SALMACIS

Clearly, this is just for critical examination and due to some discrepancies in certain judgments... Nothing personal, of course! Those who love Genesis are also my friends, and you, Peppe, seem to really love them. However, some of your observations leave me a bit puzzled, especially I didn't like the review of Trespass. As for the merits, I refer to my notes. Regarding the comparison between your review and that of Mr_Iko, from what little I've read, it seems that we all have something to learn in terms of style and writing from him. I certainly do. It’s true that sometimes he takes a bit too much pleasure in it and has a taste for dry wit and sarcasm that can be a bit off-putting, but let’s set aside grudges and celebrate our shared passion!

I’m amazed that there’s no review of the legendary Van der Graaf Generator and their charismatic and cursed leader Peter Hammill here on Debaser: I’ll personally (and abundantly) fill this gap. Anyway, besides the aforementioned, who surely rank among the "greatest" prog representatives, I want to point out at least three fa-bo-lous bands, even if semi-unknown, namely Comus with their dark, satanic folk, Catapilla featuring the eccentric singer Anna Meek, and Tonton Macoute, a great progressive jazz-rock group that, however, has limited itself to a single self-titled album. I will try to enlighten you about them in time. You will grow... meanwhile, I’m taking the advice of Tangent (who are unknown to me) but I’d like to know more: enlighten me… let’s communicate. Long live Prog, long live the art, long live FANTASY!

So, I'm listening to this rock opera from '79 without interruption; I've owned it in at least three different formats (lp, mc, and cd), I've played some pieces (the carpet crawlers, the lamia), and I've also read a lot about it. The story is fantastic: Peter Gabriel is at the top here. Overall, I consider The Lamb to be inferior only to Foxtrot within Genesis. It's the album where Genesis confronts modernity, leaving behind the fairy-tale paradise that had cradled them (and us) up to that point. However, the sound remains the same, even evolved but unmistakable. Each side of the vinyl is dominated by a masterpiece that gives it a particular evocative tone. We transition from the illuminated claustrophobia of In the Cage to the pre-Punk prophecies of Back in N. Y.C., from the dreamy sensuality of The Lamia to the existential tension of In the Rapids. It's a truly immense work, to be read and listened to alongside Nardir's big chance by Peter Hammill, a contemporary and synchronic piece, enlightening in showing how the best Prog had pre-contained and even anticipated the Punk-New Wave shift.

Guys, stay calm: when I wrote that Italian-made prog is marginal, I didn’t mean it in a qualitative sense. I just wanted to say that, when it comes to choosing a classic, that is, a paradigm album of progressive music, it doesn’t seem appropriate to step outside the British context in which the phenomenon was born and grew. I agree that PFM, ORME, and BMS (but also OSANNA, MUSEO ROSENBACH, BALLETTO DI BRONZO, and even BATTIATO) have expressed absolute artistic peaks worthy of ascending to the highest rungs of the so-called "Rock Romantico," which has been so uncritically vilified.

Well, first of all, I completely disagree that "Looking for Someone" doesn’t leave a mark, and especially, I dissent from this statement: "Stagnation is a mediocre song," while I consider it the masterpiece of the album, as much as or perhaps even more than "The Knife." It is the seed from which the absolute masterpiece that is "Musical Box" has developed. This is not just my opinion, which is supported by careful and prolonged listening, but it aligns with the statements of the Genesis themselves, Banks first and foremost. The sinuous progression of Gabriel's flute over the haunting acoustic carpet created by Rutherford and Phillips' guitars brilliantly evokes the atmospheres of "Nursery Cryme." However, I do agree that "White Mountain" can become a bit boring over time... great lyrics, nonetheless; the pros and cons also apply to "Visions of Angels"... definitely inferior to "Stagnation" regardless of what Peppe says.

Interesting how my assertion that FOXTROT is the CLASSIC album of PROGRESSIVE has sparked such critical-aesthetic fervor. The alternatives put forward so far have been three, namely:
1) M@ynardJamesKeen@n: In the Court King Crimson
2) superintruder; Third Sft Machine
3) Mr_iko: Concerto Grosso New Trolls
I respond by saying that only solution 1, namely In the Court, can be considered. I dismissed it because it was the record that inaugurated and defined the progressive genre. Rarely is classicism achieved at the beginning. Third is fantastic but focused on the themes of the Canterbury Sound and too Jazz-Rock to be defined as the classic prog album. Concerto Grosso is an Italian work and as such peripheral compared to the phenomenon of romantic rock, which has been predominantly English. Furthermore, if one were to seek a classic of prog - Italy, I would opt for Storia di un Minuto by PFM. I hope the discussion continues to ignite.

Nursery Cryme in my personal ranking of Genesis albums is in 4th place, after Foxtrot, The Lamb, and Selling England, in that order; nevertheless, it is undoubtedly a masterpiece that deserves no less than 5 stars. If I were to rate it in tenths, I would give it a 9. There are some almost filler tracks like Arlequind and For Absent Friends that serve as interludes between the grandeur of the major tracks. The creative pinnacle is reached (definitively for the entire Genesis production) in Musical Box, while The Fountain of Salmacis constitutes the best summary of the sound of the early Genesis (from Trespass to Nursery Cryme). The epic "THE RETURN OF THE GIANT HOGWEED" should not be underestimated, with a sensational tapping intro by Steve Hackett and a breathtaking finale. I recommend listening to and comparing the version of the same track on "Genesis Live." The review comes off as a bit too brief.