Genesis: “Ripples” (1976)
Gesesis’ first album without front man Peter Gabriel accomplished two things: First, it proved to critics that the band could still produce quality music without Gabriel seemingly at the helm. (I say “seemingly” because the band had always been more of a songwriting democracy than Gabriel’s front man status would lead one to believe.)
Second, the album was a bit of a re-set after The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which had told a modern-day tale with America as its backdrop.
Although Genesis would of course soon take a more modernistic, straight-ahead approach in the Collins era, A Trick of the Tail was at least a temporary return to the more fanciful, pastoral, and English-sounding progressive rock of the band’s first half-decade.
The audio file of the 8-minute Rutherford-Banks composition “Ripples” is just what you’d expect 70’s long-form prog to “look” like: two dynamic peaks (choruses) within the first half of the song, then several minutes of progging about before a climactic final chorus. The tried-and-true formula of 70’s Classical-influenced prog.
One thing that separated the great prog rock bands from the lesser ones was the quality of the ensemble playing during those “progging about” bits. And with Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford on guitar, Tony Banks on keyboards and Collins on drums, this was just what Genesis excelled at.
The reason Genesis didn’t miss a beat with the departure of Gabriel is that they were never about their individual parts. They were about being a great band.
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