1983 was a vintage year for progressive rock, with a raft of newer bands spearheaded by Marillion picking up the gauntlet thrown down by the likes of Genesis, Yes and King Crimson a decade earlier. Both Yes and Genesis returned to the fray themselves that year and Genesis, by now slimmed down to a trio of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks (at least on record) released an album simply titled 'Genesis', which featured a typically 1980s cover design consisting of simple yellow block shapes.
Genesis had undergone a transformation in sound to go with their slimmed-down line-up; with shorter (and in some cases 'poppier' songs) and with modern synth sounds prominent, they were starting to lose some of their older fans who had been with them since Peter Gabriel was vocalist, as they also gained new fans on the back of the concurrent solo success of drummer/singer Phil Collins. Perhaps wanting to show that they still had it in them to do 'prog', the lead-off single was 'Mama', a song that started off with a haunting synth sound and steadily built into a huge production. The structure of the track was very similar to that of 'In The Air Tonight', the song that had kick-started Collins' solo career two years earlier and like that track, it had only a drum machine rather than actual drums until the closing segment, when a huge salvo kicked in. The drum sound had the same 'gated reverb' effect as 'In The Air Tonight', which Collins and producer Hugh Padgham had pioneered. This sound made the drums appear to 'explode' from the speakers with startling effect.
'Mama' was the band's biggest UK hit at the time, reaching number 4 in the charts and although subsequent singles were more in the shorter, poppier vein, they did have another prog trick up their sleeve on the album. 'Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea', a suite of two tracks written from the viewpoint of a burglar who finds himself a captive of ghosts, compelling him to hear their life stories... "as we relive our lives with what we tell you".
With 'Mama' and the 'Home By The Sea' suite, Genesis showed the new breed how to do progressive rock, and the album and subsequent tour (for which, they were augmented on stage by Daryl Steurmer on guitar or bass, and Chester Thompson on drums) proved to be a success, culminating in a run of dates at Birmingham's NEC arena the next year.
From the 1983 self-titled 'Genesis' album, here is 'Mama'.
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