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Rating:
If you find yourself holed up at home on a cold November evening, with the rain pouring outside the window, in the dark lit only by the occasional lightning flash, and you feel the urge for good music... well, this album could be the ideal listening.
Intensely melancholic and romantic from the very title, "Wind and Wuthering" is the last masterpiece of the progressive era of Genesis, as well as the second from a lineup (the quartet) that lasted very briefly but managed to give us unforgettable songs. It's also the farewell album of the skilled and underrated guitarist Steve Hackett, who not coincidentally reaches emotional and executional heights with this album, perhaps only touched on "Selling England by the Pound". But the main compositional protagonist is Tony Banks, the tireless cornerstone of the group.
There are quite a few strengths in this work from 1976... "Eleventh Earl of Mar," an excellent piece entrusted with the opening, is a dynamic and lively track enriched by a sweet acoustic interlude. Equally rhythmic is "All In a Mouse's Night," with a somewhat naive lyric, featuring a magnificent instrumental finale that captured the hearts of the band's fans. A poignant classical guitar solo introduces "Blood on the Rooftops," sung brilliantly by Phil, one of the highlights of this album. Even Banks himself, although not involved in the composition, has stated it's one of the most beautiful in the history of Genesis, unfortunately never played live! "One for the Vine" is a long and complex track, at times perhaps a bit wordy, rich in rhythm and atmosphere changes, with various typically Banksian harmonic passages. Also worth noting is the intricate instrumental "Unquiet Slumbers...," composed almost entirely by a great Steve, which after a nocturnal and gloomy start explodes into brilliant fusion rhythms, before flowing into "Afterglow," a simple yet among the most emotional and evocative tracks ever written by the band. Listening to it almost feels like watching the pale sunset descend on a man who has lost everything... On the other hand, the sugary ballad "Your Own Special Way" and the instrumental "Wot Gorilla" seem inferior to the rest, not particularly significant.
The previous analysis of the tracks leaves no doubt: this is a great album, played excellently by musicians who had reached full instrumental maturity. The only flaw, which prevents it from reaching five stars, is that it doesn't add anything new to the Genesis story. Perhaps it lacks the freshness of the previous "A Trick of the Tail," a splendid and also evolutionary work compared to the past. Instead, "Wind and Wuthering" seems to want to confirm the role of progressive rock princes, further refining an already previously expressed language. The need for change was looming, and the members themselves realized it, considering the more easy-going nature of the "Spot The Pigeon" EP, released shortly thereafter. The pop turn was on the horizon, but a question lingers in the air: what would have become of Genesis if Steve hadn't left the band?
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Eleventh Earl of Mar (07:44)
The sun had been up for a couple of hours,
Covered the ground with a layer of gold.
Spirits were high and the raining had stopped,
The larder was low, But boy that wasn't all.
Eleventh Earl of Mar
Couldn't get them very far.
Daddy! Oh Daddy, You Promised.
Out on the road in the direction of Perth,
Backwards and forwards in a circle they went.
Found a city half open and ready to greet,
The conquering heroes, with blisters on their feet.
Eleventh Earl of Mar
Somehow got them all this far.
Daddy! You Promised, You Promised.
See the Stewart all dressed up
He's got eyes in the back of his head.
Who came in a cockleshell boat
That could only just float,
Couldn't even lift a sword.
Dressed too fine and smelling of wine.
Daddy you've got to go!
Here comes the bishop all dressed up
He's gonna bless you if you're ready to pay.
One wave of his funny old stick,
There's a band of light across your eyes.
Waited a week still they hadn't appeared,
That glorious timing that everyone feared.
So they're riding along on the crest of a wave,
They're headed for London, And that will be their grave.
Eleventh Earl of Mar
Well he couldn't get them down that far
Daddy! I'm waiting, I'm waiting
Time to go to bed now
Never seems too keen
To be a guest now
In a house of dreams
Flying from a hillside
Beckoning the trees
A sailboat's awning
Mimicking the breeze
I'm fighting gravity falling
My Daddy won't let them get me
A voice screams seems to be calling
The face turns features are burning.
Daddy, you've got to go!
See the fifteen going by,
Tell the Lairds and the Lords
They're running backwards today,
And once again you stand alone.
Bury your memories bury your friends,
Leave it alone for a year or two.
Till the stories go hazy and the legends come true,
Then do it again. Some Things never end.
Eleventh Earl of Mar
Won't be going very far.
You Promised, You Promised, You Promised.
DADDY!
02 One for the Vine (10:00)
Fifty thousand men were sent to do the will of one.
His claim was phrased quite simply, though he never voiced it loud,
I am he, the chosen one.
In his name they could slaughter, for his name they could die.
Though many there were believed in him, still more were sure he lied,
But they'll fight the battle on.
Then one whose faith had died
Fled back up the mountainside,
But before the top was made,
A misplaced footfall made him stray
From the path prepared for him.
Off of the mountain,
On to a wilderness of ice.
This unexpected vision made them stand and shake with fear,
But nothing was his fright compared with those who saw him appear.
Terror filled their minds with awe.
Simple were the folk who lived
Upon this frozen wave.
So not surprising was their thought,
This is he, God's chosen one,
Who's come to save us from
All our oppressors.
We shall be kings on this world.
Follow me!
I'll play the game you want me,
Until I find a way back home.
Follow me!
I give you strength inside you,
Courage to win your battles -
No, no, no, this can't go on,
This will be all that I fled from.
Let me rest for a while.
He walked into a valley,
All alone.
There he talked with water, and then with the vine.
They leave me no choice.
I must lead them to glory or most likely to death.
They travelled cross the plateau of ice, up to its edge.
Then they crossed a mountain range and saw the final plain.
Still he urged the people on.
Then, on a distant slope,
He observed one without hope
Flee back up the mountainside.
He thought he recognised him by his walk,
And by the way he fell,
And by the way he
Stood up, and vanished into air.
05 All in a Mouse's Night (06:39)
Loving Couple:
I can't see you but I know you're there.
Got to get beside you cos it's really cold out here.
Come up close to me you'll soon be warm.
Hold me tightly like we're sheltering from a storm.
Mouse:
Think I might go out for a stroll
Into the night, and out of this hole.
Maybe find me a meal.
Walking along this new shag pile
Presents a problem all the while.
Nearly the door.
Suddenly he bumps into wood, the door is closed.
A voice from the bed, he'll be exposed.
Which way to run, must make for the hole,
The light's been turned on, he's blind as a mole in coal.
Now I can see they're coming at me,
They've blocked off my door, I haven't a chance in hell.
Couple:
Come on baby let the poor thing go.
I'm not sleeping with that thing around here, no.
Alright then, I'll fetch a box from below,
Guard him carefully, they're very quick you know.
Mouse:
The door's been opened, my chance to escape.
Must run out quick, better sorry than late.
I'm out on the stairs.
They won't catch me now, I've the run of the house now.
I'll make it downstairs and into the breadbin.
That would be nice.
Suddenly he bumps into fur, that's very unwise,
A cat is much quicker than men and their eyes.
The chase that ensues can have only one end,
Unless outside help steps in for our friend in need.
But now the cat comes in for the kill,
His paw is raised, soon blood will spill, yes it will.
Cat:
Hard luck mouse, this is the end of your road.
The signpost says inside me, let me bear your heavy load.
But it's not to be, that final pounce
Knocks a jar upon his head, and lays him out.
But it's all in a mouse's night
To take on all those who would fight.
Cat's Story:
There I was with my back to the wall,
Then comes this monster mouse, he's ten feet tall,
With teeth and claws to match.
It only took one blow.
06 Blood on the Rooftops (05:27)
Dark and grey, an English film, the Wednesday Play
We always watch the Queen on Christmas Day
Won't you stay?
Though your eyes see shipwrecked sailors you're still dry
The outlook's fine though Wales might have some rain
Saved again.
Let's skip the news boy (I'll make some tea)
The Arabs and the Jews boy (too much for me)
They get me confused boy (puts me off to sleep)
And the thing I hate - Oh Lord!
Is staying up late, to watch some debate, on some nation's fate.
Hypnotised by Batman, Tarzan, still surprised!
You've won the West in time to be our guest
Name your prize!
Drop of wine, a glass of beer dear what's the time?
The grime on the Tyne is mine all mine all mine
Five past nine.
Blood on the rooftops - Venice in the Spring
Streets of San Francisco - a word from Peking
The trouble was started - by a young Errol Flynn
Better in my day - Oh Lord!
For when we got bored, we'd have a world war, happy but poor
So let's skip the news boy (I'll go make that tea)
Blood on the rooftops (too much for me)
When old Mother Goose stops - they're out for 23
Then the rain at Lords stopped play
Seems Helen of Troy has found a new face again.
08 Afterglow (04:13)
Like the dust that settles all around me
I must find a new home
The ways and holes that used to give me shelter
Are all as one to me now
But I, I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
In a world I used to know before
I miss you more
Than the sun reflecting off my pillow
Bringing the warmth of new life
And the sound that echoes all around me
I caught a glimpse of in the night
But now, now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none
No thing, no-one
And I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
In a world I used to know before
For now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none
I miss you more
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Other reviews
By Grasshopper
"Two albums in the same year, a very rare event these days, and generally these are commercial endeavors... In 1976, Genesis still had such an excess of creativity..."
"Wind And Wuthering is a beautiful album, which from start to finish provides typically autumnal and twilight sensations."
By paolofreddie
Wind and Wuthering is a clear example of Genesis not swayed by the advent of punk.
Blood on the Rooftops is a beautiful piece where Steve Hackett’s guitar prevails.
