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''Genesis'' is the twelfth studio album by English rock band
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
, released on 3 October 1983 by Charisma and
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
in the UK and by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
in the US and Canada. Following the band's tour in support of their 1982 live album ''
Three Sides Live ''Three Sides Live'' is the third live album by the English rock band Genesis, released as a double album on 4 June 1982 on Charisma Records in the United Kingdom. It was released by Atlantic Records in the United States. After touring in suppo ...
'', Genesis took an eight-month break before they regrouped in the spring of 1983 to record a new album. It is their first written and recorded in its entirety at their studio named The Farm in Chiddingfold, Surrey, and the songs were developed through jam sessions in the studio with nothing written beforehand.
Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 1 ...
returned as their engineer. ''Genesis'' was the group's greatest commercial success at the time of release, becoming the band's third straight album to reach on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
. It also reached No. 9 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, where it sold over 4 million copies. Five singles were released between 1983 and 1984; "
Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...
" was the lead single and remains the highest charting Genesis single in the UK, reaching . While "Mama" stalled on the US charts, follow-up single " That's All" reached there and became the band's first US top 10 hit. The band toured the album in 1983 and 1984, recordings from which formed the concert video '' Genesis Live: The Mama Tour''. In 1985, the album received a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nomination for
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...
and "
Second Home by the Sea "Home by the Sea" and "Second Home by the Sea" is a suite of two songs by English rock band Genesis. It first appeared on their eponymous album in 1983. The lyrics were written by keyboardist Tony Banks and the music was written by the whole ba ...
" was nominated for
Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...
. In 2007, the album was re-released with new stereo and
5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...
mixes.


Background

In October 1982, the Genesis line-up of drummer/singer
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, with live drummer
Chester Thompson Chester Cortez Thompson (born December 11, 1948) is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, the progressive rock band Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo artist. Thomp ...
and live guitarist
Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and albums. He has ...
, wrapped their two-month tour of North America and Europe in support of the band's third live album, ''
Three Sides Live ''Three Sides Live'' is the third live album by the English rock band Genesis, released as a double album on 4 June 1982 on Charisma Records in the United Kingdom. It was released by Atlantic Records in the United States. After touring in suppo ...
''. They had also performed a one-off gig titled
Six of the Best Six of the Best was a reunion concert between the rock band Genesis, their original lead singer Peter Gabriel and former guitarist Steve Hackett. It took place on a wet Saturday, 2 October 1982, at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshir ...
with original Genesis frontman and singer
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
and former guitarist Steve Hackett to raise funds for Gabriel's world music festival WOMAD after it ran into financial trouble. Genesis then entered a period of inactivity, during which the band pursued their solo projects.


Writing and recording

In the spring of 1983, the band reconvened at their studio, named The Farm in Chiddingfold, Surrey, to start work on a new studio album, their first since ''
Abacab ''Abacab'' is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, ''Duke'' (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1 ...
'' (1981). ''Genesis'' became their first album written, recorded, and mixed in its entirety at the studio room; previously they had to write in an adjoining space. Having the group work in their own space without the additional pressure of booking studio time and fees resulted in a more relaxed environment. They were joined by engineer
Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 1 ...
, who had also worked on ''Abacab'', but this time carried out production duties themselves with Geoff Callingham offering technical assistance. Rutherford recalled an initial period of slow and sluggish progress, but after a particularly productive session on the third day they had "two or three" songs worked out, which increased their interest and excitement towards the album and in performing the new material on stage. Before the sessions began, the group considered the idea of Banks or Rutherford taking on a lead vocal on the album, but opted out as they had developed material with Collins's voice in mind. Banks said that he and Rutherford take a more prominent role in the backing vocals on ''Genesis'' than previous albums. Banks explained the album was the result of the group's decision to "write an album and record it in one go, from start to finish". The group considered their strongest material had been put together collectively, so they decided to make an entire album in such a way as opposed to developing someone's pre-arranged ideas. Before, each member would contribute fully or partially arranged songs, which restricted development or suggestions from the other members. This time tracks came about through jamming and improvisations in the studio that were recorded onto tape, ensuring the band remained unified and kept songs fresh. Banks noted that this made recording more exciting and spontaneous. This collaborative effort marked a return for Genesis crediting each member for writing the album as opposed to listing individual credits, which they had not done since '' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'' (1974). The collaborative effort also had an influence on the album's title as the group were unable to come up with a suitable name, so they used ''Genesis'' to emphasise the fact that it was written collectively. The main keyboards that Banks used on the album are the Prophet 10,
Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the early 1 ...
, an
E-mu Emulator The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy disk storage, manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary m ...
, a Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, and an ARP Quadra on "Mama". At one point on the album, a sample from the soundtrack to '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) is used. Collins said: "You play a chord and a half of it's going at half the speed and part at twice the speed, sounds beautiful." Collins plays on a
Simmons Simmons may refer to: * Simmons (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Simmons, Kentucky, unincorporated community, United States *Simmons, Missouri, unincorporated community, United States * Simmons (Red vs. Blue), a fictional cha ...
electronic drum kit.


Songs

''Genesis'' displays the group moving towards shorter, more straightforward, and radio friendly songs. Rutherford said that the band had gone as far as they could with their
progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
and
art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
direction that they had adopted since the early 1970s and wanted to write and record in a more relaxed approach as previously, the band were more driven to present what they had to offer. Banks considered the music, and overall sound of ''Genesis'', something that the band had longed for many years prior, specifically its more aggressive edge. He described side one as the "main act", while side two has the "character pieces".


"Mama"

"
Mama Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...
" originated during a group jam session where Rutherford was experimenting with a
Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...
electronic drum machine fed through a
gated reverb Gated reverb or gated ambience is an audio processing technique that combines strong reverb and a noise gate. The effect is often associated with the sound of 1980s British popular music. It was developed in 1979 by producer Steve Lillywhite and e ...
and a
Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a s ...
amplifier, and "turned up incredibly loud" to the point of amplifiers jumping off the studio floor. Collins was influenced to go for a vocal that resembled
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's style on his cover of " Be-Bop-a-Lula" on the song's verses. His laugh was influenced by the 1982 song " The Message" by hip hop band Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, which features a similar sound. Padgham had brought the single to the band and upon hearing it, Collins did the laugh during the subsequent improvisation session for "Mama", which the band liked and wished to use in the song. The group had doubts as to whether Collins could recreate the laugh on stage, but he had no problems. When it came to picking a song as the album's lead single, Rutherford expected Genesis manager Tony Smith and record label staff to pick another track than "Mama", but said "full marks to them, they agreed we should go with something that was a bit different". Rutherford later rated "Mama" as one of the best songs on the album, and was pleased with its commercial performance after the band found singles chart success with a song that represented what Genesis "were all about" at the time. During one session, the band had a koto in the studio, which was recorded through the E-mu Emulator and used as a sample for the song's percussion effect, partly because Banks had tried other options and could not get another sound to fit.


Other songs

" That's All" originated from Banks's simple piano riff, which was followed by a drum pattern that instantly gave off a mood that the band wanted to develop further. Each member cited
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
as an influence for the song; Collins said his drumming was in tribute to the style of their drummer,
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
, one of his drumming influences. The organ solo is played using a preset on the Synclavier imitating a Hammond B-3 organ, despite the reverse seen in the song's music video. Banks's riff came about from taking a sample in the E-mu Emulator and playing two notes of it simultaneously, which generated a new one. "
Home by the Sea "Home by the Sea" and "Second Home by the Sea" is a suite of two songs by English rock band Genesis. It first appeared on their eponymous album in 1983. The lyrics were written by keyboardist Tony Banks and the music was written by the whole ba ...
" tells the story of a burglar who breaks into a house only to find it is haunted by ghosts, who capture him and then force him to listen to their life stories. Collins had repeated the phrase "home by the sea" while putting down dummy vocals at a time when Banks was writing lyrical ideas, and used the phrase to conjure up the story. The song originated with the band playing along to their Linn drum machine, during which Banks and Rutherford devised a guide theme on the keyboard and guitar, respectively, and Collins a vocal outline. With the guide parts laid out, the band then had a format as to its mood and how the song would take shape and developed it into a complete track. When the three were happy with what came out from it, they re-recorded the song individually onto tape with Collins replacing the Linn drum tracks with his own. The former track segues into "Second Home by the Sea", a mostly instrumental piece developed from a group improvisation that began with Collins playing a drum riff which Banks and Rutherford liked and joined in. The working title was "Heavy Simmonds", a reference to Collins' playing. Banks said the group spent around two hours jamming on the idea on one day, followed by a second jam of equal length on the next. They then took the parts from both jams they liked best and organised them into one cohesive arrangement, which required them to re-learn what they had put down to record it as one piece. Banks said the loose idea behind the instrumental section was to represent the former lives of the ghosts. The track ends with a reprise of "Home by the Sea". " Illegal Alien", with lyrics from Rutherford, is about illegal immigrants and their attempts to cross the border into the United States for a better life. Collins aimed for a more adventurous style of drumming and went through a number of different styles, noting what he ended up playing was perhaps more than what the song called for. The chosen style was "that basic rock-and-roll part-two and four on the snare, one and three on the bass. That's what made the tune work". It opens with sound effects of car horns and telephones that Banks played on his E-mu Emulator sampler, which he found particularly exciting to record and incorporate into the music. Collins felt more pleased with his drumming on "Mama" and "Illegal Alien" than on the band's more intricate tracks such as "Los Endos" from '' A Trick of the Tail''. Banks denied any racist implications the song appeared to have towards Mexicans, but said "it is a
tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...
thing" and in fact more sympathetic towards immigrants. "Silver Rainbow" has lyrics written by Banks, who wrote about people being senseless when they are in love. Collins described them as "romantic" and "lush". Its working title was "Adam" because it had a rhythm that the group felt resembled something by singer
Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
, and the band thought a lyric that matched the "juvenile" music would fit it best. "It's Gonna Get Better" features a keyboard introduction that Banks sampled from an album of classical music for cello, following a failed attempt to use it to obtain a quality string sound on his keyboard. He then played four notes simultaneously using the same sample that unexpectedly created a sound of interweaving harmonies, which he kept and used.


Cover art

The cover art was designed by English artist Bill Smith, who had also produced the artwork on ''
Abacab ''Abacab'' is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Genesis, released on 18 September 1981 by Charisma Records. After their 1980 tour in support of their previous album, ''Duke'' (1980), the band took a break before they reconvened in 1 ...
'' (1981). The front photograph originates from shapes from his one-year-old son's shape sorter toy that were left on the carpet after he had gone to bed.


Release

''Genesis'' was released on 3 October 1983 and distributed by Charisma and
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
in the United Kingdom and by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
in the United States. It reached No. 1 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
for one week from 15 October 1983 during a 51-week stay on the chart, and re-entered the chart for a total of 15 weeks between 1984 and 1987. The album peaked at No. 9 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...
during a 49-week stay. In the United Kingdom, the album reached
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
certification by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
on the day of release for shipment of 200,000 copies. In December 1983, the album reached Platinum certification and, in October 1987 reached double Platinum, the latter for selling 600,000 copies. Four singles from the album were released between August 1983 and June 1984. A 12-inch single was released with longer versions of "Mama" and "It's Gonna Get Better", the edit for the latter containing an extra verse and chorus. Genesis filmed promotional music videos for "Mama" and "Illegal Alien", both of which were filmed back to back on the same film set.


Critical reception

In his feature article on the band and the album in a September 1983 edition of '' Sounds'', writer Bill Black described ''Genesis'' as "an at times frustrating cocktail of the sassy songwriting" that Collins' solo albums apparently brought into the band's songs, "spiced with tantalizing reminders" of the band's more progressive and art rock past. He was critical of "It's Gonna Get Better", summarising it as "pure formula" and compared its backtracked keyboard sound to "cosmic Elgar", but rated "Mama" as "savage as you're likely to get with post Gabriel Genesis" and a notable departure from their earlier songs. The ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' reviewer determined that for this album Genesis "have traded technical complexity and ingenuity for an altogether more stunning simplicity", making "a Genesis album for people who normally hate Genesis" and "great music for the masses". In his retrospective review for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
criticised the album for lacking coherency, but found that a majority of the tracks are outstanding, "balancing such sleek, pulsating pop tunes as 'That's All' with a newfound touch for aching ballads." He also praised the band completely redefining themselves as a pop group. In
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
the album received a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nomination for
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...
while "Second Home by the Sea" was nominated for
Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...
. Mike Rutherford referred to this album as one of his favourite Genesis albums.


Track listing

All music written by Tony Banks,
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, and Mike Rutherford. Lyricists as noted. "It's Gonna Get Better" contains a sample of the opening cello part of a ballet suite written by Aram Khachaturian.


Personnel

Genesis * Mike Rutherford – guitars, bass, backing vocals *
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
– drums, vocals, percussion * Tony Banks – keyboards, backing vocals Production and artwork * Genesis – producers *
Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 1 ...
– producer, engineer * Geoff Callingham – technical assistance * Tony Smith – manager * Geoff Banks, Steve Jones, Dale and Clair Newman, Andy Mackrill, Jo Greenwood and all at Hit & Run Music – Without whom department * Bill Smith – sleeve design * Chris Peyton – sleeve adaptation (for The Redroom)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

Books * DVD media *


External links

* {{Authority control 1983 albums Genesis (band) albums Virgin Records albums Atlantic Records albums Charisma Records albums Vertigo Records albums Albums produced by Hugh Padgham Albums produced by Phil Collins Albums produced by Tony Banks (musician) Albums produced by Mike Rutherford