CATALOG CRAWL: GENESIS, Part 2 (1972-1973)

There are only a couple of years on display in this Catalog Crawl but they were crucial ones for Genesis. After establishing a prog rock beachhead via Trespass and Nursery Cryme, the 1972-1973 period found the group drawing on their newfound chemistry and capabilities to create a pair of the genre's finest studio albums plus a live set that revealed the band was as formidable on stage as they were in the studio. You could argue that the trio of albums presented in this Catalog Crawl represent the classic lineup of Genesis at its most unified and groundbreaking, delivering material that had complexity without sacrificing melody.

Members: Peter Gabriel (lead vocals, flute, recorder), Steve Hackett (lead guitar), Tony Banks (keyboards, vocals), Mike Rutherford (bass, guitar, vocals), Phil Collins (drums)

FOXTROT (1972): if Genesis discovered its potential on Nursery Cryme, that potential found its full flowering on this epic 52-minute opus. The band's symphonic side emerges as Hackett and Rutherford develop the textures and bombast of the guitar element while Banks does the same with his organ/mellotron combo and Collins gives the grandiose sound shape with crisp, elaborate percussion: listen to how the cosmic guitar and keyboard tapestries of "Watcher Of The Skies" are anchored by Collins' unique "morse code" groove.  Meanwhile, Gabriel's ability to enact multiple characterizations via vocal inflections gets full vent here, particularly on the satirical "Get 'Em Out By Friday," a prog-operetta with a downright Swiftian take on the apartment business. However, the key achievement here is "Supper's Ready," a 23-minute epic that never falters because it's a tightly-arranged suite of songs that offset strong melodies with hypnotic, mutating motifs, disciplined playing and lyrics that are by turns fanciful, witty and poignant, enacted with thespian power by Gabriel. Hidden gem: "Time Table," a lovely Banks-penned meditation on the battle between humanity's ideals and flaws.

GENESIS LIVE (1973): this was released at a budget price as a stopgap between studio projects but it is a valuable artifact for fans, providing a taste of what the band sounded like as their popularity was taking flight. Alas, you don't get to see Gabriel's exotic costumes and it's limited to a single disc but the tracks chosen show just how exciting progressive rock could be in concert. The tightrope quality of live performance adds extra intensity to material like "Get 'Em Out By Friday" and "Return Of The Giant Hogweed" but they remain just as densely woven as their studio counterparts. Gabriel also pushes his vocal cords to their limit here, really leaning into the acting side of his work as a vocalist here: listen for his frenzied pleading at the end of "The Musical Box." However, the biggest highlight here is the definitive rendition of "The Knife" from Trespass, which leaves the comparatively restrained studio version in the dust thanks to snarling guitar work from Hackett and furiously energetic drumming from Collins.

SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND (1973): A major fan favorite and perhaps the platonic ideal of what an English prog album from this era could achieve. If Foxtrot developed the complexity of the band's sound, this finds them coalescing into a chamber orchestra here: "Firth Of Fifth" is the perfect example of this, a stunner that packs a cinematic array of instrumental textures and dynamic shifts into just under ten minutes, plus a gorgeous classical piano intro and an emotive theme used as the basis for both recorder and guitar solos. Gabriel's gift for wordplay impresses on the gangster-themed "Battle Of Epping Forest," which is like a short story set to music, and both "The Cinema Show" and "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" mix surreal narratives full of fanciful allusions with an album's worth of melodic ideas. You even get an acoustic singer-songwriter piece in "More Fool Me" and the prog version of a pop single in "I Know What I Like." If Schlockmania had to introduce someone to progressive rock, this album would make an easy starting point.