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''Smallcreep's Day'' is the first work by the Genesis bassist, Mike Rutherford. The album, dating back to 1980, presents itself as a solid and successful blend of high-class progressive and pop.
The main theme is the alienation of the worker, mainly caused by the introduction of robotics in the workplace. Rutherford indeed draws inspiration from the novel ''Smallcreep's Day - A Surreal Satire on Automation'' (from '65) by Peter Currell Brown: it is the story of Mr. Nobody, the typical Everyman, who works tirelessly on an assembly line for years and years. The days, all alike and monotonous, are only brightened by his dreams of love. Until, in a moment of introspection, our antihero asks himself what the real purpose of his daily activity is... and thus begins his fantastic and surreal journey into the darkest recesses of the factory.
The line-up consists of top-notch musicians: the album's creator, Mike Rutherford, is engaged with the bass and guitars. The keyboards are entrusted to the former Genesis member (whom we had appreciated in Trespass...) Anthony Phillips, who in the meantime had created his niche of admirers with albums like ''The Geese And The Ghost'' and ''Wise After The Event''. Even the little-known Noel McCalla and Simon Phillips, respectively singer and drummer, perform their roles excellently.
Now let's move on to examine the tracks...
The eponymous suite (about 25 minutes long), on the CD version, has been divided for convenience into its seven components. The first one we find is titled Between The Tick And The Tock, a slow piece. The calm and hypnotic rhythm marked by the combination of organ and synth, and McCalla's voice enriched by an echo effect, bring us into an almost sacred world. Indeed, our Mr. Nobody lives for work... and dedicates his life to work, as if it were a religion. However, his job is always the same: the endless ticking of the clock, as mentioned in the title, speaks for itself. It is followed by the more effervescent and rhythmic Working In Line, a clear reference to the assembly line.
A small moment of fear and respite is represented by After Hours, a brief instrumental, which prominently features Anthony Phillips' strong imprint in the writing phase: the atmosphere is dreamy... a beautiful dream produced, more than anything, by the stupefaction due to fatigue. This fully introduces us into the fantastic journey... Cats And Rats (In This Neighbourhood) is undoubtedly the highlight of the entire suite. It proves masterful both in music and especially in the lyrics: verses like the visionary << I'm a no-man in a no-man's land >> and the absurd << Cats and rats in this neighbourhood / Look different to me >> can only go straight to the heart.
The journey continues with the keyboard-only composition Smallcreep's Alone. The key word is indeed ''alone'', that is ''solo''. This gives rise to a curious paradox (perhaps not even intended by Rutherford and company)... indeed the protagonist, Mr. Nobody, is alone... but at this point, with a simple juxtaposition, one can create the phrase ''nobody is alone'' (which relates to the protagonist's dreams of love, described by P.C. Brown). Instrumental is also the following Out In The Daylight, which features one of the best bass scores played by Rutherford. The very sweet and atmospheric At The End Of The Day closes the suite in the best possible way... the last thirty seconds in ''fading'' make us understand that the dream is over.
The other half of the album consists of individual songs, which only vaguely connect to the theme of the work mentioned so far.
The first we find is Moonshine, a clean and linear prog-rock, easy to listen to. Time And Time Again is the other masterpiece of the LP. It is indeed an ethereal ballad (which also features the piano) that represents one of the highest points of the unlikely fusion between pop and progressive.
Of good quality, even if not absolutely indispensable, are the subsequent Romani and Every Road.
The closure is entrusted to another excellent piece: Overnight Job is powerful, with an almost hard-rock edge, and boasts one of McCalla's best performances.
To conclude, I would like to apologize for the excessive length of this review... however, the quantity of emotions that this album unleashes makes it impossible to further condense.
I hope that you too, soon, can appreciate this work.
Maximum score and praise for this pearl unjustly fallen into oblivion.
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