The Stars at Night Are Big and Bright!

Iris | he/him | bisexual | white American | Christian | adult | ADHD

I'm also an author, as right now I am primarily working on an urban fantasy web novel called Deep In The Heart.

Deep In The Heart on RoyalRoad: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/37012/deep-in-the-heart

Deep In The Heart on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27184687

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/irislydian.bsky.social

Watcher of the Skies This is Genesis at their most pretentious, at their most ivory tower hoity-toity, and I'm absolutely here for it. An existential sci-fi story about a "Watcher" from outer space finding Earth abandoned and wondering if we died, or if we just left for somewhere else. Introduced by a quite literally legendary synth instrumental section, accompanied by a driving 5/4 bass riff inspired by Gustav Holst's "Mars," everything comes together to give this song a grand, cosmic feeling. Ever the awkward lyrics help with this; it is being sung from the point of view of some alien being we don't understand. The bass riff seems to get frantic under an instrumental outro that starts pained before pulling back and hitting with one last magnificent chord. Good stuff.

Time Table A track I found myself appreciating more and more as the years gone on. A quieter song about the cycle of war and violence with a quirky chord progression and off-beat chorus. I can't quite place the instrument playing in the post-chorus section, but it really helps give the song an ancient feeling.

Get 'Em Out By Friday Maybe the first Genesis song I'd call overtly political. A sci-fi satire of the greed-centered housing market and how it affects families. Gabriel uses his chameleon vocal powers to place several characters in the conflict. I'm particularly fond of this soft, peaceful section where a renter weighs the decision to move out to a new flat. Fun fact, that part was written by guitarist Steve Hackett's brother. The real strength of the song comes in its extended bridge. An empty, ominous flute/organ duet builds into a truly sinister plot twist, that an agency called "Genetic Control" is going to be altering human biology to help consolidate the housing market, followed by a steadily building discussion in a bar that peaks into a tortured yell from Gabriel. They say that good satire ages better and better the older it is, and this song certainly fits the bill, and its music composition comes together with the themes to create some truly excellent musical moments.

Can-Utility and the Coastliners I have long thought this is one of the most underrated Genesis songs- perhaps because I was sold on it by an excellent orchestral rendition from London Symphony's "We Know What We Like" album. The familiar tinkling guitars give the beginning a fairy tale quality as the lyrics discuss King Canute's dissatisfaction with the worship he receives as king. Then the song breaks into this insanely epic second half where the instrumentals flex hard- mood-setting string chords, biting riffs, and groovy meter changes leading into a fanfare finale as the vocals send off the story with its ominous final message. V for Vendetta put it well: "A people should not fear their government; a government should fear its people."

Horizons A pretty guitar rendition of Bach's Cello Suite. As the most unassuming song on the album I have nothing else to say about it. On the vinyl release of the album, this song was the only track on the B side of the album, other than...

Supper's Ready There's so much I could say about this track- seven parts all forming a transcendent spiritual journey which my brain still picks at all these years later. I don't even know where to start with this one. I guess at the beginning. A peaceful guitar part that constantly shifts tonalities (I transcribed this entire song in a music notebook and it's fucking insane how many times this part changes keys) sets the stay of a strange, supernatural encounter, that sends this couple on their odd journey, first heralded by the first of many great instrumental sections that keeps the mood mystical under a steadily intensifying organ (or accordion?) solo. The song seamlessly transitions into the more exciting second section, introducing the dastardly "guaranteed eternal sanctuary man," before abruptly cutting off and leading into a hauntingly cheerful battle section that further details the strange sci-fi ways this figure has perverted faith. Then... things get weird. Narcissus sits in the midst of the pile of corpses only to turn into... A FLOWAH Things get bizarre, to the point of near-hilarity, as everything starts transforming into... whatever. A whistle blows, and things begin to melt... special shoutout to Gabriel's delivery of "MOTHER I WANT YOU NOW" breaking up the sickeningly cheerful middle section and bringing us back to the A part. Then... a four-chorus flute solo that builds and builds into the literal apocalypse. Words can't describe the awe. The odd 9/8- not the usual 3+3+3 but a strange 2+2+2+3- backdrop at first kicks off frightening imagery from Revelations, until giving way to maybe the best rock organ solo of all time? It doesn't even sync up with the ostinato, at all, but for some reason that makes it better- I suppose it highlights the truly overwhelming otherworldly nature of this sequence. Then, the vocals come back in the actual most chad way possible. The organ twists upward into a piercing trill as you can hear, uh, wild geese, for some reason- then BAM. Huge organ chord as Gabriel literally belts out "SIX SIX SIX!" I'm still geeking out about it! And then the transcendent relief of the finale. I'm not even sure how to describe it- somehow exciting and slow at the same time, it really sells the ending of this strange journey. Then the he belts the line the gave our fictional town its name. So yeah. I'm thinking it's peak.

I forgot to write an "overview" of Foxtrot when I originally posted this, but suffice to say I think this album is GOATed.

The Musical Box The track feels like a sort of synthesis between "The Knife" and the rest of Trespass. The soft, tinkling guitars juxtaposed against guttural, hard rocking instrumental sections. While not the most expertly composed instrumental break, it certainly succeeds in being exciting. The track also starts the fairy tale/mythic vibe of the album... I think. From what I can tell, the song is about a dude waking up from a coma and then being extremely horny. I think I remember some supplementary material saying it was about a genie. So, who knows.

For Absent Friends A short, but sweet and sentimental song. I wish it were longer, as it is it doesn't have time to leave much of an impression, but I enjoy it for what it is.

Return of the Giant Hogweed This track is a fun time- an absurd sci-fi tale about the "Giant Hogweed" threatening humanity. The music balances a sense of whimsy with a sense of danger brought on by crunching electric guitar riffs. Not too much to say about this one.

Seven Stones The weakest song on the album. While some of the chords are grandiose and some of the hooks are catchy, I get the sense that there's something missing from it. Maybe it's the oddly sparse drumming from Phil Collins. (By the way, did you know that this is when Phil Collins joined the band? And even sang his first track- "For Absent Friends" had him on vocals, and "Harlequin" features him duetting with Peter Gabriel.) Or maybe it's the, in my opinion, misguided decision to have the second chorus be much softer. Ultimately the song is not quite the sum of its parts.

Harold the Barrel The first instance of one of Genesis's more comedic songs, which would become a staple. Also the first time Peter Gabriel made use of his chameleon-like ability to play different characters in his vocal performance. This one is a dark comedy about a crowd's increasingly silly attempts to prevent a man from jumping off the roof. This one does get some good laughs out of me- particularly Gabriel's delivery of "YOU MUST BE JOKING" in the chorus and the attempt to have him come down by getting his mother to scold him.

Harlequin I think this is a rather underrated little song. It's a beautiful, serene duet between Collins and Gabriel- I kinda wish they had done stuff like this more, to be honest. I have no idea what the words are talking about, but the descriptions of the landscape are very pretty.

The Fountain Of Salmacis This is their first "story song" that feels truly epic. The musical flourishes and occasional choral touches make the formation of Hermaphroditus feel grand. (Not saying a slur, that's the name of the character.) The production in this is a little muddy at part, so I'd recommend checking out the New Stereo Mix version of the album, which cleans up this song nicely. Gabriel's expressive vocals are once again doing good work, along with the instrumentals that run the gambit of mystery, thrill and awe.

And that's the album. Overall this album is pretty good. More consistent and solid that Trespass even if the highs aren't quite as high in my opinion. This feels like the Genesis we know now starting to form and establish their own identity.

Last year, I put ton the Gabriel-era Genesis albums and tried to listen to them with fresh, attentive ears, and recorded my thoughts on each song in my Discord server. Re-reading this, some of my analysis is pretty good, so I'm going to repost a cleaned up version of these here.

To set expectations: I generally love all of these albums and songs, but I am critical of the uncommon moments that don't click with me. I skipped "From Genesis To Revelation" because it's the only album from the era I don't care for, and the reasons why would not make for an interesting review. I cover everything from Trespass to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I originally posted these with ratings out of 10, but I decided to omit them, except for one example where I thought the rating completed the review. And finally, there are two examples where a personal bias prevented me from an enjoying a song that I believe to be good on a technical songwriting level.

After running into Tumblr's character limit, I'm going to be posting these one album at a time.

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." -Benjamin Franklin

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27184687/chapters/221921526

With the OG five out of town, Kevin, Ruth, Charlotte, and Hannah fail to fulfill the planned walkout after infighting.