Foxtrot [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import]

Genesis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Wea Int'l
• ASIN: B000002J1M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (148 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,205 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Watcher Of The Skies

2. Time Table

3. Get 'Em Out By Friday

4. Can-Utility And The Coastliners

5. Horizon's

6. Supper's Ready: Lover's Leap/The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man/...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Foxtrot marked a decisive point in Genesis's career. An emerging art-rock band who were building up a growing cult following with a busy touring schedule, this album was an artistic and commercial landmark; it was their first album to chart. Including the classic "Watcher of the Skies" and Peter Gabriel's whimsically compassionate slice of life, "Get 'Em Out by Friday," the album's highlight is the ambitious sidelong epic "Supper's Ready." Comprising seven linked subsections, it was inspired apparently by a frightening experience where Gabriel's wife, Jill, felt she was possessed, and is a story of two lovers and the struggle between good and evil. Certainly it was the most innovative and entertaining piece the band had produced to date. The relatively rough production values could be seen as either detracting somewhat from the impact of the album or adding a pleasantly rough edge to what might otherwise be a somewhat prim sound. --James Swift

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly my favorite album of all time November 10, 2003

By woburnmusicfan

Format:Audio CD

I've owned over a thousand albums at one time or another. I can't say for sure which is my favorite of them all, but the 1972 album "Foxtrot" is a strong contender. The songwriting was more consistent than on the preceding album "Nursery Cryme", and the band had a year's more experience playing with new members Phil Collins (drums) and Steve Hackett (lead guitar). The mediocre production and lack of synthesizers keep the album from having as good a SOUND as some of Genesis' later works, but the overall songwriting and musicianship were at their all-time peak here. You can't consider yourself a true Genesis fan and not have this album.

The centerpice is Genesis' masterpiece, "Supper's Ready", which is undoubtedly my favorite song, a 23-minute epic in seven acts that begins on multiple 12-string acoustic guitars, moves on to Peter Gabriel's hilarious "Willow Farm", and ends big with the ominous "Apocalypse in 9/8" (Tony Banks playing a 4/4 organ solo while the rest of the band repeats a 9/8 riff) and a cathartic ending that reprises earlier themes in widescreen Technicolor. It's awe-inspiring, and far better than the "Seconds Out" version.

The other songs are all good, though not in the same league as "Supper's Ready". "Watcher of the Skies" sounds the most dated today -- its opening wall of Mellotron string chords doesn't sound as big and powerful now. But the song's unique 6/4 rhythm and sci-fi lyric, about an alien coming to Earth only to find humans have moved on to other worlds, are both strong. "Time Table", a rumination on medieval times, is the most straightforward song, with piano ballad verses and a swelling chorus. "Get 'em Out by Friday" is surprisingly relevant today in a time of gentrification and soaring housing prices. The interplay between the musicians is the best of any song on the album, and the song pauses in the middle for a slow duet of Gabriel on flute and Banks on Mellotron flute that is held together by Collins playing behind the beat. Hackett has referred to Genesis' music as "songs that started out at point 'A' and occasionally ended at around point 'Q'", and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" is a perfect example, a 6-minute microcosm of what early Genesis was all about. The song starts with Hackett and Mike Rutherford on 12-string acoustic guitars and moves through a series of unexpected changes, including Banks playing a rare solo on Mellotron strings and one of his trademark arpeggio solos on organ, and a fine guitar solo by Hackett. "Horizon's" is a brief Hackett 6-string acoustic solo piece that functions as an intro for "Supper's Ready".

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Once upon a time ...... October 21, 2000

By Solo Goodspeed

Format:Audio CD

.... long, long ago (okay, we're talking early '70s, so maybe not THAT long), an uppity bunch of European rock enthusiasts, mostly college buddies, introduced us culturally starved Western yahoos to a new realm of music which became known as Progressive. It broke away from the standard of much popular stuff of that day, incorporating elements of jazz, classical, and generally abstract deviance from your basic 4/4, 1-4-5 blues progressions that permeated a musical form which, back then, only got really exciting whenever somebody took an extended solo. And sometimes even that didn't work ......

Enter Genesis. A five-piece, electro-symphonic ensemble fronted by Peter Gabriel, a quirky storyteller who shaved the middle of his head and dressed up in nightmarish costumes. On the surface that would seem a cheap gimmick. Then you really listen to the music. The opening, soaring chords of Watcher of the Skies suggest anything from a panoramic view of a vast canyon to hurtling through space at the speed of infinity. The song relates the tale of your everyday God-Man who is doomed to witness the folly of mortal beings as they come and go over the ages, with no recourse but to ponder on the meaning of it all. Timetable diminishes the energy level, brings us a bit more down to acoustic Earth, with the melancholy observation "Why must we suffer each race to believe that no race has been grander? It seems because through time and space, though names may change, each face retains the mask it wore."

Get 'Em Out By Friday envisions a society which imposes a four-foot restriction on humanoid height - we're running out of all that time and space! Can-Utility and the Coastliners (an enigmatic title if there ever was one) leaves the listener with the impression that mortal leaders, whether political, holy or whatever, are ultimately born to disillusion and disappoint; "See the little man with his face turning red! Though his story's often told, you can tell that he's dead" And we are once again the Watcher, overseeing the folly of it all. End of Act One.

Act Two starts off with a serene, melodic view of further "Horizons", a solo guitar watercolor sketch of the promise of a new day, a new vision born of the previous disillusioning images of societal ruination. And just as we've digested the resonance of the final gentle chord ...... Supper's Ready. This 23-minute work is a seven-course Apocalypse served hot, so bring a hearty appetite and remember to activate your prayer capsule. This significant piece epitomizes what the group Genesis was all about (emphasis on WAS), runs the gamut of earthly view through all the absurd distortions that reality can manifest, pulverizes it entirely when all the Antichrists of the ages get together to party in 9/8 (yes you CAN dance to that beat) before flinging the doors open to a blinding white warm Heaven, the promise of illuminating our true way home.

No, this is not just another normal rock album. Not even for Genesis. It is hard to believe nowadays that they used to be THIS group. I think these guys really died and were replaced by impostors. No matter. The fact is, FOXTROT got recorded, it is a work like no other, the kind of album one listens to when they want something not as background music, not as lifesyle reinforcement, but as literature. It is The Bible as written by Lewis Carroll, set to the music of, oh, Ravel or Stravinsky, played on guitars (Steve Hackett, Michael Rutherford), drums (Phil Collins), and '70s state-of-the-art electronic keybords (Tony Banks). And like progressive rock in general, it's not for everyone ..... just the few true Watchers. Like Yes' "Close to the Edge", it is a journey. Indispensable Genesis, with a very visible touch. You could almost forgive Phil Collins for his reworking of "Groovy Kind of Love" ......

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Genesis gives prog rock a new meaning... November 20, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

This is the second Gabriel era album that I had purchased when I became a Genesis fan (the first being Selling England by the Pound), and it was also the first one that I totally liked on the first listen from that era. I had up to that point SEBTP, and NC. The thing that was great about this is that the group was starting to click and they were in sync with each other musically. Such songs which later became classics like Get 'Em Out By Friday and Can-Utility and the Coastliners showed their knack for storytelling (Pete's lyrics in particular) had begun to reach new heights. Watcher of the Skies is a true show opener, with its menacing Mellotron introduction. Tony Banks was definitely on to something there. And Steve was becoming more confident in his playing in the group...especially with Horizons. Phil Collins' druming showcased a jazzy type feel that gave the band an edge that had not been really showcased in other bands since Bruford left Yes.

And the creme de la creme, Supper's Ready...well, words can't express how I feel when I listen to that. That song, despite it's 22:51 length, is a song that I just have to stop what I'm doing and listen to every time I hear it...just like Styx's "Come Sail Away" does for Eric Cartman. This is definitely an album for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the band, past and/or present. One of the true signs of being a Genesis fan is that you can sing the ENTIRE Supper's Ready song..without missing a beat. Don't worry about that...you may have your work cut out for you in that sense, but it's a great tutorial nonetheless.