Quintessentially British, Genesis spearheaded progressive rock in the 1970s, evolving into a chart-topping success through the end of the millennium. Influencing rock groups such as Radiohead, Phish, Rush, Marillion and Elbow, the experimental format of Genesis' songs inspired new avenues for music to explore. From the 23-minute masterpiece "Supper's Ready," via the sublime beauty of "Ripples" and the bold experimentation of "Mama", to hits such as "Invisible Touch" and "I Can't Dance," their material was inventive and unique. This book is the chronological history of the band's music, with critical analysis and key details of each of the 204 songs Genesis recorded and released.
The long-awaited, definitive story of one of the worlds most creative and commercial rock groups, this beautiful, full-color book coincides with the bands Fall 2007 reunion tour. All former band members have collaborated in presenting their story that spans 30 years and 30 albums.
In Experiencing Peter Gabriel, author Durrell Bowman delves into the sounds and stories of the innovative, versatile, English pop icon. As not only a singer-songwriter and musician, but also a music technologist, world-music champion, and humanitarian, Gabriel has consistently maintained an unabashed individualism and dedication to his artistry. From 1969 to 1975, Gabriel served as the lead singer, flute player, occasional percussionist, and frequent songwriter and lyricist of the progressive rock band Genesis. With the band, Gabriel made six studio albums, a live album, and numerous performances and concert tours. The early version of Genesis made some of the most self-consciously complex pop music ever released. However, on the cusp of Genesis becoming a major act internationally, Gabriel did the unthinkable and left the group. Gabriel’s solo career has encompassed nine studio albums, plus five film/media scores, additional songs, videos, major tours, and other projects. As a solo artist and collaborator, he has worked with first-rate musicians and produced unrivaled tracks such as the U.S. No. 1 hit “Sledgehammer.” Gabriel won six Grammy Awards in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as numerous additional awards and honors for his music and his videos, as well as for his humanitarian work. From his early work with Genesis to his substantial contributions as a solo artist, Gabriel’s music ranges from chart-topping pop songs to experimental explorations often filled with disarmingly personal emotions. Experiencing Peter Gabriel investigates the career of this magnetic performer and uncovers how Gabriel developed a sound so full of raw authenticity that it continues to attract new fans from across the world.
Quintessentially British, Genesis spearheaded progressive rock in the 1970s, evolving into a chart-topping success through the end of the millennium. Influencing rock groups such as Radiohead, Phish, Rush, Marillion and Elbow, the experimental format of Genesis' songs inspired new avenues for music to explore. From the 23-minute masterpiece "Supper's Ready," via the sublime beauty of "Ripples" and the bold experimentation of "Mama", to hits such as "Invisible Touch" and "I Can't Dance," their material was inventive and unique. This book is the chronological history of the band's music, with critical analysis and key details of each of the 204 songs Genesis recorded and released.
Among the few truly experimental composers in our cultural history, Harry Partch's life (1901–1974) and music embody most completely the quintessential American rootlessness, isolation, pre-civilized cult of experience, and dichotomy of practical invention and transcendental visions. Having lived mostly in the remote deserts of Arizona and New Mexico with no access to formal training, Partch naturally created theatrical ritualistic works incorporating Indian chants, Japanese kabuki and Noh, Polynesian microtones, Balinese gamelan, Greek tragedy, dance, mime, and sardonic commentary on Hollywood and commercial pop music of modern civilization. First published in 1949, Genesis of a Music is the manifesto of Partch's radical compositional practice and instruments (which owe nothing to the 300-year-old European tradition of Western music.) He contrasts Abstract and Corporeal music, proclaiming the latter as the vital, emotionally tactile form derived from the spoken word (like Greek, Chinese, Arabic, and Indian musics) and surveys the history of world music at length from this perspective. Parts II, III, and IV explain Partch's theories of scales, intonation, and instrument construction with copious acoustical and mathematical documentation. Anyone with a musically creative attitude, whether or not familiar with traditional music theory, will find this book revelatory.
This comprehensive 13-session, verse-by-verse, book-by-book study of the Bible uses a three-dimensional approach. Each 13-session volume is based on the NIV translation.1.The study book helps students answer the question, "What does the Bible say?"2.The meaning of the passage is made clear by considering such aspects as ancient customs, locations of places, and the meanings of words3.Students connect the meaning of the Scripture with their own lives.Study Books. Order one for each class member and leader.Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon
In 1974 the British progressive rock group Genesis released their double concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The story was described by Genesis's then front-man Peter Gabriel as a 'moral fable' about Rael, a half-Puerto-Rican New York City street tough who is engulfed by a solid cloud into a series of strange adventures in a metaphysical realm. The album is a surreal allegory drawing its material from religious, literary and psychological themes. More than thirty years after its release, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway still enthralls listeners, earning the distinction of being Genesis's most consistently selling back-catalogue release. Kevin Holm-Hudson analyses The Lamb within the context of Genesis's recorded output, within the progressive rock genre as a whole, and within the context of social and political changes of the mid 1970s. The Lamb marked a conscious shift in their story setting to America, and for the first time the songs were oriented to the present rather than the past or future. Significantly, while 1974 marked the peak of music industry growth and consolidation through corporate mergers, it was also the year in which America was confronted with its limits: through the first of the OPEC energy crises, the resignation of Richard Nixon, the withdrawal from Vietnam, and the effects of runaway inflation. Genesis's native Britain was also to feel the effects of the energy crisis, intensified by a period of economic slowdown that ultimately led to the rise of Thatcherism. The Lamb is set in New York City during this time of uncertainty. Within a few years the economic constraints would affect the industry as a whole and as a result progressive rock would suffer a precipitous drop in industry support. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway thus makes a particularly rich subject for detailed study, providing compelling intersections between the musical, textual and socioeconomic aspects of an album.
This is a comprehensive look at the supergroup that is Genesis, following the origins of the band with its founding members Tony Banks (keyboards) and Mike Rutherford (bass, guitar); and Phil Collins (vocals, drums), who joined in 1970, to the years when the legendary Peter Gabriel was the frontman of the band. The book charts the rise of Genesis as a global band and reflects how they sustained success despite having undergone several personnel changes throughout its history. Now they are back playing live maybe for the last time. This is their story from Charterhouse School in 1967 to reforming and playing live over 50 years later.
From schoolboy band to sold-out stadium tours and worldwide album sales of over 100 million, Genesis were one of the defining progressive rock bands of the seventies, playing a huge part in shaping the genre. Over a career spanning forty years from formation to the world reunion tour of 2007, they developed and adapted through many changes, some of which polarized their existing fans but attracted countless new ones. While Foxtrot and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway helped define progressive rock, it was the three-piece line up of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins that became the real hit-makers, with albums like Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance and massive hit singles like 'No Son of Mine' and 'Land of Confusion'. Fifteen studio and six live albums later, including five consecutive number ones and five consecutive top tens in the USA, fans still live in the hope of yet another reunion tour which so far hasn't been ruled out. This book takes the reader on a journey through their entire catalogue, taking each album in turn and examining every track. It is compiled from the viewpoint of a lifelong fan, and it is hoped that the book stirs many old memories, as it has done for the author, as well as providing some insight for more recent fans of the band.
