With 1972’s Foxtrot, progressive rock legends Genesis started to hit their stride with their music while also working in some interesting sci-fi and fantasy themes.
What Is It?
The fourth album by Genesis—which proved to be a breakout for them—offered a predominance of science fiction and fantasy themes across its six tracks. In “Watcher of the Skies,” an alien arrives on an abandoned Earth and wonders at the fate of the human race. In “Get ’Em Out by Friday,” landlords try to cram as many people as possible into the smallest spaces, to the point that “Genetic Control” puts a “four-foot restriction on Humanoid height” to ensure even better utilization of space. And then there is the epic “Supper’s Ready,” a 23-minute-long suite presenting the ultimate battle of good vs. evil. Interspersed between those are the instrumental “Horizons,” as well as two pieces with reminiscences of the days of kings and queens, suggesting some fantasy elements.
Artist: Genesis (Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins)
Original Release: 1972
Track Listing:
Side 1
1. “Watcher of the Skies” 7:24
2. “Time Table” 4:47
3. “Get ‘Em Out by Friday” 8:38
4. “Can-Utility and the Coastliners” 5:48
Side 2
5. “Horizons” 1:42
6. “Supper’s Ready” 22:54
Legacy:
This album is a seminal work of progressive rock that helped to put Genesis on the map, and it weaves in notable sci-fi and fantasy themes that should be of interest to genre fans.
A Closer Look:
Genesis arrived on the music scene in the late 1960s, and their first album—From Genesis to Revelation—was an art rock/pop rock affair mostly under the control of producer Jonathan King. By their second album (Trespass), the members of Genesis had taken control of the band, and some fantasy elements started to work their way into the songs (as is apparent in “White Mountain” and “Stagnation”). This continued with the third album Nursery Cryme, which brought in fantasy, sci-fi, and fairy tale elements in songs like “The Fountain of Salmacis,” “The Return of the Giant Hogweed,” and the title track.
These first three albums slowly built up a following for the band while they developed their music and honed their prog rock/art rock chops. When Foxtrot hit the stores, Genesis became a notable act in their home country of Britain while leaning even heavier on sci-fi and fantasy themes.
“Watcher of the Skies” kicks things off with its mellotron introduction, which has since become practically legendary. Songwriters Rutherford and Banks were partially influenced by Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End as they worked sci-fi themes into the song. An alien surveys an abandoned planet and reflects on the destructive nature of the human race. He also worries that any survivors will take their deadly ways to the stars, and what that could mean for the rest of the galaxy. In “Get ’Em Out by Friday,” Peter Gabriel highlights his ability to create multiple characters in a song, delivering a wicked satire on corporate greed based on his own landlord problems at the time.
“Supper’s Ready” was the band’s first extended track to go longer than ten minutes, taking up most of the second side of the album. It begins with an odd supernatural encounter with “saintly shrouded men” walking outside who apparently forewarn of dark tidings. It then continues into a multi-part mini rock opera that at times reveals some of the band’s twisted sense of humor while also showing how they could rock hard while delivering an epic tale with apocalyptic themes. This piece became a staple in their concerts for many years, and they even revived it after Peter Gabriel’s high-profile breakup from the band.
Foxtrot went on to hit Number 12 on the British music charts, establishing the signature sound of the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis and making the band a sought-after act on the live scene. Two more albums would follow during Gabriel’s tenure, though those had much less in the way of sci-fi and fantasy themes. The revamped band with Phil Collins as lead singer would delve into fantasy a bit with its first two albums, but then shifted toward pop rock with radio-friendly tunes designed to climb the charts. So if you’re looking for more of the genre themes from Genesis, Foxtrot is the high point—and you can also find some in the two albums that preceded it as well as on Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering.
Interesting Facts:
The origins of “Supper’s Ready” come from two separate events involving Peter Gabriel, his first wife Jill, and the band’s producer John Anthony. In one incident, Jill started talking in a different voice, and Peter held up a makeshift cross made from two candles, which caused her to react violently. In another, Peter looked out the window of his wife’s parents’ house and saw a different lawn with seven shrouded men walking by. It should be noted that mind-altering substances were alleged to be involved in these incidents!
The Winkler in “Get ’Em Out by Friday” is based on infamous British landlord Perec “Peter” Rachman, who used “winkling”—a mixture of threats and inducements—to kick out tenants paying low rents so that he could charge more for redeveloped units.
The band had moved into more elaborate performances by this point in their career with Peter Gabriel sporting a reverse mohawk and often dressing up in different costumes in the show. He can be seen as the alien in the “Watcher of the Skies” video above and he would dress up as the fox from the cover of Foxtrot, the giant hogweed from Nursery Cryme and other characters.
Where Can You Listen To It?
This album is widely available in CD, Vinyl, and MP3 format. You may want to seek out the 2007 stereo remix (links provided) which cleans up the rather muddy production from the first release.
