“Genesis: Song by Song”: A Review

In 1978, Genesis found themselves in a situation. Down two members, the triumvirate re-shuffled responsibilities, delegating additional duties where needed. Percussionist Phil Collins agreed to do more singing, while bassist Mike Rutherford overdubbed guitar solos over Tony Banks’ atmospheric keyboards. Resorting to jams, the trio stumbled upon “Follow You, Follow Me”, a power ballad that failed to move producer David Hentschel. Wiser studio heads prevailed, and the song was released as a romantic single. Genesis hedged their bets with the title, …And Then There Were Three…, but out of misfortune came good fortune, pointing them to the most lucrative juncture of their career.

Banks and Rutherford met at the Charterhouse school, forming the genesis of Genesis with fellow boarders Anthony Phillips and Peter Gabriel. This iteration worked on debut From Genesis to Revelation, a record that found an unlikely fan in Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher. “I became obsessed with early Genesis,” Gallagher admitted, “and I was like, ‘Fuckin’ hell, why has no one ever fuckin’ mentioned this?”’’

Genesis: Song by Song author Philipp Röttgers describes the recording of From Genesis to Revelation in vivid detail, picturing schoolboys committing ideas to tape during their summer vacation. Trespass was the next logical step for the group, demonstrating Gabriel’s love of soul music (“Dusk”) with a pastoral, twelve-string guitar sound (“White Mountain”, a Phillips-Rutherford tune, demonstrated a favouritism for folk rock.) “One wonders how the three songwriters – and Genesis – would have developed had Ant stayed,” Röttgers muses. The transition from studio to stage did not suit Phillips, who was forced to step down. It was a moment of truth for Banks and Rutherford, far from their last, so they carried on.

Collins joined for their third effort, Nursery Cryme, by which time Phillips had been replaced by guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett. The new additions brought a hard rock energy that was seemingly alien to the Charterhouse graduates, so Nursery Cryme was their most satisfying album yet: a cocktail of folk, pop, prog, and metal. Foxtrot furthered the adventurous spirit, closing with a tempo-shifting work: “Supper’s Ready.” Banks joined Hackett and Rutherford on guitars, three men supporting singers Collins and Gabriel on a quixotic tale of redemption. “Genesis’ magnum opus is subdivided into seven parts,” Röttgers explains, exploring their process.

By The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Genesis had split into distinctive camps: Gabriel on story and words, and everyone else collaborating on the music. Known for his outrageous costumes, Gabriel tested Banks and Collins’ patience in 1974 when his outfits – such as the lavish Slipperman costume – diverted attention from the group’s instrumental workouts.

Behind the scenes, Hackett was shouldering issues of his own. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway coincided with the breakdown of his marriage, and some Collins co-writes aside (the duo worked eye to eye on ballads “For Absent Friends” and “Blood on the Rooftops”), he struggled to gain a musical identity within the orbit. Gabriel and Hackett both came to the realization that to be vital was to go solo.

The loss of two significant members crippled peers 10cc and Yes, but the remaining members comforted themselves in the knowledge that they had built Selling England by the Pound epics “Firth of Fifth” and “The Cinema Show” between them. Commencing with …And Then There Were Three…, Genesis solidified their status as a power pop trio, adding a rhythm section for the purposes of live shows. Genesis faced an unexpected hurdle during the 1980s, as they balanced two careers: theirs and Collins’ solo ventures.

Embarrassingly, the drummer’s Face Value vastly outsold the contemporaneous Duke, causing many – including Banks and Rutherford – to wonder how long Collins would collaborate with the band. Evidently, the three men worked together for no other reason than they enjoyed it, egging one another along to push themselves as artists. Collins wound up writing most of the lyrics throughout We Can’t Dance, describing the process as one of the most fulfilling of his life. Invisible Touch was a monster hit, selling six million copies, and launched radio anthems “Land of Confusion”, “In Too Deep,” and “Throwing It All Away”; the title track proved to be a US number 1.

Collectively, Genesis had weathered the departures of Phillips, Gabriel, and Hackett – not forgetting the three drummers that preceded Collins – with little to no dent to their armour or confidence. In 1997, Banks and Rutherford rebooted Genesis one further time with Scottish vocalist Ray Wilson fronting Calling All Stations. On this occasion, they were definitely weaker. “When Phil Collins left Genesis,” says Röttgers; “…the band not only lost their lead singer, but also their long-time touring musicians Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson.” Wilson brought grit to the title track, even though the fragile “Not About Us” showed a more vulnerable side to his arsenal.

If nothing else, “Not About Us” reintroduced acoustics to their sound, a trait Banks and Rutherford abandoned during the 1980s. Calling All Stations was a hit in Europe, yet scarcely troubled the United States. Wilson’s tenure turned out to be a one-and-done deal; in 2022, he compared his exit to “…being taken to the top of Everest and thrown off.”

Röttgers valiantly peers across the entire story in Genesis: Song by Song. What’s evident is that the band worked on a simple formula; if it had Collins, it worked, and if it didn’t, it didn’t. Noel Gallagher is one of a select few who enjoy From Genesis to Revelation, just as this reviewer is one of those odd fans who count Trespass as a high point. Collins patched things up with Banks and Rutherford sufficiently to reunite with them on two tours during the 21st century, the latter with his son Nic on percussive duties.

Eloquently, the author sees Phil Collins as “the heartbeat of Genesis”, thanks to his brilliant and exacting contributions. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 as a member of the band and, as a solo performer, is a member of the 2026 class. Graciously, Collins has bowed out of the public eye and, as of the time of writing, is happily retired.

These days, Rutherford tours with vocalist Andrew Roachford, Banks writes classical arias, Wilson works in Poland, and Gabriel is set to release a sequel to the excellent I/O album. Phillips is also busy, though he’s unlikely to return to the live stages, so it’s ironically up to Hackett to perform the Genesis catalogue by himself. Starting with Genesis Revisited, the guitarist has re-arranged the material with the autonomy he was denied in 1974. Artists grow with their music, eh?

-Eoghan Lyng

Photo: Genesis, 1976 (public domain via Wikimedia Commons)