duke (1980) - genesis: atlantic records, SD-16014

By the end of the 70’s prog was quickly coming to the end if its run as a relevant genre of music.  Bands like Yes, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson all started (or were soon to start) turning to different sounds – whether experimental or electronic, and in 1981 the official death of prog would be heralded by the creation of “supergroup” Asia, proving that old proggers don’t die, they just form horrible, overstuffed bands.

So it’s no wonder that by 1980 Genesis would also begin to start seeking to a way to ensure relevance with a new style of music as well.  This search for a new identity began unintentionally with the departure of Peter Gabriel in 1975.  However, both  A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering (both released in 1976) continued to be Genesisy in their way, and it seemed as if the lads would slog on as a prog band.  But when Steve Hackett left in 1977 Genesis were faced with some serious questions about their direction, and their aimless stumbling of …And Then There Were Three indicated that there were some significant changes ahead.

By the time the boys released Duke, it was clear that they had left prog far behind and were rapidly moving to the sort of easily accessible, softer rock that would be suitable for mass consumption and background music in dentist’s waiting rooms.

Duke would be the last Genesis album I would buy.

Side 1: Behind The Lines Duchess Guide Vocal Man Of Our Times Misunderstanding Heathhaze
Side 2: Turn It On Again Alone Tonight Cul-de-Sac Please Don’t Ask Duke’s Travels Duke’s End

Now, I haven’t listened to Duke since the 90’s because I just didn’t like it at all. To be honest, I kind of hated it, because I felt cheated.  That’s not to say that the music on Duke was bad, per se, because it wasn’t.  On the contrary, some of the songs are quite good.  But this new softer, more-pop Genesis just really wasn’t my thing at all because, as mentioned earlier, they seemed to me to be little more than a former shell of themselves.  They now made easily digestible rock masquerading in the ostentation of prog … sort of how a little girl might play with her mom’s makeup and high-heels during a dress up game.

One needs to look no further than the lyrics, which in many cases replaced pomposity and pretense with overly lachrymose melodrama.  After Gabriel’s exit, Genesis were much more hit-or-miss lyrically.  Some songs, like Firth of Fifth and Squonk retained the grandeur and verbal nods and winks of the past, but some were overly melancholy or simple.  That inconsistent and often overly morose lyrical trend continued on Duke, which is quite a moody and uneven album.  That’s not to say that Gabriel didn’t have his lame songs or lyrics (oh, he did), but without him one sees a loss of sophistication coupled with an increase in the maudlin, because Phil Collins used music as a form of extended therapy to get past the very traumatic disintegration of his marriage.

However, as much as Gabriel was missed in terms of the words, it was the loss of Hackett and his guitar magic that’s really noticeable.  Instrumentally, Duke is one-dimensional, being overwhelmingly dominated by keyboards and devoid of much of the complex interplay Hackett’s string work would bring.  This renders the songs a bit hollow and unfinished.  That emptiness is actually felt the most acutely on songs like Man Of Our Times, Duke’s Travels, and Duke’s End which, paradoxically, are the strongest musical numbers on the album.  Listening to these songs is quite frustrating, because you can hear the holes where the guitar ought to have been.  And while Rutherford is more than competent on both 6 and 12 strings, he is no Hackett.

I have to admit, it was nice to listen to this album again after so long, because the time allowed me to consider the 1980 incarnation of Genesis for themselves, rather than what they were five years prior.  I also again noticed that the labels with the running Duke cartoon seem a bit too much like the fat bottom girls riding their bikes on the labels for Queen's Jazz.  That aside, I still don’t like Duke, but I don’t really hate it any more, either.

Up next: Who goes solo