Tom,
Genesis did eventually devolve into little more than a hit factory under the leadership of Collins, but the albums covered here are good ones -- at least up until Abacab, when the really, really commercial period began in earnest. It would still be a few years before things got as bad as We Can't Dance of course.

But Trick Of The Tail, Wind & Wuthering, And Then There Were Three, and Duke are all great records. Wind & Wuthering in particular features great songs like Steve Hackett's Blood On The Rooftops. Trick Of The Tail has Dance On A Volcano and Los Endos, which were always an explosive combimation in concert.

Now as for Wilco, as Josh would say: Buying the shit outta that one.

-Glen

Tom, hope you don't mind the diversion, but I knew I could reach you here.

You are correct. I was teasing Mark about this week, bit of an in-joke that prompted him to begin his column in the first place.

While I didn't spend as much time as my buddy Fumo, I enjoyed what I heard from S&A on first listen and am curious how it will sound live. I've already got my tix for Irvine.

Glen: you know, I had written off Abacab for a long time after a bad experience with it many years ago (this being the album from this bunch that I didn't think I particularly cared for), but I picked that up yesterday ($10 in Best Buy Reward Zone coupons made it a cheap-buy) and I have to say, it's a pretty weird, fun album. And by weird I mean, aside from a couple songs, almost totally anti-commercial. I think the way these box sets are broken up is purposely split to define periods - the next one, 1983-1997, definitely defines their commercial period, with the self-titled album being a much more singles-driven album. But Abacab is just a weird, paranoid, squawky little beast that sits awkwardly between the amazing Duke and the self-titled album. I don't know - I'm doing some serious re-evaluation of my previous feelings on this one. It's definitely a much more interesting and rewarding album than I remembered.

But you know, I have to admit that I actually do like a portion of We Can't Dance - there's actually some strong material on that album. There's also wretched stuff on there, too, of course. Okay, it's mostly wretched, but it does have one song I will continue to defend against all naysayers: "No Son Of Mine." Love it, can't help it. I also like "Driving The Last Spike," and, to a lesser extent, "Fading Lights" and "Dreaming While You Sleep." I'm kind of a sucker for Phil Collins' voice and drumming, I admit it.

El Bicho: Cool, man! I had hoped it was a joke, but was very tired when I read that and might have been incapable of receiving joke-cues.

Although I don't think of Wilco as mercenary, I do think in a way, this could be a possible commercial breakthrough for Wilco on their 7th CD. The reason being that this album will appeal to baby boomers for the most part who like this type of music and who still go out sometimes and buy a CD rather than downloading the music off the internet.

I have only heard one song, but it was awesome and I knew they'd put out something of quality anyway--they always do.