabriel's third solo album.

Seriously, look at it. Hard to believe that this guy was ever even on the same planet as these guys. And I knew which planet I was interested in exploring.

So yeah, I didn't hate Abacab but it just didn't mean that much to me ... and Mr. Collins, having found himself as a vocalist, was really starting to grate, because I didn't like what he'd found. And so on, such that by the time that Genesis (the album) arrived in 1983, I honestly just didn't care anymore (like the Phil Collins song). Or more to the point -- there was way too much other fresher stuff wanting my attention.

Not that I didn't go see them live around then. But the only true highlight as far as I was concerned was from Trick of the Tale, and an instrumental* at that.

* clip is from 1987 but it's pretty much as I remember it.
posted by philip-random at 9:49 AM on May 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Now I want like 100 more threads where we argue kind of lazily about 80s music.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:59 AM on May 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

METAFILTER: where we argue kind of lazily about 80s music.
posted by philip-random at 10:12 AM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

You Might Recall - do not listen after a breakup

Illegal Alien - but the music only
posted by kurumi at 12:58 PM on May 2, 2015

Last year's Genesis documentary, 'Sum of The Parts' was interesting mostly in how clearly they still loathe each other these days. Most documentaries about old-fart bands, they tend to have gotten over most of the ancient acrimony that almost always festered between successful band members of that era: not these guys. They made token efforts in the group interviews to keep it under wraps, with limited success at best.

A little sad, because I prefer to see people get old and wise rather than just old and shitty, but so it goes.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:50 PM on May 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Okay, so now that it's just the die-hards left here in the thread, Home By The Sea is actually about Cthulhu, right?
posted by Mchelly at 7:56 PM on May 2, 2015 [6 favorites]

I would gladly retract my previous comment were this so.
posted by philip-random at 12:25 AM on May 3, 2015

Oh. I thought it was about going on summer beach vacations with your extended family.
posted by onlyconnect at 1:28 PM on May 3, 2015

For the benefit of the unknowing, it's really about ghosts, but I'm really intrigued by the Cthulu interpretation.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:47 PM on May 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thief breaks into a haunted house (by the sea) and is then trapped by the ghosts who force him to relive their lives until he becomes one of them. Really pretty dreadful when you think about it in its mundanity (which the lyric also points out).
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:35 PM on May 3, 2015

Keep it Dark. Has an almost emo kind of feel to it at the beginning.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 6:53 PM on May 3, 2015

Okay, so now that it's just the die-hards left here in the thread, Home By The Sea is actually about Cthulhu, right?

Back when I was around 14 and playing D&D, my buddy DM'd a module based on Home By The Sea. He probably would have made it explicitly Cthulhu, if we'd had any idea what that was.
posted by Pink Frost at 12:47 AM on May 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

COLD WAR PTSD ALERT

COLD WAR PTSD ALERT

THE LINK HIPPYBEAR POSTED IS TO "WHEN THE WIND BLOWS"

COLD WAR PTSD SUFFERERS STAY AWAY
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:38 AM on May 4, 2015

Squonk.
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:24 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]