Hidden Treasures (Nursery Cryme - Genesis)

Member Name: Pjenkins

Product:	Nursery Cryme - Genesis
Date:	11/01/02 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully produced, Epic masterpiece

Disadvantages: Can be hard to get into

It's cool to hate Genesis, everyone knows it. In the same way that no one will ever admit to liking Paul Daniels as a child, very few people will actually come clean and say that, yes, they've listened to a Genesis record and, shock horror, enjoyed it.

Criticism generally revolves around the influence Phil Collins has had on the sound of the band, producing hits like ‘Turn it on again’, ‘Invisible touch’ and ‘I can’t dance’. Genesis are more often than not dumped unceremoniously into the ‘crap keyboard’ category of musical sin and forgotten about. Whether you agree or not, that is the general assumption about the music.

A paradox appears however when you consider albums such as ‘Nursery Cryme’ which was produced at the height of Peter Gabriel’s reign as lead singer in 1971. If an album could be created that was as far from sounding like a mid eighties Phil Collins number as possible, then this would be it. There are no foot tappers on this album, nothing you could ever dream of dancing to at a school disco. There are also no songs to encourage you to save the world.

This album is instead an epic piece, comparable to Led Zepellin but with a quirkier, lighter sound. Take a quick browse through the sleeve and you will gain some clue as to the nature of the music. For starters, there are only seven tracks on the whole album, three of which are only three minutes long. Bearing in mind that the album is a cool 49 minutes in length, you can quickly work out that there are going to be some pretty hefty musical interludes in there somewhere.

The next clue comes from the band listings. 12 strings, recorders, there is even a flute in amongst the instruments the band play. This is not your ‘album designed for a stadium tour’ which the band are so reviled for in later years. It is also interesting to note that the album is 100% filled with third per
son character biographies. Every track on the album is a very different thread but spun entirely from the same musical ball of yarn. That is they are all tales in some way of simple injustices. ‘Nursery Crymes’ if you will.

If you do manage to break through the peer pressure and ever get your hands on a copy, make sure you put it on when everything is quiet, so you can sit down, listen and let the whole thing wash over you. The album starts with ‘The musical box’ a chilling tale of a young boy who is killed playing croquet, only to return to haunt his 9 year old playing partner. The first track is one of the before mentioned ‘epic’ tracks, but is followed swiftly by the teeniest, tiniest, most beautiful track I think I have ever heard.

‘Absent friends’ follows the explosive opening track, by recounting the lives of two grieving friends, who meet up at the local church once a week. The guitar melody is sent directly from heaven, simple, direct and accompanied only by a flute, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins (who is still but a simple drummer) on backing vocals.

The album continues with more character pieces. ‘The Return of the Giant Hogweed’ is a ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ style saga, while ‘Seven Stones’, ‘Harlequin’ and ‘Harold the Barrel’ are much lighter pieces. The latter tells the story of poor Harold, a well known Bognor restaurant owner, who turns suicidal, then ‘cuts off his toes and serves them all for tea’. Charming.

The finale is ‘The Fountain of Salmacis’ of which I have yet to find a band or artist who have managed to craft such a piece of music using the stories of Greek mythology. According to legend Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite after a secret love affair. The song tells of the young boy who laid a curse upon a mountain lake, which it is claimed will turn any who
bathe in it to a hermaphrodite. This final piece is imposing, haunting and a perfect finish to the album. The final chords sequences are struck in a way which makes you feel like you yourself have finished a journey only to find that you haven’t left the comfort of your living room.

When you consider the jokes Genesis have had to put up with over the last ten years, it makes you wonder why nobody wheels this little baby out from its secret hiding place in the discography. It seems that the album is from a past time, when music and art were still part of the same beast. In the music we have today, there is little time for music to treasure, so I shall treasure this one from a long time to come.

Summary: