h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I used to listen to Genesis incessantly during the greasy throes of adolescence. In fact - I saw them twice in one week. The second time was a re-union with Peter Gabriel in Milton Keynes, at which occasion my closest friend chose to come out. Which is all I remember.

It was only later in life that I discovered music. And to think of what was going on nearby during the same period. I was born and raised in Liverpool - then a thriving hub of musical activity. Give me The Mighty Wah! any day.

Still....say what you will about Genesis....the worst progrock abonimation of all time award goes to....Yes.

As this isn't exactly a busy thread, i thought i'd jump in here.
Yes had their moments surely?
I heard "long distance runaround" on the radio this week and thought "what a good time to form a YES tribute band, Probably called "NO""
Just made me want to get up and get my turntable out of the attic and get "FRAGILE" blasting out into the 2001 night.
Look at all those lovely album covers.
bye...

I loved "Yes". I remember listening to Tales From Topographic Oceans endlessly trying to decipher totally incomprehensible lyrics. The frightening thing was that the drunker you were, the more sense they made. Oh and Jon Anderson's singing....brilliant. It seemed to be in the octaves off the right hand side of the piano!

ELP were without a doubt the mightiest pile of sh**e in prog. Genesis had their moments of genius in the early days. Yes had their prettier moments - And you and I anyone? ELP were the worst, I mean, no guitars... Behold the mighty Tarkus!!!


Deebank

PS - What's up Badger, metal bashing not giving you enough to do?

I couldn't agree more.ELP is probably the worst idea any given
threesome ever came to, with the possible exception of the summit in Jalta. Yes and Genesis 70's opus is everything pop
music should be.What happened to those people afterwards is more of a mystery.
Less said about punk, the better.Talk about pretension!The movement concieved by a bunch of pompous,arty-farty decadents marketed and sold as a genuine rebelion of a working class!?AAAAARRGGHH!!!

They still rule!!

Yes are still together, still releasing great albums and still touring. Their last album, Magnification, (2001) was superb.
The fact is Yes were way ahead of their time, back in the 70s. Their music is a blend of rock/classical/jazz/world, composed and played by "proper" musicians. It was written off by some critics at the time, but only because it wasn't basic pop.

See A925797

Genesis were also a great band; though not as musically gifted as Yes, they were more 'folk'-influenced.

'Folk'-influenced?!!!!

There was surely an English folky-feel to some of their early stuff; eg. Battle of Epping Forest, Cinema Show, For Absent Friends, Harlequin, Harold the Barrel, Seven Stones, Aisle of Plenty and others. I see why you would be puzzled by this statement, because they took it into a Prog Rock form, a bit like Jethro Tull did. They made it their own sound. This is all IMHO of course.

Jethro Tull - I can see the folk connection there (Songs From the Wood and all that) but I just can't see it with Genesis. Except maybe Horizons - at a push. Most of their stuff has so much power and ................. just can't come up with the right term at the moment - emotion? ("Why don't you touch me, touch me.......") I wouldn't have said that arose from folk.

I know exactly what you mean about Power, but I'm not saying they were folk - just that it was an influence, in the mix with all the others. The song you quote from contains an Olde English nursery rhyme - that's about as folky as you could possibly get. Maybe your idea of folk is different from mine. I mean English humour, acoustic guitar, earthy tales and story (- tale-telling). It is quintessential Englishness. It came out later too, in Mad Man Moon and Robbery, Assault and Battery. Bands like Yes and Led Zep never sang about muddy pitches in Newcastle or the honest rogues of London Town. That's cheerful old English Folk in there, with all the rock power and other influences added for good measure.

I suppose their influences were many and varied. Perhaps that's what makes the music so interesting.

Definitely interesting.

Apparently Jon Anderson is really into Sibelius!!!

That makes sense.