Genesis
Foxtrot

THE REVIEW

When discussing Genesis and the historic albums they signed in the early '70s, one must tread carefully, as the band's exegetes are waiting to pounce, ready to bash (or reprimand) you if every detail doesn't add up.

Let's just say that "Foxtrot" is considered by many fans and enthusiasts as the absolute masterpiece of Gabriel and company's historic lineup, although I actually prefer "The Lamb" for various musical and conceptual reasons. Hence, I want to highlight that my opinion, even if impartial, remains a point of view. I hope the Foxtrot supporters won't mind if I say that "Foxtrot" still has some greenness too much to be their creative peak. However, it represents the key to their maturity, which would perfect content and style in the following works "Selling England by The Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", indeed.

"Foxtrot" evolves the themes of earlier works, moreover, and still contains traces, especially in the metaphysical evocation of some lyrics and the composition of the tracks, which oscillate between the consolidation of the more typical song form and the multi-movement suite structure. Keyboards are omnipresent, as befits a team at the forefront of prog-rock culture; guitars never truly virtuoso; voice at the height of interpretation, though not yet theatricalized as in the tortuous and dreamlike narration of Rael's adventures. Valid ingredients and finally endowed with identity on the strictly sound level, but suffering from a certain flatness probably due to the recording systems and especially the quality of the instruments used. The latter, in fact, do not enjoy particularly refined post-production, and what will be found later (up to Eno's intervention in "The Lamb" with consequent friction over the band's leadership) is not yet substantial here.
The drums, for example, are less effective due to a scant reverb aura, almost as if Collins had used inferior skins. The same goes for Banks' synthesizers, still too thin and monophonic, still too little choral. Let's take a closer look at the organ solo towards the end of "Supper's Ready", where the long phrasing on the keyboard seems produced by a toy; or the similar organ that bounces in the opening of "Get'em out by Friday". Here Tony Banks certainly yearned, suffering, for the much richer sounds of the '73 and '74 works, where the instrumental blend would benefit from broad-spectrum refinements, with truly captivating results. Better then, the safe haven of the traditional piano, which peeks out in "Time Table" with a truly neo-romantic and even credible approach.
Not to stoke comparisons that might induce anyone an ischemia... but the contemporary album by Pink Floyd was certainly more advanced in sound production.

What already shows signs of evident artistic coronation, instead, is Gabriel's writing: not glorious in the opening track or in the longed-for chivalrous reminiscences of "Time Table" (a delicate and melancholic piece, moreover), but rather in the monumental mystical-prophetic mosaic of "Supper's Ready", which, although stretched out in its cryptic lyrical and sonic form, remains to this day one of the best titles in the entire Genesis discography (for some, the best). And although there are gaps here too - see the aforementioned solo in terms of timbre - the atmosphere is so captivating and disturbing that it spontaneously makes one dream of a studio version redone two years later in the manner of "The Lamb"... an absolute bliss.
"Supper's Ready" contains in a nutshell everything Gabriel and company had to say and would say later, offering a testament of what I would call intuitive rather than technical ability. The 22 minutes and more unfold seamlessly along the path that became typically Genesis: between fairy tale, evocation, symbolism, and suggestion, with an alternation of emotions rarely found in analogous records of that time.

In between are the digressions of tracks 3 and 4, which, although not as memorable as the soup, offer more original insights than the subsequent "More Fool Me" (sic!)... and then the splendid gem of "Horizons", which remains almost marginal to open the soup and yet has its own enchanting autonomy and reveals that someone, compared to the early live performances, where virtuosity was certainly not shining, had become skilled with their hands.

Last note on the cover, which I've never liked in execution, although the idea is good and stays true to the illustrative style of "Nursery Crime". In any case, Genesis never made a splash with their covers. But this is really a very personal opinion.