December 17, 1976 - Wind & Wuthering

A week after my last release and 10 months after "A Trick Of The Tail" Genesis released their second album of the year "Wind & Wuthering" on December 17, 1976. After proving they can exist without Peter Gabriel these guys wanted to quickly make a follow-up to their last album. They decided to write music that they liked themselves rather than sticking to typical Genesis-style songs and this results in a different sound on this record. Steve Hackett said that he felt "the wackiness was being toned down" and he argued with the other members throughout recording. This would end up being Hackett's final album with the band, so let's see what this last look at Genesis' core sounds like!

The album begins with "Eleventh Earl Of Mar" and it opens with some cool, trippy synths by Tony Banks. They sound almost ELP-like, which is always a good thing, and Phil Collins plays a nice drum fill to segue into the main riff. Collins's voice still sounds pretty good but it's very calm and I think lacking the energy that Gabriel would bring to every song. Mike Rutherford plays some nice heavy bass to back this keyboard-led riff where Banks plays lots of different, cool stuff. Hackett plays a decent guitar solo but I can see what he means by the wackineness being toned down. This song is still a solid progressive song, but it's much simpler and softer than Geneses could have made it. Hackett plays a nice soft guitar riff that moves into a new part as he plays some good stuff while Collins sings lightly along. Banks and Rutherford slowly build their keyboards and bass and Collins plays another nice drum fill to bring everyone back to the main riff for another verse. Collins cool drumming continues throughout the next verse and I think this last verse is the best part of the song, with lots of good progressive music. It had a bit of a lighter feel to it, but this was still a pretty cool song and a decent way to open the album. The next song is the longest on the album at ten minutes, "One For The Vine" and Banks and Hackett sync up for a cool opening before Banks takes the lead on piano. Collins sings lightly along again as Banks leads the way with a nice piano riff and Hackett plays his own soft guitar part. This slow riff sounds pretty epic but it's also pretty tame. Collins goes really high, but not in a cool Freddie Mercury way, in an unnecessarily high way, not my favourite. They slow it right down for a new part that is somehow even slower than the main riff! Banks plays a trippy synth solo that sounds alright but where is the energy? Where is the oomph? My question is answered just before the 5-minute mark as Banks plays some faster piano and we head in a different direction. Collins plays some interesting percussion and he settles into a nice fast beat on the kit. Rutherford is playing some cool bass as well and Banks switched from piano to more epic keyboards. This instrumental section is the coolest stuff on the album so far as this is more what I like about Genesis. They move into a new verse with Collins vocals sounding a bit better as Banks continues to lead the way with some cool keyboards. They segue pretty nicely back into the slow main verse but I'm a little sad the fun part is over. After the verse Banks goes off for a pretty cool keyboard solo and he nicely segues into a beautiful closing piano part. The highs were pretty great in this song, but the parts inbetween them were very slow indeed. Track 3 is "Your Own Special Way", which was the big hit single, and it's led by a soft acoustic guitar riff by Hackett. Collins sings along in his light voice that is just lacking any bit of energy or enthusiasm while Banks adds some slow synths to this very tame riff. Things get a bit louder in the chorus as Rutherford adds some bass and Hackett plays some more interesting guitar, but it's all very sappy and pop-y still. It seems a very odd choice for the lead single and I think it's clear that Genesis have foregone the progressive-rock mindset that made them so great just a few years ago. Around the 4-minute mark they start a new slow part with Hackett and Banks both playing some alright, but not great stuff before they bring it back to the main verse. They play the chorus a couple more times before this song finally comes to a close. It felt like much longer than six minutes and if this is the direction Genesis are heading, then I'm with Steve Hackett. The side ends with "Wot Gorilla?", a strange song name indeed. It opens with some cool chimes and other percussion as Collins plays some cool stuff and he also starts a pretty fast drum beat. This is a more intense song already and Banks emphatically comes in with some epic keyboards. Collins solid drumming continues and Banks takes the lead with some pretty cool synths. This whole song is instrumental and it's by far my favourite one on the album so far! Banks plays lots of great music in this one and Collins ends it as it began with some more trippy chimes and percussion. The innovation is much more evident on this song , they do still have some prog in there!

Side two begins with "All In A Mouse's Night" as Banks opens it with some cool synths. Collins plays some nice drums and also sings along in his average light rock voice. They move into a cool new riff with some nice bass by Rutherford as Banks continues to lead the way. There certainly are a lot of lead keyboards and not nearly as much noticeable guitar. It's not bad music at all, but it's a definite shift, and one I'm not overly thrilled with. After a couple verses and chorus' they slow it down even more and Hackett does get a chance to play a slow guitar solo. He does a pretty good job but Banks seems to be playing over him, not in the background and I can totally understand why Hackett became so frustrated. Banks is a phenomenal keyboard player, but he has been in the spotlight all album with Hackett having minimal input. Track 6 is "Blood On The Rooftops" and Hackett opens it with some very light but pretty nice acoustic guitar. He solos for over a minute before Collins finally joins in with his light singing. Banks adds some background keyboards and this riff, like several on this album, is just very tame and unexciting. When the rhythm section joins in things sound a bit more rock but it's not long before we're back to sappy, slow stuff. It's another song that's not terrible, but that really shouldn't be your bar for songs that make an album. There's just not enough happening, instead of being made to get up and move it might put me to sleep! Speaking of sleep, the next song is called "Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers...", the shortest on the album at under 2 and a half minutes. It sounds like one of the interludes from "Lamb Lies Down" and I think it's a pretty cool little trippy instrumental track. Banks carries the song with some cool keyboards and I much prefer this style of music to the more pop-y offerings with vocals. This leads right into another instrumental song, "...In That Quiet Earth" as Collins connects the two tracks with a drum roll. They jump right into this fast riff with some quick playing by all four members: a fast drum beat by Collins, some cool bass by Rutherford, plus Hackett and Banks leading the way with some great fast guitar and keyboards. This sounds awesome and is what Genesis should be doing for the whole record! They segue nicely into a heavy new riff with Banks playing some great synths as Hackett and Rutherford play a great heavy, slow riff. I really like this part as well and this clearly shows that if they put their minds to it, they can still write high-quality music! This is easily my favourite song on the album, lots of cool stuff packed into this one. It also connects into the album closer, "Afterglow". They somehow move from the great prog-rock of the last song right into another slow light rock riff with Collins singing softly along. It's certainly becoming stale this late in the album. Once again, the music isn't bad, but it's very tame and nothing is jumping out or is really that memorable. There's no solo, no cool little licks, they just continue to slowly jam to the main beat for the whole 4 minutes. It's very uninspiring and a dull way to end the album.

That is the end of "Wind & Wuthering" and while it had some good music for sure, overall I thought it was a very average album. Genesis seem to have completely forgotten that they made several great progressive albums. I normally encourage experimenting and trying out new things, but this direction I am not pleased with. Even their other album this year, "A Trick Of The Tail", was a little lighter than usual but still very progressive and not nearly as redundant as this new stuff. This newest album is their worst album that I have easily and since Steve Hackett left the band I too have become disinterested with Genesis. Hopefully they can get it together in the future, but for now I will no longer be following them. This happens to be my final release of the year, and so begins the year-end wrap-up!

1976 ties my record with 14 albums this year: 12 studio and two live albums. I will not be comparing the live albums with the studio ones, because if I did "The Song Remains The Same" would easily be this year's winner with so much amazing music on that album.

Favourite song of the year: I will include it in this section though because the live version of "Dazed And Confused" is nothing like the studio version. My favourite song of the year is the near half-hour version that is jam-packed with so much amazing music. If I were only counting studio albums, I would probably pick the song "2112", but there are several songs off "The Song Remains The Same" that are just astounding.

Top 5 Albums of the year:

1. Presence by Led Zeppelin
2. 2112 by Rush
3. Leftoverture by Kansas
4. Boston by Boston
5. Amigos by Santana

Led Zeppelin rules both the studio and live roosts as they continue to be the most well-rounded rock band out there. Rush is climbing the ladder though as they are a force to be reckoned with. I thought the overall quality of music was a little down this year, let's hope 1977 has more awesomeness to offer! See you then!