Genesis CD

Genesis: Mike Rutherford (vocals, guitar, bass); Tony Banks (vocals, keyboards); Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion).
Recorded at The Farm, Surrey, England in 1983.
Moments of Genesis are as spooky and arty as those on Abacab -- in particular, there's the tortured howl of "Mama," uncannily reminiscent of Phil Collins' Face Value, and the two-part "Second Home by the Sea" -- but this eponymous 1983 album is indeed a rebirth, as so many self-titled albums delivered in the thick of a band's career often are. Here the art rock functions as coloring to the pop songs, unlike on Abacab and Duke, where the reverse is true. Some of this may be covering their bets -- to ensure that the longtime fans didn't jump ship, they gave them a bit of art -- some of it may be that the band just couldn't leave prog behind, but the end result is the same: as of this record, Genesis was now primarily a pop band. Anybody who paid attention to "Misunderstanding" and "No Reply at All" could tell that this was a good pop band, primarily thanks to the rapidly escalating confidence of Phil Collins, but Genesis illustrates just how good they could be, by balancing such sleek, pulsating pop tunes as "That's All" with a newfound touch for aching ballads, as on "Taking It All Too Hard." They still rocked -- "Just a Job to Do" has an almost nasty edge to its propulsion -- and they could still get too silly as on "Illegal Alien," where Phil's Speedy Gonzalez accident is an outright embarrassment (although in some ways it's not all that far removed from his Artful Dodger accent on the previous album's "Who Dunnit?"), and that's why the album doesn't quite gel. It has a little bit too much of everything -- too much pop, too much art, too much silliness -- so it doesn't pull together, but if taken individually, most of these moments are very strong, testaments to the increasing confidence and pop power of the trio, even if it's not quite what longtime fans might care to hear. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ever since Genesis was reduced down to the trio of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford, the former prog-rock giants had made a concerted effort to streamline their music into more bite-sized pop portions. GENESIS was an important bridge to this goal. Coupled with frontman/drummer Collins' burgeoning solo career and the emergence of MTV, the band soon gained a higher profile in the eyes of the record buying public. Genesis' prosperity, along with the solo success of individual members (particularly Collins) meant that GENESIS became part of a decade-long cycle in which band album releases alternated with those by Phil Collins.
Driven by Banks' simple keyboard lines, "That's All" became the album's first hit and first of three videos shot for MTV. The other two, the ominous "Mama" and the humorous "Illegal Alien" both helped bolster the band's pop visibility. Although the Jan Hammer-flavored "Just a Job to Do" wasn't made into a video, this hard-driving song was later incorporated into an episode of the television program Miami Vice. Despite the obvious stylistic changes, art-rock elements still popped up particularly in "Home By the Sea" and the sequel, "Second Home By the Sea."Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.82) - "...Entirely unrecognizable from Gabriel-era Genesis, the lead single 'Mama' is based around the bleakly distorted drum machine....Further chart success comes courtesy of 'That's All' and 'Illegal Alien'..."
Record Collector (magazine) (pp.83-84) - "4 stars out of 5 -- "1983's eponymous effort boasts classic pop-rock such as the opening 'Mama' and 'Just A Job To Do'..."