Search - Genesis :: Foxtrot

A Wicked Awesome Album!

04/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Foxtrot is one of my favorite albums (next to "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"). Every song moves cleanly into the next.



Song Reviews:



1. Watcher of the Skies: Tony Banks does a great job with the keyboards; the intro and throughout the entire song. Rutherford's bass sounds great, he plays very well, some of his bass lines sound really complex. Even though the song is quite repetitive, it is worth listening too.



2. Time Table: It opens with Banks on a grand piano. Then the band comes in gently. This is probably my least favorite song on this album. It is quite laid back until about ¾ through the song, then it slowly quiets down.



3. Get `Em out By Friday: The lyrics in this song are great. It opens with the band playing and scales on the keyboard. The verse is very laid back. Then suddenly...the chorus. The chorus has really cool chord changes too. In the next verse, Hackett plays arpeggios on his guitar that sound great. The ending is triumphant too.



4. Can-Utility and the Coastliners: It opens with guitar, and once the first note is played, the rest of the song is great. About 1/3 through the song, Steve Hackett plays these really cool chords. That carries for awhile until the Banks begin playing these arpeggios then goes into these chords down the keys. It ends good too!



5. Horizons: It is only guitar. It sounds like a baby's lullaby, but it can put you to sleep too. This is a BEAUTIFUL song! It is only like a minute long or something.



6. Supper's Ready: This song is over 20 minutes!



Part I: Lovers Lane: It is just Hackett and Banks on the 12-strings and Gabriel singing, but very complex.



Part II: The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man: This is kind of the theme song (because it appears later in the song), but very cool with the keyboards scales and chords, it goes well with the singing.



Part III: Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band Of Merry Men: It begins with cool drum beats by Phil and arpeggios by Banks.



Part IV: How Dare I Be So Beautiful: Just washes of sound along with Gabriel, but very mysterious.



Part V: Willow Farm: Very jumpy, it will wake up from still being in a deep sleep from "Horizons". The lyrics are very fun (he makes a reference to "The Musical Box") and the staccatos that every band member playing at the same time while going down a chromatic scale is very cool. It changes a bit after "ALL CHANGE!"



Part VI: Apocalypse in 9/8: This part is my favorite part. It is so powerful, strong, and full of energy (well duh...it's the apocalypse; it's not going to be all happy happy joy joy).The echo of the vocals is really cool. Banks solo is very good...actually, it's extremely good. I would mess up following a 9/8 beat. Then it goes back to a 2/4 beat.



Part VII: As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs: The triplet chords that Banks plays are really awesome. (This part is like the section in "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" except more powerful). A great ending to a great song.



Even though I am 12 years old, I still like this kind of music. I like bands like ELP, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Genesis. Foxtrot is a great album, a must own!"

The fox trots this album to classic status!

Distant Voyageur | Io | 02/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm mostly into the more pf the Phil Collins era works mainly because I've had little luck in getting the Peter Gabriel era LPs recently until recently when I got my hands on a copy of the album known as Foxtrot and I must say it is an amazing work of art. Unfortunately, Foxtrot is often overshadowed by it's two successors, Selling England By The Pound & The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. I haven't heard either one of them as when writing this review so I can't really comment on them at this time but as for Foxtrot I feel glad that I now got my hands on it. There is no radio-friendly material like there is on most of the 1975-1991 era albums. This music has very little polish and could be almost opposite to the squeaky clean polish of Invisible Touch which I must admit I love to pieces. The album cover art sets the general mood of the record. Peter Gabriels lyrics have a lot of British humor in the songs and every song on here is absolutely creative and beautiful. This album was well ahead of it's time when it came out in 1972.Watcher of The Skies is a bizarre 7 minute track with a very bizarre orchestra like intro before it morphs into a funky upbeat track with gorgeous organs, incredible guitar playing by Steve Hackett, and the storytelling lyrics of Peter Gabriels songwriting. Time Table is difficult to explain but it's a truly great song. Get 'Em Out By Friday is a great example of a prog rock track. It showcases a lot of a jazzier and extremely creative sound that the Phil Collin era works lacks. I love how the song quiets down around the 4 and a half minute mark and how it morphs into a quiet and lovely song with very quiet guitar bass and flutes coming in giving a feel of traveling through a town on a snowy afternoon. Can-Utility & The Coastliners is a more Trick Of A Tail-esque song that is somewhat similar to Squonk only not as polished and has less electric guitar and more of the 12 string guitars. Once again it's an amazing song that is one to listen to in order to know how it really is. Horizons is a gorgeous acoustic guitar instrumental that showcases Steve Hacketts guitar playing. It runs at only 1 minute & 41 seconds. The last track of Foxtrot is the 22 minute and 52 second epic piece Supper's Ready. This song is seven songs in one. I'm not going to bother to write this one in detail because it's truly a creative song that I refuse to give anything away about it. It's truly an amazing track though. This song needs a listen! Suppers Ready is a postively hilarious track at times. Part I: Lovers Lane
Part II: The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
Part III: Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band Of Merry Men
Part IV: How Dare I Be So Beautiful
Part V: Willow Farm
Part VI: Apocolypse in 9/8
Part VII: As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs Foxtrot is truly one masterpiece and is one of the most creative albums that Genesis have ever made. Fans of Invisible Touch might not easily get into Foxtrot too much because where as Invisible Touch is very polished, Foxtrot is much more raw and less polished than the Phil Collins works. Peter Gabriel truly was a genius when he was with the group. He still is now as a solo artist but he threw alot of creativity into Genesis with his witty songwriting and British Humor. As I'd say sometimes "Invisible Touch, We Can't Dance, 1983 self-titled album, and Calling All Stations, take a back seat for now!" he!he! Foxtrot is a must own! Go and buy it NOW!"