It's late at night, and I am bored, so I thought I'd write half of this tonight, and the other half either tomorrow or Monday.
I might as well outline my "review format". I am a strong believer in breaking down each song on its own, but then also writing a short review on the album as a whole. Most reviewers seem to do one or the other. I prefer both. Individual songs can be great, but what about the whole album? The Knife is a classic, yes, but that doesn't make Trespass a great album on its own. Get the drift? I am a critical critic also (I am not going to give every song or album a 9 or 10), unlike most Genesis fans seem to be.
In that case, here goes....
Trespass is a very interesting album. When I was little, I hated it. To me, it was boring. However, more than any other Genesis album, it has slowly grown on me as I have gotten older. As I vaguely mentioned earlier, "The Knife" is a classic, and is one of my favorite tunes of either Genesis era. I liked it right away. It was the rest of the album that made me want to go play some SNES, or just about anything else. That has changed, though.
Looking for Someone (6.5/10)
This is one of the more musically powerful songs on the album, which isn't saying much. Peter's voice carrying the beginning is unique, something we really wouldn't see again until "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" three albums later. It works much better there. I really think the lyrics in this song are not up to par, and are much more comparable to the easily forgettable (and rightly so) "From Genesis to Revelation". Again, though, the musicianship is pretty good, with the OBOE making an appearance, and Banks playing straight piano for most of the song. To me, it's a positive though because it definitively represents a shift from the King-era Genesis to the post-King era. Not a bad way to start off the album. I do like the spooky oboe at the end as well. Kinda creepy.
White Mountain (6.5/10)
This song gets hated on a lot in reviews as one of their worst songs in the ol' catalogue. I disagree, but only for a certain reason. It does not stand out much in any way, but it is essential to the future of Genesis, as Pete's storytelling style of lyrics was undoubtedly born in this song. It's about Fang and Great Fang (?) and the chorus lines are kinda catchy. That's about all it has going for it. The lyrics aren't even that strong, but again, Pete, telling stories, it's what Genesis would come to be known by in the next three to five years.
Visions of Angels (5.5/10)
This song is kinda boring. Again, this is another song looking backwards towards FGTR, but only partly. It's more of an evolution of those songs to the next step, as it sounds like a song about love, but not in the obvious fabric of previous Genesis efforts. Actually, I find the lyrics in this song to be kinda creepy. It's a happy sounding sad song! Weird. I don't really care for it though, personally. Pete just doesn't sound like the Pete I have come to know in his song.
Stagnation (7.5/10)
When I was younger, near the beginning of my Genesis-listening days, I used to skip this song. I actually continued to skip this song, save for a couple plays here and there. However, once I read Joe McGlinchey at Ground and Sky talking about how much he loved this song (I believe he said it was his favorite Genesis song of all time), I had to take a hard listen to it. Joe was right! This song is a pretty good one from back to front. It's a precursor of "Twilight Alehouse" , as in that it seems to be a song about drinking (as it's right there in the song). I like the buildup to the end, it's an effective climax in my mind considering the mood of the album thus far. At this point, it's my favorite song on the album. Pete's voice is also at its most effective on the album (until "The Knife" at least). I like this song, and would include on an early-era Genesis mix of sorts.
Dusk (4/10)
I hate this song. I have given it a chance too many times. It's just not a very good song. Considering it's sandwiched in between my two favorite songs on the album, you would be accurate in guessing I would go to the bathroom while I was listening to this song, or that I would find a McDonalds and order some snack wraps so I could turn the volume down in my car. Not to disrespect this song, but I don't really have anything to say about it.
The Knife (9.2/10)
Why a 9.2? I don't know. A 9 seems too low, and a 9.5 seems a bit too high. Instantly you can tell this song is about ready to explode your speakers when you put it on (hopefully you play your Genesis loud like I do). It starts off with a bang, and continues until the bridge in the middle, where you can tell stuff is about to go off. This makes it unique to the rest of the album in the fact that when it's not loud, you can tell it's about ready to get that way. A classic, as Phillips' guitar solo rocks the 5:30 mark and continues to build up until the end, which is one of my favorite portions of any Genesis song. I almost broke my hand jamming the end on my steering wheel (don't worry, I eventually do break a finger, you'll find out what song and what album later on). Banks' keyboard is awesome mixed in with the guitar riff; another sign of things to come. It's also a politically powerful song, but I gave up exactly what they were trying to get at a long time ago. Even after three years of college, I don't really know. Does anyone though, ever? Overall, perhaps the top song from their first two major outputs. A great way to end the album. If I was around in 1970, I would have been damn excited to find out what was coming out next.
So there's the song-by-song diagnosis. I'll be writing the album overview tomorrow.
