From Genesis To Revelation

Genesis' story begins at the Charterhouse public school in Godalming, Surrey. Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel and guitarists Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips were all classmates in two competing bands. Adding drummer Chris Stewart, they joined forces in 1967 with the hopes of becoming a songwriting collective. The band's earliest efforts were proffered through the old-school tie, when pop producer and fellow Carthusian Jonathan King agreed to produce some demos. The contact eventually led to a recording contract from Decca Records. The boys were obviously from the upper-crust, and that upbringing unquestioningly influenced their music; their progressive aesthetic was never lowbrow nor pedestrian. Over the course of the next year, the band would record a pair of singles, as well as their debut album, From Genesis To Revelation, at London's Regent Studios. They recorded whenever they were on holiday, with John Silver eventually replacing Stewart on drums. It is of course an early effort from the group, a pre-history full of the naiveté of both the era and their ages. Chipping through the syrupy string arrangements, the album does reveal the talent of the budding artists. "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" contains a strong melodic sense, while "Am I Very Wrong" benefits from some heavy phasing. Gabriel's vocals are particularly expressive, yet in pop tradition, up front and center in the mix. There are also snippets of originality that would later evolve into Genesis' signature 12-string guitar sound; witness the brief appearance of "Twilight Alehouse" between "Fireside Song" and "The Serpent." Although the album and the associated singles sold poorly (perhaps due to being filed in the "Religious" music section), the inauspicious debut did not go unnoticed, as it earned a fine review in London's underground newspaper, the International Times.