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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Before FACE VALUE, Phil exorcised his romantic demons here, March 16, 2004
With 1978's ...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, Genesis proved that becoming a trio & more of a pop band wasn't something they were unable to do. Rather, they did it & were fantastic at it! Not much of the band's progressive sound had been diluted, it was just being employed on shorter songs that were more likely to get on the radio. After a two-year break, Genesis came roaring back into the marketplace with 1980's DUKE.When "Follow You Follow Me" became Genesis' first American top 30 hit, that had to have convinced the trio that people were listening to them & waiting for more from Genesis. DUKE certainly didn't disappoint with 2 major hit singles & a million-selling album that also happened to be one of the finest in Genesis' catalog. Keyboardist Tony Banks & guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford had long been acquainted with writing their own songs, but drummer/vocalist Phil Collins hadn't had enough practice yet & before DUKE, was more comfortable writing songs as part of a unit. But with his first marriage on the rocks, Phil must have found some therapy in writing his own music, enough to even lay the groundwork for his first solo album around the time of DUKE's recording. Before that, Phil gave two solo compositions to the band: the insanely catchy "Misunderstanding" (Genesis' first excursion into the top 20) & the heartbreaking ballad "Please Don't Ask". While the former may not be directly related to Phil's marital troubles, the latter's relevance is more than palpable, with a sense of "let's try & work this out" sentiment to it. The much deeper look into Phil's psyche of 1981's FACE VALUE is first evident on "Please Don't Ask". Even on the songs Phil sang, but didn't write, there's a sense that he was using his own personal upheaval as a source of inspiration for his singing. Mike Rutherford's "Alone Tonight" is clearly coming from a man who needs someone to love, but has become too accustomed to being alone to really know when it's there (sort of autobiographical here). Tony Banks' brief "Guide Vocal" takes a different side, perhaps indicating Phil is bitterly saying farewell to his estranged wife & maybe the grass is greener on the other side. Talk about your mixed emotions! But DUKE is not just simply a dry run for Phil's aural therapy session on FACE VALUE. This is still a Genesis album, and it's an excellent showcase for the band's always-tight musicianship. DUKE opens with a bang on the group-penned "Behind The Lines". Perhaps similar to the "day in the life of a rock star" opener of ...ATTWT ("Down & Out"), Phil would later re-record this song for FACE VALUE, giving it a decidely different arrangement. "Turn It On Again" was the album's other hit single (despite charting in the lower half of the Hot 100), and has long been a fan favorite, even lending its name to the band's greatest hits album. Again, catchy as hell, all doubts about Genesis not being able to rock are silenced once one hears this song. The less personal numbers on DUKE are equally strong. The band-written "Duchess" was written about a year before Princess Diana, but its story of a much-loved & tragic public figure (for this song, a singer) is eerily prophetic. It still stands as a near-spot-on commentary about the price of fame. Mike's "Man Of Our Times" is a slow-moving, dirge-like number that could be about a politician, a king or any famous man of some sort. Good groove to it, though. Tony's "Heathaze" has an ethereal, windswept quality that would not have been out of place on 1977's WIND & WUTHERING. The meaning to Tony's "Cul-De-Sac" is hard to discern, but it's still a fine performance all the same. As with any of Tony's compositions, the keyboards are front & center in the mix, carrying the song fabulously. To show that they hadn't completely turned their back on the progressive days, DUKE began the tradition of featuring at least one song that can rank as tried-and-true progressive rock. For this album, it was the closing two tracks of "Duke's Travels" & "Duke's End". The first part opens with a shimmering wall of synthesized keyboards that literally wraps the listener in sound before Phil's long-underrated prowess as a drummer comes in, leading the band on an epic, layered instrumental work that shows off the benefits of DUKE having been recorded at ABBA's Polar Studios in Sweden. It was one of the first all-digital studios ever built. Although listed as an instrumental "Duke's Travels" does have lyrics (a reprise of "Guide Vocal"). The second part closes out the album with a much more syncopated version of the first part, bringing DUKE to a smashing end. With their commercial standing increasing as time went on, Genesis more than proved they were not just another band commercializing their music to get on the radio & sell more records. At the same time, Genesis were improving as a band, exploring unchartered (for them, at least) musical waters. Even nearly 25 years after its release, DUKE still ranks as one of Genesis' finest albums, especially at a then-lengthy 55 minutes. With Genesis on their way to becoming pop music royalty, DUKE was more than an appropriate moniker.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece, November 10, 2004
The term "masterpiece" isn't thrown around lightly by me. So when I term Genesis 1980 effort "Duke" a masterpiece, it really doesn't get much better than this. Many look upon "Duke" as the last hurrah in terms of Genesis being a full-fledged Progressive Rock band (I think the next effort "Abacab" still showed some Progressive Rock life left in the band). Some will also look at "Duke" as showing some of the early signs of Genesis turning the corner into becoming a mainstream/pop band (which to some extent is fair). Whatever the case, "Duke" scores big.
When I look at Genesis as band, I see four distinct phases the band has gone through. Phase 1 is the Peter Gabriel Era. This spans from 1969 ("From Genesis to Revelation") to 1974 ("The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"). It was during Phase 1 that Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist and Genesis could easily be categorized as a progressive Rock band. Phase 2 is the Early Phil Collins Era spanning from 1976 ("A Trick of the Tail") to 1982 ("Three Sides Live"). In this era, Phil Collins took over as lead singer. The band was still very much a progressive rock band, but as the progressive rock landscape would change - so would Genesis. This might indirectly have led to Phase 3 which is the Late Phil Collins Era from 1983 ("Genesis") to 1993 ("The Way We Walk Volume 2: The Longs"). This is the commercial/pop era that I referred to earlier. At this point, there would be a lot less progressive rock flavor to Genesis' music. The fourth phase, Phase 4 is the Ray Wilson Era. This was when Ray Wilson took over as lead vocalist for Phil Collins. There would only be one album in this era - 1997's "Calling All Stations" and it seemed like Genesis tried to recapture some of their progressive rock roots - but 90s style. "Duke" was basically done toward the end of Phase 2.
In terms of being a Progressive Rock album, "Duke" clearly falls into this category. The nice thing about "Duke" is that while it does stick to the Progressive Rock roots, it has the type of sound that will appeal to the mainstream fan. Throw in three songs that would be classified mainstream ("Please Don't Ask", "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It On Again") and it solidifies this broad appeal. In keeping with the times (1980), it seems as though Genesis strives to wrap this up into a "Concept" type album. The "Concept" isn't quite tangible, but many of the songs seem to have an interwoven thread. Using my imagination, I take the album to be a musical journey by someone named "Duke".
Another interesting thing is that 5 songs are credited as being written by the combination of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins. However the remaining seven songs are credited as being written individually by Tony Banks (who has 3), Mike Rutherford (who has 2), and Phil Collins (who has 2). You can see that Phil has the most "Pop" influence with the songs "Misunderstanding" and the ballad "Please Don't Ask". I think Tony has the most Progressive Rock sounding songs ("Guide Vocal", "Heathaze", and "Cul De Sac"). Mike straddles between the fence of Progressive ("Man Of Our Times") and quasi-Pop ("Alone Tonight").
The collection starts off with a four song "suite". These are basically four songs that segue one into another. The suite starts off with "Behind the Lines". This is a song that Phil Collins would also cover on his "Face Value" solo album. This is a jointly written song by the trio and really kicks off the "musical journey". I think Collins' drums are incredible on this song. The song then eases into what is the suite and the collection's most powerful track - "Duchess". The music slows down and then builds back up over 2 minutes into some powerful and emotional music. You can hear the raw emotion in Phil's voice and Tony's keyboard playing. "Duchess", which seems to be the story of a female performer named "Duchess" was another track written by the trio. "Duchess" progresses nicely into the third song of the suite which is Tony's (written) "Guide Vocal". This is a short and soft song 1:30+ minute song which is the perfect interlude to Mike's (written) "Man of All Seasons". On this track the trio has their "A" game with Phil's percussion, Tony's keyboards and Mike's guitars. This is a nice wrap up to almost 20 minutes of non-stop music.
When I first got "Duke", I got it on LP. I always considered the second side of "Duke" (last 6 songs on the CD) one of the greatest album sides of all time. Sure "Turn It On Again" is a classic, but all the songs contributed. One very powerful song is Tony's (written) "Cul De Sac". This is a classic Progressive Rock tune. The set wraps up with another segue of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End". "Duke's Travels is almost a full instrumental. No lyrics are listed for this song in the liner notes, but about 6+ minutes into the song, Phil will sing. "Duke's End" is a perfect wrap-up as it incorparates sounds from "Behind the Lines" and "Turn It On Again". "Alone Tonight" was a song that sat perfectly between "Turn It On Again" and "Cul De Sac" while "Please Don't Ask" is the perfect song between "Cul De Sac" and "Duke's Travels".
The CD has illustrations that kind of remind you like a children's storybook. This illustrations carry over into the liner notes and there is a different illustration on each page. The font of the lyrics also is kind of like storybook font. All of the lyrics (with the exception of "Duke's Travels") are included along with the appropriate songwriting credits. This is a great album and will appeal to old and new Genesis fans. I highly recommend this "masterpiece" to add your collection.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fitting end to the progressive era..., November 19, 1999
By A Customer
This is an album that pretty much ended one era of the band's career...the era of progressive rock. They were getting used to writing and playing in the studio as a trio outfit, and this...their second outing in that vein, Banks, Collins and Rutherford come up with some of the most imaginative, dramatic and catchy songs of their career. Take for instance, Behind The Lines, the album's opener. You can see why Phil chose to cover this song on his first solo outing. It's a great song that could be done by anyone with any kind of soul in them. As a matter of fact, Duke is by far, one of the most soulful albums that Genesis has ever released. It showed a certain side to the group that even though they were well respected for their long, progressive songs, their shorter, more accessable songs are very hook-laden (the main riff in Turn It On Again is a classic), aggressive (Man of Our Times), and melancholy (Please Don't Ask). The band hasn't lost its knack for putting out interesting instrumental passages either...Duke's Travels and Duke's End wrap up this album very nicely and concisely, making Duke definitely one of the must-haves for anyone who claims to be a Genesis fan. Yes, this signaled the end of an era, and what a glorious end it was.
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