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From Genesis to Revelation

Genesis - From Genesis to Revelation Audio CD

A fair review of the Genesis "From Genesis to Revelation" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Genesis reviews here, or go back to the Genesis tabs.

Band: Genesis
Title: From Genesis to Revelation
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-06-17
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Where the Sour Turns to Sweet [Single] 2: In the Beginning 3: Fireside Song 4: Serpent 5: Am I Very Wrong? 6: In the Wilderness 7: Conqueror 8: In Hiding [Single] 9: One Day 10: Window 11: In Limbo 12: Silent Sun 13: Place to Call My Own 14: Silent Sun [Single Version][*] 15: That's Me [Single][*] 16: Winter's Tale [Single][*] 17: One Eyed Hound [Single][*]

I shouldn't be so hard on this album
I had a hard time with the sound quality, the songwriting, and the strings. For years I've been hard on From Genesis to Revelation, as it bears little resemblance to what they'll be doing shortly after. But then I have to give this album some slack. For one thing, the band was just out of school (Charterhouse Public School, which isn't a public school as Americans know it, but an exclusive private school), and they were under the management of Jonathan King, a person of questionable ethics (especially in recent years, which I won't discuss here), and they were just getting their feet wet. They already released a couple of singles in 1968 before recording this album. Certainly it's not a progressive rock album. Tony Banks sticks to piano and a little organ (doesn't sound like a Hammond). Peter Gabriel's vocals are still unmistakable, even as an 18 year old. Anthony Phillips was apparently a bit younger than the rest of the band (they have him as born in December 1951, while the others were born in 1950). He hasn't yet develop that acoustic style you'll hear on Trespass, and taken to its logical conclusion with The Geese & the Ghost in 1977. What you have are a collection of short, straightforward numbers that are not a million miles away from the Moody Blues and the early Bee Gees. Examples include "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet", "In Hiding", "In the Wilderness", "Am I Very Wrong", and "Fireside Song". Strings are included on many of the songs, which were more the idea of Jonathan King.

And speaking of Jonathan King and his ethics, he apparently ran off with the rights to the album, hence the bewildering amount of reissues of this album under so many labels, titles, and varying cover artwork, including Gigantes Del Pop (a Spanish release, which showed photos from the Seconds Out-era, with the Lamb-era Genesis logo - strange), In the Beginning, Rock Roots, and too many more to mention. It explains why the band never performs anything off this album. It also has to do with changing their sound so drastically that performing any songs from this album would be completely out of place compared to what they'll be doing on say, Selling England by the Pound.

From Genesis to Revelation was doomed to fail. Apparently an American group was naming themselves Genesis was a cause for legal difficulties making it difficult for the British band to call themselves Genesis at the time. The American band was more like Jefferson Airplane than the Genesis we're familiar with, and in 1968, confusingly, released an album called In the Beginning in 1968 on Mercury (but it's easy to tell if you're getting the American Genesis: the label, and the album cover showing the band members but none are familiar faces). So From Genesis to Revelation was released on Decca with just the title, leaving record dealers to assume it was religious and file it under that category. Legal matters were eventually straightened, the American band disappeared, and the British band were able to continue to call themselves Genesis. The music on the album does sound rather behind the times from 1969. If it were 1967, they'd get away with it, but with In the Court of the Crimson King a few months away, the rules would change and it affected Genesis big time (in them hopping the prog bandwagon).

From Genesis to Revelation is a nice place to see where it started for Genesis. Of course prog rock fans are advised to check out their releases from Nursery Cryme to the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (also A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering are worthy your attention, plus Trespass, their first actual prog album) and more mainstream fans would be advised to go for Abacab to Invisible Touch, but no matter what, you'll probably end up checking out this debut, to see where it all started.

If you like the fleet foxes try early Genesis
I like both Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel's Genesis and view them as two separate eras. I would like to say first off that I am and always have been a big fan of genesis.

WITH THAT SAID this particular release is a stand alone album from the rest of Genesis Catalog it is unlike any other album Genesis released. While much of early genesis incorporated hints of British folk, this album in particular is especially folk in nature and stands in contrast to the 70s progressive rock and 80's pop albums that would follow it.

I recently listened to the Fleet Foxes and found them to sound very much like this record. After all, the album covers look very much like early Genesis albums, especially "Foxtrot". It must be no secret then that the Fleet Foxes are paying tribute to early Genesis. Check them out too.

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"From Genesis To Revelation", Genesis 1969
From Genesis To Revelation is just one of those albums. . That will never be realesed again nothing like this is on the cd shelves right now but personally compared too some of the 80s "pop music video 80s" Genesis that everyone is aware of and knows of and or the Phil Collins era Genesis i personally like this stuff the most and i will explain why. Back when this came out Phil Collins nor Tony Hackett were in the band and the band consisted of a few other members and Peter Gabirel. "From Genesis To Revelation" Is a very poetic album and accoustic but the songs are really good and is almost pscyhedelic in a way and its main focus is "The Beginning", which they often sing about on this. Really good album great songs i currently own a tape of this called, "In The Beggining", with the same songs except less. Some key tracks on here are, "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet", "In The Beginning", and "The Serpent", great album essential for anyone obsessed with stuff like Pink Floyd and Yes, buy today.

The sadly overlooked, and wrongly panned, debut of Genesis

The debut album of Genesis (lead singer Peter Gabriel, keyboard player Tony Banks, bass player/guitarist Mike Rutherford, guitarist Anthony Phillips and drummer John Silver) was the result of the collaboration between these talented then-teenage schoolboys from Charterhouse College in Surrey, England and record producer (and Charterhouse alumni) Jonathan King. English rockers Genesis released its debut album From Genesis to Revelation in March of 1969. Messieurs Gabriel and Banks from the band Garden Wall joined up with Anon members Rutherford and Phillips plus drummer Chris Stewart and formed a band and sent demos to King (whom produced the band's first single (the 1960s Bee Gees-ish sounding "Silent Sun" (which appears here in two versions) with the rocker "That's Me" as its flip side and is a bonus track on this new remaster) in the hopes that the five young musicians could push forward their music careers.
The band was named Genesis (as in a "new beginning" in music after the band rejected his first choice of Gabriel's Angels), King learned there was an obscured American band with that name, so the band wasn't give a moniker on their first studio album, but gave them a concept of "From Genesis to Revelation" for which to write their music.
They begin the album with the snappy "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" which was an excellent song and was released as the single from the album but flopped in the UK. Next is the rocker "In the Beginning" which had hints of the style the lads would adopt in later years. Next is the piano driven "Fireside Song" which was another great song. Next is another excellent rocker out of "The Serpent" which has excellent guitar work from Phillips. Next is another great slow piece called "Am I Very Wrong" which is a nice song. Next was my first intro to this era of the band "In the Wilderness" (which I heard in its rough mix state as it appeared on the 1998 Genesis box Genesis Archives 1967-75) which reminds me of "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones.
The second half starts with the great rocker "The Conquerer" which has some excellent guitar work from Phillips. "In Hiding" is next and reminds me of their then-label mates The Moody Blues' pre-Hayward/Lodge era. Next is the song "One Day" which is reminiscent to the British pop music popular in England at the time. Next is the acoustic ballad "Window" which is another great piece with acoustic guitars that would dominate the band's sound in their early days. Next is the rocker "In Limbo" which is a great song. We follow with "The Silent Sun". We close with the piano piece "A Place to Call My Own" which is a nice short but sweet tune.
The strings and horns conducted by Arthur Greenslade were added on to the album at the insistence of producer Jonathan King whom pushed the band to release a soft sounding album to set them apart from fellow up and coming (what would be known as) prog rock bands debuting at the time (the British psychedelia of Pink Floyd and Yes and the blues-rock of Jethro Tull). A few of the tracks on this album would appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set without the orchestrations in 1998. According to both Armando Gallo's book on the band I Know What I Like and the group's official biography "Genesis : Chapter and Verse", the band members were proud of the music but unhappy with the orchestrations.
The album did deplorable when it was released but it did chart in 1974 when London Records in the US re-released the album in the wake of the success of both Selling England By the Pound and Genesis Live as it peaked at #170.
Many re-issues of this album had been issued over the years (and remains the only album the band does not own the rights to). Now in 2008, a new remaster was re-released and sounds better than the previous versions of the album I had previously heard and has four bonus tracks (the aforementioned "Silent Sun"/"That's Me" single and the band's British second single "A Winter's Tale" (a great number) and "One Eyed Hound" (a great bluesy acoustic rocker)).
For those who are fans of later Phil Collins led Genesis are advised to steer clear but for Gabriel-era Genesis fans and unbiased fans whom want to see how they started out this is HUGELY RECOMMENDED. .

for fans a great Revelation
The birth of a legend, Genesis the original lineup without Phil Collins or Steve Hackett, but the essence of Genesis is there in a more acoustic version, but the unmistacable voice of Peter Gabriel is looming over great tracks, this is Genesis just out of college late 60's, a must for fans.

You can see a complete list of all Genesis discography, or go back to the Genesis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.