From Genesis to the Last Domino

I’ve always been a Genesis fan, though I knew their middle to end years more than their beginning. While I think 1977’s And Then There Were Three was perhaps the first album by the band I was aware of (thanks to my brother, but I also have to thank a long-time friend named Mike who fed me more of this band), but I don’t think I fully got into them until either 1980’s Duke or the 1983 self-titled album that included Mama and Illegal Alien (though the 1977 LIVE album Seconds Out could be in there as well). Still, my brother collected the Genesis albums featuring Peter Gabriel, most notably 1974’s The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and 1973’s Selling England by the Pound. But it was those Phil Collins led years that included And Then There Were Three, Duke, Abacad, Genesis and Seconds Out that cemented my love for the band. I would eventually go back and get the vinyls of 1970’s Trespass, 1971’s Nursery Cryme, and 1972’s Foxtrot. I would also get the early Phil Collins led albums 1976’s A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering.

Before I go on, I like to talk about the bands output. For nearly a decade, Genesis released nine albums (and two were released 1976). In our current day and age when some bands go five, six, eight or nearly a decade between releases, the idea of putting out nine huge albums in that period of time is staggering. Of course, the economics were different then, and their music was not seen as mainstream, radio pop friendly, but that’s still a lot of lyrical and musical output. 

And beyond some issues that popped up during the recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974 (him writing the lyrics to the entire album, his band mates left to score the music; his wife’s pregnancy issue, and a brief time spent away working on what would be a shelved script with director William Friedkin) and the tour promotion in 1975 for that title, their time together seemed drama free. It seems well known that from the time of their formation until Gabriel’s departure, there never seemed to be any indication that he or the other members of Genesis had personal conflicts with each other -beyond the issues that arose during the period of 1974/1975 tour. What conflict did arise seemed borne from the media –who continued to make it appear Gabriel was the leading creative force in the group. To prove the point, it was initially suggested that Genesis was over when he announced his departure. 

In a lengthy public letter, Gabriel explained his reasons –that he felt constricted by long tours and a grueling recording schedule, and then his wife having such a difficult pregnancy. He was opting to quit the band and tend to family matters and his sick daughter, rather than start on a new record and tour. Tony Banks later stated, "Pete was also getting too big for the group. He was being portrayed as if he was 'the man' and it really wasn't like that. It was a very difficult thing to accommodate. So it was actually a bit of a relief.”

There is a definite evolution of the band from their progressive, album orientated roots to more popish style (though progressive songs and instrumentals continued, though to a lesser degree, in later releases) that Banks, Collins, and Rutherford added from 1977’s And Then There Were Three to 1986’s Invisible Touch (which became the band’s first number one album in the UK; #3 in the US, the highest any of their albums ever reached). There are many long-time fans of Genesis who still believe the band ended with Peter Gabriel’s departure. While it’s true he brought a certain theatrical aspect to his stage performance and filled his lyrics with social commentary, double entendres, and sly humor, Genesis always produced their work in an open, very collaborative style. And despite no full reunions are ever seemly going to happen with them (including with former members Anthony Phillips, Chris Stewart, and Steve Hackett), they don’t have a negative word to say about anyone. All have worked together in some capacity over the decades, but it’s also clear that musically, most went in different directions. 

And while Phil Collins solo work started to bleed into Genesis work (which was confusing at times, especially after the huge success of No Jacket Required and several songs for films), both Anthony Banks and Mike Rutherford found success in their own solo work, as did Steve Hackett, who continues to record and tour (and playing songs he helped create during his Genesis days). 

I will agree that their 1991 effort We Can’t Dance is not their best, but it was always going to be hard to replicate the huge success of Invisible Touch. It was still successful, hitting #1 on the UK charts and peaking at #4 on the US charts, but it was also clear that Phil Collins wanted to move on. Much like Peter Gabriel, and even to a point, Steve Hackett, Collins wanted to branch out even beyond his success as a solo artist and member of this band for twenty plus years. One of those branches included winning an Oscar and Golden Globe for his work on the 1999 Disney film Tarzan.

His departure after the We Can’t Dance tour left Genesis in limbo. Both Banks and Rutherford felt there was still some life in the band and started working on album that would be named Calling All Stations. They brought in Scottish singer Ray Wilson of Stillskin as Collins replacement. The album was released in 1997 to underwhelming reviews and poor sales. Its failure led to the bands hiatus. 

The bands break went on until 2006 when Collins, Banks, and Rutherford began a Best of tour called Turn It On Again. After that, in 2007 Collins ended his association with Genesis and then he fully retired from performing in 2011 due family commitments and medical issues which prevented him from now playing the drums. In 2014 the band participated in a BBC documentary about Genesis, but Steve Hackett made it known he was displeased with it, calling it a "biased account of Genesis history" that never covered his solo career or talked about Wilson’s time with the band. So while Hackett may not have personal issues with his former band mates, per se, he has been vocal about what made him depart the band. There is little doubt he helped shape the band with his brilliant guitar work during its early years, but by 1974 and the whole Lamb Lies Down on Broadway production and tour (where everyone was having personal issues outside the band), Gabriel’s departure and the Genesis’ shifting away from lengthy guitar solos and progressive rock, he had grown increasingly constricted by his lack of freedom and level of input. He had been writing more material on his own and thus found it increasingly difficult to contribute more of his ideas within a group context (which he also claims was rebuffed). He wished to embark on a solo career and "take the risk in order to find out just how good I was on my own.”

In 2015 Collins said he was willing to come out of retirement, and speculation of a reunion again began to circulate. While both Banks and Rutherford were open to the idea, there was a no way former member like Gabriel or Hackett would be willing to do it (Gabriel would not sing Collins penned songs and Hackett would not have editorial control). Then in January of 2020 the band announced The Last Domino? Tour. This tour is planned for seventeen dates across the UK and Ireland between November and December 2020. Tour guitarist Daryl Stuermer and drummer Chester Thompson will return and Collins's son Nic will also play drums due to his father's ill health. When asked about the possibility of the group heading into the studio and writing new material, Collins said the chances were slim, but finished by saying "Never say never.”

Whether this tour goes on now, considering the COVID-19 pandemic event, is anyone’s guess at this date, if only all three remaining members are in their late 60’s and early 70s, and Collins is having health issues.