{"id":1035,"date":"2022-06-16T06:52:45","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T06:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/classic-rock-review\/"},"modified":"2022-06-16T06:52:45","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T06:52:45","slug":"classic-rock-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/classic-rock-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Classic Rock Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Foxtrot by Genesis. After a couple albums of extreme experimentation in theatrical rock, Foxtrot is where it all came together for Genesis. This 1972 album was the first of three, in consecutive years, that marked the creative apex during the band\u2019s \u201cPeter Gabriel\u201d era. Gabriel was the band\u2019s lead vocalist and flamboyant front man through the early 1970s who went on to have a successful solo career after his departure in 1975. Foxtrot is a solid album which struck a nice balance between jam-oriented progressive rock and theme-oriented art rock with not a weak moment anywhere on the album, making it one of the most esteemed prog rock albums ever.<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the album is the 22-minute closer \u201cSupper\u2019s Ready\u201d, which Gabriel explained as \u201ca personal journey which ends up walking through scenes from Revelation in the Bible.\u201d This epic song is divided into several sections, some recurring, which straddle the line between classical and rock music and contain multiple changes in time and key signature and mood. While the five members of the band were given songwriting credit for \u201cSupper\u2019s Ready\u201d, Gabriel authored most of the lyrics while drummer Phil Collins did much of the arranging and segues between the various sections. When performed live, the provided their audience with a programme which described many of the scenes with words such as;<\/p>\n

\u201cAt one whistle the lovers become seeds in the soil, where they recognise other seeds to be people from the world in which they had originated. While they wait for Spring, they are returned to their old world to see Apocalypse of St John in full progress\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSupper\u2019s Ready\u201d launches abruptly into the first verse with vocals by Gabriel along with guitars by Steve Hackett. The lyrical imagery tells of a common domestic scene morphing into a supernatural experience (which Gabriel has long claimed was true). With various scenes and characters of varying complexity, the song previews a style employed on Genesis\u2019s 1974 double album The Lamb lies Down on Broadway. Towards the middle of the song is \u201cWillow Farm\u201d, which started as a stand-alone song but acts as a light break from the serious subject matter of \u201cSupper\u2019s Ready\u201d (much like an intermission in a play).<\/p>\n

The album begins with Tony Banks mellotron intro to \u201cWatcher of the Skies\u201d. The album got its title from a preset \u201cfoxtrot\u201d on the instrument and, in turn, future versions of the mellotron contain the \u201cWatcher mix\u201d as part of its tape set. The long introduction cross fades into the song\u2019s main theme, which uses unusual time signatures under the chanting vocal melody of Gabriel. Lyrics were provided by Banks and Mike Rutherford, who envisioned an empty Earth being approached by an alien visitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime Table\u201d takes a more traditional folk-rock approach with melancholy lyrics of medieval days gone by, highlighted by Banks\u2019 piano intro and accents and Mike Rutherford\u2018s exquisite bass patterns. The song offers a calm and melodic approach that would be refined during the band\u2019s \u201cmiddle era\u201d of the late 1970s. The lyric speaks of speaks of \u201ca carved oak table that played host to kings and queens who sipped wine from goblets gold\u201d. A short acoustic instrumental by Hackett, \u201cHorizons\u201d acted as a lead-in to \u201cSupper\u2019s Ready\u201d at the beginning of the album\u2019s second side. It became an extremely popular piece in the band\u2019s live sets during Hackett\u2019s tenure with Genesis.<\/p>\n

Genesis in 1972\u201cGet Em\u2019 Out by Friday\u201d is a unique and theatrical multi-act piece which may be the quintessential Genesis brand of song. It fluctuates in tenor and tone through the various phases of the story with Gabriel \u201cplaying\u201d several characters with his singing. The \u201cplay\u201d takes place in a future (ironically, 2012), using elements of reality and science fiction with the central theme being a landlord evicting tenants by force or by attrition. Under the guidelines of the government bureaucracy called \u201cGenetic Control\u201d, all tenants are restricted to being under four feet tall in order to fit \u201ctwice as many in the same building size\u201d. Rutherford has commented that the lyrics of this song were the best that Gabriel had written.<\/p>\n

The first side completes with another mini-suite \u201cCan-Utility and the Coastliners\u201d, which again returns to the middle ages and the 10th century English King Canute, who tried to demonstrate the absurdity of his worshipers by trying to halt the sea during a major storm;<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told of one who tired of all singing \u201cPraise him, praise him\u201d \/ \u201cWe heed not flatterers,\u201d he cried, by our command, waters retreat, show my power, halt at my feet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The song starts as a top-notch folk song, led by the pastoral guitars of Hackett and the dynamic vocals of Gabriel, but later morphs into a classic prog-rock jam led mainly by the punchy keys of Tony Banks and the skilled drumming of Phil Collins.<\/p>\n

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to forge their legacy as a top level art rock group. Although it was far from a commercial \u201chit\u201d, this was also the band\u2019s first album to break into the charts, reaching #12 in the UK. They would have plenty of commercial hits in later years, long after they abandoned their penchant for art rock.<\/p>\n

Go Back<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foxtrot by Genesis. After a couple albums of extreme experimentation in theatrical rock, Foxtrot is where it all came together for Genesis. This 1972 album was the first of three, in consecutive years, that marked the creative apex during the band\u2019s \u201cPeter Gabriel\u201d era. Gabriel was the band\u2019s lead vocalist and flamboyant front man through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":187,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1035","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.ikon2023.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}