Music geeks often have a strange selection of things they revel in. Today's report of the used treasures I picked up may reveal far too much about my music-geek factor than I really should be admitting . . .
Genesis: Calling All Stations - When I got laid off in the summer of 2001, I was faced with a dilemma - either stop buying music altogether, or sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. I chose the latter. With all that time on my hands, listening to new music at the sacrifice of old music was a pretty reasonable idea. In the end, however, I wound up trading back things that I had an odd love for, such as Genesis' final album, Calling All Stations. Fans and critics alike pretty much ripped this album to shreds when it came out, as it seemed to please no one in particular. The old fans didn't quite get the full-on prog-revival Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks promised, and newer fans wouldn't touch it without Disney's current go-to guy, Phil Collins, fronting the band. In the considerable shoes of former vocalists Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, how was a stranger like Ray Wilson to make an impact? Wilson's warm, throaty delivery departed from the characteristic and often downright odd vocals (at least in the early, non-pop years of the band) of Gabriel and Collins, being neither quite as defining nor as charismatic. The music too suffered from a lack of identity - was this the pop-powerhouse Genesis of the 80s and 90s, or the genre-defining prog Genesis of the 70s? The album attempted to tred a thin line between the two, going further into heavy prog territory with long songs and complex instrumental passages than the band had since Abacab, but it also contained a fair number of the radio-friendly, simpler songs that the band focused on in the years following that quirky album. And, so, no one really responded, leaving record stores and the label with batch after batch of this commercial dud. I, however, applied my usual critical stance - if it didn't have the "Genesis" legacy to live up to, would I have enjoyed it anyway? Yes, I likely would have, and so I did. There are some awkward moments, like the purposely eclectic "Alien Afternoon," schmaltzy "If That's What You Needed," and the completely out-of-place, dated, and unnecessary "Small Talk," but there are enough solid moments, like the dramatic title track, or the velvety ballads "Shipwrecked," "Not About Us," and enough non-offensive filler that it's an occasionally intriguing listen. Not to mention that I, at least, particularly enjoy Ray Wilson's smooth-as-gravel voice. Price today? $8.99
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