mj64

I've read worse, in short. The album deserves five stars just for the presence of echoes.

I agree with you on this work, Tommy. However, I prefer the debut by Ant Phillips, which, interestingly, features exactly the same musicians (John Hackett is also in the mix). As for Tony Banks, I completely agree with you. Perhaps the comparison with Wakeman and Emerson in terms of explosiveness doesn't hold, but his keyboards are dreamy: I challenge you to find a Keith solo that gives the chills like the intro of "Firth of Fifth" (the fact that the good Tony has hardly ever played it live is another story). I also agree on Kerry Minnear's talent. And I wouldn't forget the late Bardens, true alter ego of Latimer as the thinking mind of Camel. RIP.

Alright. The true Genesis begins with Trespass. Alright, the ballast orchestral choruses "a la Bee Gees" are awful. There’s still a lack of a real drummer and Tony Banks is a bit too much in the shadows. But in my opinion, produced and arranged decently, this album could have been a great album, although it features songs-songs, very pop, with folk undertones and somewhat pretentious lyrics. But melodically, I think almost all of them are quite nice. And 17-year-old Peter is already an excellent singer. For me, it’s a 3.5 (and I’m already covering myself from accusations; I give the others, in order, 4.5 for Trespass, 4.8 for Nursery Cryme, 5 for Foxtrot, Selling England, Lamb, 4.5 for Trick of the Tail, 4.2 for Wind and Wuthering, 3.6 for And Then There Were Three. The others less (no, maybe We Can’t Dance a bit more). Shoot me if you want. Oh, I almost forgot, 5 also for the solo debuts of good Ant Phillips and Steve Hackett (regarding Peter's solo career, I won’t comment, perhaps the only one not deserving a 5 in my opinion is the second one).

I don't know the album, but I'm going along with trust. As for the judges of merit among drummers, I "almost completely" agree with il_paolo: Bruford is technically the best, Bonham is the absolute best (but Keith Moon is a step below because he doesn't match Bonham technically). Neil Peart is enormous. I wouldn’t completely disregard the bald little guy who sang for 30 years with Genesis either.

Great album, it's nice that there’s already a review on Debaser. I was hoping to debut with this one, but I bow to the wisdom of the author. In my opinion, Winterthrough has already seriously positioned itself as the prog album of 2008, beautiful atmospheres, Zuffanti confirms himself as a genius.

Nice review, in my opinion the album is worth a 5, because aside from "Big Wedge" and "The Voyeur" it is filled with gems. And "Cliché" is, in my view, a masterpiece. Why do you always insist on the "unknownness" of the musicians accompanying Fish? Mark B. was the drummer for Big Country, a very good Scottish band from the mid-eighties, and Mickey Simmonds played with Andy Latimer on "Harbour of Tears" by Camel.

acceptable review, the album is a gem. I agree with you about "She Chameleon," which I love precisely for the hypnotic flow of the organ, although I know that many actually find it disgusting.
@grendel. Maybe you were at the Fish concert in Milan on November 27, 2007? If so, read the review done by this guy, who needs a couple of words.

I deduct a point for the pathetic irony about forty-somethings with accountant glasses and low-quality beer breath. But shame on you! Perhaps you weren't even born yet when we old-timers were already crowd-surfing like high school kids at MARILLION concerts. Let’s revisit this in twenty years, when you’ll think, “Well, at 40 you’re still young after all.” Another note about the band: everyone was dignified except for the unbearable Frankie Usher, a murderer of God Rothery's solos. If he focused on building guitars instead of playing them, maybe Fish would find better guitarists and would have saved himself heart attacks like the one he suffered shortly after the Italian concerts. I like him, though. As for the others, certainly a bit anonymous but quite good, especially Vantzis and Paterson (who, according to your rules, played on a couple of 90s Camel albums, not exactly a negligible band, which by the way I think you know).
The highlight of the concert was definitely Vigil (I also touched him and the emotion was immense, but we old folks tend to get emotional easily), and the finale on The Last Straw, where I screamed and jumped like a stinky, drunk seventeen-year-old. You’ll forgive me; we were probably close to each other, given the size of the dreadful Transylvania and both of us being near the stage. Next time, I’ll suggest establishing a cage for fans over forty to avoid bothering you.
Just kidding, of course. DEREK RULES