If you’d asked me my favourite band in 1975, the answer would almost certainly have been Genesis, my disillusion not really coming until Hackett left, and the remaining three sought pop stardom. Not that I recognised Hackett’s contribution at the time; for a long time I believed that the departure of Gabriel was the downfall and I’d loyally convinced myself that the two albums that followed were a good listen.
I didn’t hear this album at the time, and only picked this up for buttons at a bootfair as part of a 5 classic album set.
This was recorded during the 1975 Genesis hiatus following Gabriel’s departure, and feels leaden and self indulgent. It starts brightly enough, with the catchy, synth/guitar instrumental Ace of Wands, but most of the rest of the first half just feels like the band (mostly Genesis / Brand X mates) are noodling, in a Camel-like way, enjoying it more than the listener, ending with Hackett himself taking vocal on The Hermit, a task he wisely left to others subsequently.
The second half of the album has a bland song, Star Of Sirius, sung by his mate Phil Collins, and a brief instrumental interlude before Shadow Of The Hierophant, a song Genesis rehearsed for the Foxtrot album, and the instrumental parts would have fitted that album. However, Sally Oldfield’s sub-operatic voice renders the vocal passages a struggle. I’m struggling to rate this, since parts of it are actively bad, but…
2* - there’s enough to make most of it listenable, but not much more.
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