Phil Collins/Genesis

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Seriously
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Phil Collins/Genesis

Post by Seriously » 31 Oct 2007 18:23

Duke is often cited by aficionados as a key Genesis album. While clearly different from the somewhat disjointed album which preceded it, Duke employs repetitions of key themes throughout the album as a way of unifying songs which could be listened to either as separate entities or as parts of a larger whole, and many fades and segues between songs add to this sense that the album is an elaboration on a unified musical idea. As a song cycle, Duke starts and ends with the exact same musical strains, and closes, like many classic Genesis albums, with an extended instrumental ("Duke's Travels/Duke's End"). While dealing more with personal issues and less with existential, philosophical, or mythical themes, this shift in direction seemed to fill the creative void which many felt had dominated the previous album. While many have claimed that the turn towards relationship oriented themes presaged Collins' later pop influence on the band, the musical complexity remains, even while the overall palette of instruments changed to fit the album's more introspective mood. Collins's interest in the new sonic possibilities offered by drum machines, Banks's use of the highly expressive Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano, Rutherford's use of non-distorted guitar parts, and an overall more "open," less reverb-inflected production produces a sound which seems stripped down and less orchestral than previous recordings, but also gives the band a more direct sound. Also pertinent is Collins's increased role in the band's songwriting, leading to a lyrical focus on personal emotions, as well as the occasional musical influence of classic soul (see, for example, the main section of "Behind the Lines" or the popular "Misunderstanding"). That said, Banks continues to provide highly orchestrated songs of lyrical darkness and compositional complexity ("Heathaze," "Cul de Sac"), while Rutherford creates more direct dramatizations of emotional turmoil ("Man of Our Times," "Alone Tonight"). Some of the opening songs, such as "Duchess" and "Behind the Lines," which became concert favorites for years, were a synthesis of the writing styles of all three members, and presaged the more collaborative writing efforts which were to dominate the band in the future. In addition, Collins' maturation as a vocalist was noticeable by the time Duke was recorded. This would benefit the singer immensely, as it gave him the confidence to record Face Value shortly after the conclusion of the Duke tour. Interestingly, there is a suite of songs hidden in this album—"Behind the Lines", "Duchess", "Guide Vocal", "Turn it on Again", "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End"—which were reportedly intended to appear on a single side of the album until fear of comparisons to Foxtrot's epic "Supper's Ready" made the group decide to separate them. Notably, the group performed the suite in that configuration on the tour for this album. "Misunderstanding" was added to the setlist for the US leg of the tour. Additionally, the Duke tour found the Genesis set list in transition; many songs were performed in full for the last time, as later tours would tend to feature medleys of older material in truncated form. More than any other Genesis album, Duke's song-cycle provides the moment of delineation between Genesis' art-rock past and Top 40 future, straddling each arena in equal measure.
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gulliver
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Re: Phil Collins/Genesis

Post by gulliver » 31 Oct 2007 23:32

In the words of Patrick Bateman.. "I am simply NOT. THERE."

gulliver
Posts: 1114
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Re: Phil Collins/Genesis

Post by gulliver » 01 Nov 2007 00:24


eamon angelface
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Re: Phil Collins/Genesis

Post by eamon angelface » 01 Nov 2007 01:06

Did Angelbaby and Smash kill each other in a suicide pact?

Unmoderated!!

ballsballsballsballsballs!!!

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Hey fun fact. American Psycho was filmed in Toronto and if you look real close you might see a certain mr me in there. :w00t:
DLT Prom Queen 4 years running.

The Deadly Superman
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Re: Phil Collins/Genesis

Post by The Deadly Superman » 04 Nov 2007 23:40

The band Aiden had that whole part of American Psycho in the beginning of their song "Knife Blood Nightmare" for the single/promo track. They took it out for the album version though, I thought they should have left it in.

"there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there"

"she SAIIIIIIIIIIIIIID Live young and leave a wake of beauty...."

Man, that song is awesome.

What was the topic again?
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