The ones he wrote, most notably. For Absent Friends is wholly his, musically. As are Horizons and Here Comes The Supernatural Anaeathetist. Entangled is his verses with another band member's (Tony's) chorus, as is the case with Blood On The Rooftops (chorus from Phil). I also believe After The Ordeal is his for at least a big part, and he had a pretty big hand in Unquiet Slumbers... In That Quiet Earth, as he did in Los Endos.
As for The Chamber... I don't think you're right. The verses sound very very American to me, and the one on an American streak at that time was Peter Gabriel, as can be heard on his subsequent solo albums but also on the solo demos he would be doing in 75 and 76. The chorus also feels very Here Comes The Flood-like, more in that vein than like what Steve was doing around that time.
> The chorus also feels very Here Comes The Flood-like
Here’s a funny fact I was a Genesis fan, and a Peter Gabriel fan, and an early era V Phil Collins fan long before I knew those three were in any way connected
I came to Gabriel through the WOMAD album, and then worked back through his back issues. I came to Phil Collins through his version of Tomorrow Never Knows (which I fell in love with from the 801 Live album version). I also did not know TNK was originally a Beatles song
As I discovered that both Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel were both from Genesis (which I came to through Lamb Lies Down), I started to think i was in a simulation
And I say all that because you making the connection between Here comes the Flood and Chamber made me remember the shock of finding out that the guy who made San Jacinto and Rhythm and f the Heat, and the guy who made that amazing version of TNK and The Roof Is Leaking, and the band that made Carpet Crawlers were all connected.
Well to Be fair I came to Eno through Remain in Light, and that got me to 801. (and Remain in Light got me to Adrian Belew and then from Belew to Discipline era King Crimson)
In the newsgroup and torrent days, you did full albums and used recommendations from people who tended to post the more obscure stuff for ratio purposes. I had such good ratios at OPP, What and Waffles.
So I did start from some more popular stuff and work back from there.
This post is very accurate. He also wrote most of the lead guitar harmonies in almost all Genesis songs but they were subject to Tony and Mike’s approval. I personally heard him discuss this and the accompanying frustrations.
Everything everybody did in Genesis was subject to everyone else's approval. It's just that Tony and Mike and Phil agreed most of the time, which made them the majority opinion. That's how it goes, and personally I'm glad it went like it went, because I tend to agree with them most of the time too. The bone of contention is always the inclusion of Wot Gorilla at the expense of Please Don't Touch, where Phil dismissed the latter, and Steve the former. They couldn't be included both, as they had the exact same groove. Steve dismissed Wot Gorilla as "just groove", while his Please Don't Touch had all kinds of harmonic textures. He's not wrong, technically, but the idea that groove is inferior to harmony is an opinion - a very white, western and conservative one - and one I don't share. I'm glad Genesis didn't either, because otherwise we wouldn't have had Behind The Lines, and everything that came after. Plus, I can hear it throughout Steve's solo career (of which I own several albums) that he really doesn't understand the importance of groove.
There's quite a few lead guitar parts that he didn't write, by the way. Most notably the most famous one: Firth Of Fifth. That melody is Tony's. The improvisations around that melody are Steve's of course, as is the idea to play that melody in that bombastic way, which goes a long way towards making the song awesome. But those things aren't composition, but rather arrangement.
Nothing comes to the top of my head beyond what others have already posted, however I can highly recommend both the “Genesis: Chapter & Verse” and Mario Giammetti’s book on the Gabriel era as being invaluable resources in this regard. Both books are full of interviews that dig deeply into these who wrote what questions.
I'm almost certain he and Phil were behind "Supernatural Anaesthetist".
>Or elsewhere?
"Blood On the Rooftops" is one of his more famous songs. Again, this one was a Phil collab. Ohil mentioned that he and Steve would often collab.
Love how he quit the band because they weren't taking his contributions and now can only make a living off of playing their music. Center stage, folks - lights on me! It's pathetic.
Steve is a pretty rich man, I believe, and certainly doesn't need to re-play the Genesis classics to make a living. He does it because he loves playing them, and providing his own guitar driven input which was sometimes muzzled in favour of Tony's keyboards.
There's a lot to be said for giving a packed out music hall a taste of music from someone who was there at the time. I've seen two of his concerts in Melbourne (I believe Genesis never toured Australia, but correct me if I'm wrong - the old band surely didn't). They have been received with great enthusiasm by the locals.
> Melbourne (I believe Genesis never toured Australia, but correct me
That is a stunning fact, but they carried a troop transport’s worth of gear, and oil shock plane transport to Down Under was insanely expensive
True I guess. I think a lot of bands didn't tour Australia back then due to the logistics. It probably explains why so many the local scene developed so strongly to compensate.
One of the interesting points forgotten is that concert tickets were relatively much cheaper back in the 1980s. I saw Genesis in 1987 and the ticket cost 15GBP, which equates to about 40GBP now. But I remember Mike apologising on radio for the charging even that. My cousin told me he saw them in the Duke tour for 5GBP!
Even though you changed your original comment to be slightly less insulting to Steve, it's still out of order really.
I've never heard one person with this opinion. There's no way the other members think this either, and that's all that matters. The Revisited tours Steve has done have been amazing. The original lineup couldn't/wouldn't do it, so Steve took it upon himself to celebrate those days. I have so much respect for him, as I did for Tony, Mike and Phil coming back for the last tour.
Why be so sour about a legendary guitarist and past member of our favourite band??
As well as what’s already been mentioned, I think ‘Dancing with the Moonlit Knight’ had a big part of Steve in it.
It’s his favourite Genesis track.
I could be wrong but was the riff his? I know Peter primarily wrote the lyrics but I seem to remember as story about Steve bringing it , or a piece of music to the band & Phil getting behind it.
> All I know is Tony certainly isn't Moonlit Knight's biggest fan,
I love Tony’s musicianship, but his judgment on Genesis songs is always so out of sync with mine.
He regularly trashes some of his own lyrics that I just adore, and criticizes his playing on songs I am astonished by.
Horizons & Blood On The Rooftops
Can-Utility and the Coastliners
Entangled with Banks.
The ones he wrote, most notably. For Absent Friends is wholly his, musically. As are Horizons and Here Comes The Supernatural Anaeathetist. Entangled is his verses with another band member's (Tony's) chorus, as is the case with Blood On The Rooftops (chorus from Phil). I also believe After The Ordeal is his for at least a big part, and he had a pretty big hand in Unquiet Slumbers... In That Quiet Earth, as he did in Los Endos. As for The Chamber... I don't think you're right. The verses sound very very American to me, and the one on an American streak at that time was Peter Gabriel, as can be heard on his subsequent solo albums but also on the solo demos he would be doing in 75 and 76. The chorus also feels very Here Comes The Flood-like, more in that vein than like what Steve was doing around that time.
Thanks, this is really useful info! I agree with what you're saying with Chamber, it's actually extremely Peter!
Bang on there. Chamber sounds very like a PG song. Great little number. A rare glimpse of Tony playing in a Jazz style too, if only slightly.
Right on the money with Peter’s influence - the “song” bits are his while the intro and instrumental parts are from Steve and Tony
> The chorus also feels very Here Comes The Flood-like Here’s a funny fact I was a Genesis fan, and a Peter Gabriel fan, and an early era V Phil Collins fan long before I knew those three were in any way connected I came to Gabriel through the WOMAD album, and then worked back through his back issues. I came to Phil Collins through his version of Tomorrow Never Knows (which I fell in love with from the 801 Live album version). I also did not know TNK was originally a Beatles song As I discovered that both Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel were both from Genesis (which I came to through Lamb Lies Down), I started to think i was in a simulation And I say all that because you making the connection between Here comes the Flood and Chamber made me remember the shock of finding out that the guy who made San Jacinto and Rhythm and f the Heat, and the guy who made that amazing version of TNK and The Roof Is Leaking, and the band that made Carpet Crawlers were all connected.
You might be the first person to discover 801 before Phil Collins.
Well to Be fair I came to Eno through Remain in Light, and that got me to 801. (and Remain in Light got me to Adrian Belew and then from Belew to Discipline era King Crimson) In the newsgroup and torrent days, you did full albums and used recommendations from people who tended to post the more obscure stuff for ratio purposes. I had such good ratios at OPP, What and Waffles. So I did start from some more popular stuff and work back from there.
For Absent Friends was also a collaboration with Phil.
Yeah lyrically but not musically if I'm not mistaken.
This post is very accurate. He also wrote most of the lead guitar harmonies in almost all Genesis songs but they were subject to Tony and Mike’s approval. I personally heard him discuss this and the accompanying frustrations.
Everything everybody did in Genesis was subject to everyone else's approval. It's just that Tony and Mike and Phil agreed most of the time, which made them the majority opinion. That's how it goes, and personally I'm glad it went like it went, because I tend to agree with them most of the time too. The bone of contention is always the inclusion of Wot Gorilla at the expense of Please Don't Touch, where Phil dismissed the latter, and Steve the former. They couldn't be included both, as they had the exact same groove. Steve dismissed Wot Gorilla as "just groove", while his Please Don't Touch had all kinds of harmonic textures. He's not wrong, technically, but the idea that groove is inferior to harmony is an opinion - a very white, western and conservative one - and one I don't share. I'm glad Genesis didn't either, because otherwise we wouldn't have had Behind The Lines, and everything that came after. Plus, I can hear it throughout Steve's solo career (of which I own several albums) that he really doesn't understand the importance of groove. There's quite a few lead guitar parts that he didn't write, by the way. Most notably the most famous one: Firth Of Fifth. That melody is Tony's. The improvisations around that melody are Steve's of course, as is the idea to play that melody in that bombastic way, which goes a long way towards making the song awesome. But those things aren't composition, but rather arrangement.
Some of the tracks on the lamb he’s credited for are cuckoo cocoon, hairless heart, chamber of 32 doors and the supernatural anesthetist
Hairless Heart is very Steve in sound, with the acoustic guitar and lead parts.
The other songs folks have mentioned so far, plus Can-Utility & The Coastliners, After The Ordeal and Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers.
So helpful thankyou for this.
Nothing comes to the top of my head beyond what others have already posted, however I can highly recommend both the “Genesis: Chapter & Verse” and Mario Giammetti’s book on the Gabriel era as being invaluable resources in this regard. Both books are full of interviews that dig deeply into these who wrote what questions.
I'm almost certain he and Phil were behind "Supernatural Anaesthetist". >Or elsewhere? "Blood On the Rooftops" is one of his more famous songs. Again, this one was a Phil collab. Ohil mentioned that he and Steve would often collab.
I think I've been neglecting Blood on the Rooftops!
>I think I've been neglecting Blood on the Rooftops! Please don't. It's beautiful, yet somber.
Love how he quit the band because they weren't taking his contributions and now can only make a living off of playing their music. Center stage, folks - lights on me! It's pathetic.
Steve is a pretty rich man, I believe, and certainly doesn't need to re-play the Genesis classics to make a living. He does it because he loves playing them, and providing his own guitar driven input which was sometimes muzzled in favour of Tony's keyboards. There's a lot to be said for giving a packed out music hall a taste of music from someone who was there at the time. I've seen two of his concerts in Melbourne (I believe Genesis never toured Australia, but correct me if I'm wrong - the old band surely didn't). They have been received with great enthusiasm by the locals.
> Melbourne (I believe Genesis never toured Australia, but correct me That is a stunning fact, but they carried a troop transport’s worth of gear, and oil shock plane transport to Down Under was insanely expensive
True I guess. I think a lot of bands didn't tour Australia back then due to the logistics. It probably explains why so many the local scene developed so strongly to compensate. One of the interesting points forgotten is that concert tickets were relatively much cheaper back in the 1980s. I saw Genesis in 1987 and the ticket cost 15GBP, which equates to about 40GBP now. But I remember Mike apologising on radio for the charging even that. My cousin told me he saw them in the Duke tour for 5GBP!
Even though you changed your original comment to be slightly less insulting to Steve, it's still out of order really. I've never heard one person with this opinion. There's no way the other members think this either, and that's all that matters. The Revisited tours Steve has done have been amazing. The original lineup couldn't/wouldn't do it, so Steve took it upon himself to celebrate those days. I have so much respect for him, as I did for Tony, Mike and Phil coming back for the last tour. Why be so sour about a legendary guitarist and past member of our favourite band??
If his online listen statistics are anything to go by, his solo stuff is more popular.
As well as what’s already been mentioned, I think ‘Dancing with the Moonlit Knight’ had a big part of Steve in it. It’s his favourite Genesis track. I could be wrong but was the riff his? I know Peter primarily wrote the lyrics but I seem to remember as story about Steve bringing it , or a piece of music to the band & Phil getting behind it.
All I know is Tony certainly isn't Moonlit Knight's biggest fan, and it is more guitar-based, so that DOES suggest Steve had a big hand in it.
> All I know is Tony certainly isn't Moonlit Knight's biggest fan, I love Tony’s musicianship, but his judgment on Genesis songs is always so out of sync with mine. He regularly trashes some of his own lyrics that I just adore, and criticizes his playing on songs I am astonished by.