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Inherit a dukedom and go back to the main Genesis page! Puke
Overall Album Score: 7.2 out of 10 Dookie! (Heheheeeheheeee! My elementary-school vocabulary is coming back to me!) Well, after Genesis' relative downer And Then There Were Three that had a few very fine and uplifting moments in it and everything else was pretty much dick, Phil Collins & Friends release Duke, which is an album that doesn't have any dick songs on it, but there are no fine, uplifting moments, either! And to that I say: "Argh!" Wouldst somebody bring back Peter Gabriel? ... Please? Eh! I guess if I wanted Peter Gabriel, I would listen to his wonderful solo albums! This almost bastardization of Genesis is really PALE! ...But professional! Those of you who like to complain about Tony Banks should note that he really sort of settles down with this one. There's not really one moment that makes me go "Ooof! That was a poorly-done sytnth passage." Nope! They're all pretty clean and clear! I also can't truthfully say that I was bored by any of this ... but I was bored writing the track reviews because all of the songs sound the same! If I wasn't paying closer attention to them, I might think that this entire album was just the same song being played over and over! I wouldn't have minded ... if the song was a *good* one. Everything here is pretty much just above-the-average mediocre. Oh! And this is generally considered to be a transition album. It's when Genesis moves from doing Prog-rock and started with the pop! Eh... they just might as well made the transition. Their Prog-rock has lost its touch ever since Petey left. And ... what progressive rock without "the touch?" Genesis' last two albums'll answer that poser for ya! Although Duke is a little bit different. This is Genesis making progressive-rock, but trying to evade giving it "the touch" altogether. With Wind and Wuthering and And Then There Were Three, they make the attempt to make a Genesis album as if Peter Gabriel never left. (And, of course, they can't fool me!) With Duke, however, they seem to make a Prog-rock album that hardly acknowledges that Genesis ever had a Peter Gabriel. The result is a very pleasant but faceless progressive rock album. Overall Album Score: 7.2 out of 10 (Clearly, this isn't the most exhilarating Genesis album ever ... heck, this is the first Genesis album that doesn't even have an exhilarating MOMENT! There are no crappiful moments, though, thank goodness.) Average Song Score: 7.5 (I don't think that I ever have run across a set of songs that are so uniformly mild yet entertaining before! There's nothing great on here ... and there's nothing awful. It's almost uncanny how Genesis pulls this one off.) Album Tilt: 7.0 (While there are no bad spots, or really any slow spots in here to speak of, this isn't an album that I was able to sink my teeth into.) Artist Rating: 7.0 (Well ... this is still an artistically-geared album, but ... um, I have a hard time not thinking that it wasn't merely disguised as being one. At least somewhat.) Track Reviews Behind the Lines 7.5/10 Completely inoffensive synths from Tony Banks start this song up ... but they make me so excited that I think I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard. Oh ... here it comes! Oebnirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - Oh! Dear ... I fell asleep again. Now,, where was I? Oh yeah! This song! It's not awful. It's just a bunch of synth chords and some drumming ... maybe I hear a little bit of electric guitar strumming in the background. Oh! And like after two and a half minutes of this, Phil starts to sing ... SING TO ME PHILLIE! ... and ... this is mildly entertaining. I guess. It could have used a lot more in the hook department. And I'm pretty sure that even Gabriel-less and Hackett-less Genesis would be more capable of doing that! Eh ... whatever. Duchess 8.5/10 Duchess? Ohhh... this is the person the Duke shags when he doesn't feel like committing adultery. I see. This shaggyful track starts out very quietly (and not boringly) with some echoey synths and a bongo-like drum. It's not unentertaining. And then the song starts up ... it seems to me that the arranging here is a minor mess. But it works. It has a melody that's hooky enough for me to grasp onto. It doesn't really strike me as being great. It's above average for mid-era Genesis. Guide Vocal 4/5 ...Hey! I don't know when one track glides into another! Dude! That's confusing! Okay ... "Guide Vocal" is a very short track that has some pleasant and thoughtful lines sung by Phil Collins. Actually, it's quite lovely! I give it a 9. (Or a 4 out of 5 ... same thing.) Man of Our Times 7.5/10 Again, Genesis fails to suck ... the soaring choruses of "Maaaaaaaaan of our times" is pretty good ... but the rest of this song just seems feeble to me! It's pleasant, but this one seems just a tiny bit sloppy to me. Misunderstanding 7/10 Boy ... "Misunderstanding" is another mildly entertaining Genesis song ... With all of these mildly entertaining songs I'm feeling ... rather mild. I don't think the melody here is very good, but I must acknowledge that at least it has a melody! (I can't say that about everybody, ya know!) Heathaze 7/10 Not really impressive at all ... the hooks here are very minimal (except there are a few decent chord-changes in here). But I'm ... *gasp* getting bored with this. I like bits of the arranging, though ... I guess. Turn it On Again 8.5/10 Phil Collins' rhythm section here and a workable tune is what principally saves this track ... it's listenable and it leaves me content ... Tony Banks did a nice job with the keyboards here. Yeah ... I like it. Alone Tonight 7.5/10 Not bad ... hmmhmm ... Cul-De-Sac 7/10 ...hmmmhmmm... Please Don't Ask 7.5/10 ...hmmmhmmm... Okay! Time to quit being lazy! We didn't win the War in Iraq by being lazy, you know! (Well, I was being lazy!) All of these songs are good ... it's just that none of them really seem to stand out from one another. And these tracks never strike me as being *great*. So ... I'm mildly content. Some more. Duke's Travels 7/10 These guys are DORKS! This is mostly a piddly Progressive-rock instrumental that's 8 minutes long. Genesis used to be so much better! Nevertheless, I would never call this a terrible effort! 'Cause it's not! It's yet another mildly entertaining piece! Oh brother ... Duke's End 7.5/10 Hmmm... Phillyboy Collins must not have much respect for the Duke ... if he does a song about the Duke's end... that's a little bit vulgar! This song is a little bit screwy! A little bit more dynamic than most everything that preceded this one. It's kind of concluding music, but adding melody seems to have been neglected! Oh well, the Duke's end probably doesn't offer much melody, either ... all it could offer is poop. What does your duke think about this album? Please leave your comments here. slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received August 26, 2004 This was one of my first albums of Phil's era Genesis. I
must agree with you, it is a very average album. (maybe ever a bit below
average). But it's a better than ...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, in my
opinion. Nevertheless, it does have 4 very good songs on it. Speaking of
songs...
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All reviews are copyrighted by Duke Michael Lawrence.
