geese & the ghost, the (1977) – anthony phillips: passport records, PP-98020

As I sat listening to this album last night, it struck me that Anthony Phillips’ career could be used as a sort of a Rorschach test to find out whether someone was a glass “half full” or “half empty” person.

A “half empty” guy would see Ant’s trajectory as a modern tragedy worthy of the Shakespeare treatment: a guy with incredible talent and vision, and founding member of Genesis who voluntarily left before the band started to achieve notoriety (due to paralyzing stage fright), only to fall into near total obscurity, where only fringe fans and other musicians remember who he is.

A “half full” guy, on the other hand, would understand the reason for Ant’s withdrawal from Genesis, and instead focus on how he continues to create incredible music, free of all the baggage, obligations, pressure to create something that the public will consume that comes from being in a successful rock band.

Then there’s Ant’s own state, which seems to be one of contentment with his lot, coupled with a tinge of regret at not having shared in the success and development of Genesis during their prog years.

The Geese & The Ghost, released in 1977, is his first solo album.

Side 1: Wind Tales Which Way The Wind Blows Henry, Portrait From Tudor Times Fanfare Lute’s Chorus Misty Battlements Henry Goes To War Death Of A Knight Triumphant Return God If I Saw Her Now
Side 2: Chinese Mushroom Cloud The Geese And The Ghost Part i Part ii Collections Sleepfall: The Geese Fly West

This album is very familiar territory for fans of very early Genesis, and with good reason. Not only were Ant’s fingerprints all over the album Trespass (and to some extent Nursery Cryme), but many of the songs on G&G were co-written with Mike Rutherford, and sung by Phil Collins.

It’s like the Genesis album that never was. Almost. See, even though the guitar and arrangements on a song like The Geese And The Ghost sound like they could fit seamlessly on Trespass, Nursery Cryme, or, to a lesser extent, Foxtrot, the reduced significance of keyboards marks this as absolutely not Genesis.

What it is, however, is an album that, while a nice example of Ant’s prowess and very listenable, seems a bit wanting. The songs are all competent and at times interesting, but never totally compelling, and during this listen I found myself guilty of a sin I could never commit when listening to Genesis or King Crimson: I would inadvertently wander at times away from the music. Whether that’s because of the heavy medieval influence on the music or because of a hole that Ant and Rutherford couldn’t fill with their composition, the music on G&G was often less than exciting. And that’s hard for me to say, because in many ways both the album G&G in general and the song G&G in particular, picks up threads left by Nursery Cryme’s opening song, the Musical Box (written by Ant), and I desperately wanted this album to be as interesting as that song.

However, the thing that did capture my interest during this listen is the way in which G&G expressed how influential Ant was in creating the sound Genesis would build in the early 70’s, even though it was Steve Hackett who did the actual building.

Even though this write-up is supposed to be about Ant’s first solo album, I simply cannot listen to it without drawing comparisons to early Genesis. And that’s both good and bad, because it does acknowledge Ant’s lasting legacy with the band and his huge talent, but also laments the fact that, despite being made one founding member of Genesis with great help by another founding member of Genesis, G&G simply does not stand alongside the Genesis albums Trespass or Nursery Cryme.

Up next: Between My Generation and Your Generation