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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1971 is the year..., July 21, 2004
Led Zeppelin, The Who and Black Sabbath were at the top of their prime and another little known band from England was starting to make a name for themselves. A band to be known for the theatrical performances by their lead man, Peter Gabriel. 'Nursery Cryme' was to become the first album by the lineup that made Genesis famous: Gabriel on vocals, Phil Collins on drums (and backing vocals), Tony Banks on keys, Steve Hackett on guitars, and Mike Rutherford on bass and guitars.
Although it is not the band's best album, it has a handful of some of the best music they ever made. "The Musical Box", one of the band's standards, evokes feelings of victorian nostalgia, in line with the cover of the album, combined with a nightmarish and lunatic discharge that is perfectly framed by the latter part of the song. Viewing this song in a live setting is an experience that can be very hard to compare with anything you run into these days, as Gabriel strolls through the stage wearing the costume of an old man shaking and rattling as the song reaches its climax.
Second to "The Musical Box" is the closing track, "The Fountain of Salmacis", which opened Gabriel up to a stream of mythology-driven writing that would ensue until deep into 'The Lamb Lies Down...' his last album with the band.
Overall, 'Nursery Cryme' deserves four stars due to these two songs (the album sports only seven tracks) and the interesting tale of "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", but it lags behind the albums that would follow it until the departure of Gabriel. If you want to get into serious Genesis music, although this album will end up been a must in your collection, you need to jump first into 'The Lamb...', 'Selling England by The Pound' and 'Foxtrot', in that order.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kill them with your hogweed hairs!, November 2, 2005
Released in 1971, this is the first album with the "classic" Genesis lineup and the first to feature the distinctive ensemble sound that would characterize their work up to late 1976.
What is particularly noticeable about some of the longer pieces on this album including "The Musical Box" and "Return of the Giant Hogweed" is an aggressive and harsh sound that is largely reflected in Steve Hackett's guitar work. Although I do not know this for certain, I suspect that this heaviness may have resulted from exposure to the music of fellow Charisma label band Van der graaf Generator while on "package" tours in Britain.
One other new element that helped shape the classic Genesis sound was the addition of superb drummer Phil Collins, who brought a superior level of musicianship to the band that the previous drummer (John Mayhew) was not able to. As such, the use of unusual time signatures increased and the ensemble work became a bit more sophisticated over that found on Trespass (1970). Other interesting developments include the use of the mellotron by keyboardist Tony Banks, an instrument which is featured prominently on "Seven Stones" and the excellent "The Fountain of Salmacis", a piece that Tony wrote while studying physics at Sussex University. Quieter pieces on the album include "For Absent Friends" (which features Phil Collins on vocals) and "Harlequin", while "Harold the Barrel" is somewhere in the middle.
Interestingly enough, Tony Banks has been quoted as saying he did not feel that Nursery Cryme was much of an improvement over Trespass (1970). Although this may only hold partially true musically, conceptually and lyrically this is a completely different story. With regard to the lyrics, the cosmic and surreal imagery that would dominate the Peter Gabriel years was first expressed on Nursery Cryme. For example, "Return of the Giant Hogweed" describes (in anthropomorphic terms) how the invasive wetland plant species Heracleum mantegazziani (giant hogweed) threatens to take over the countryside. As a biologist, the thought of an invasive plant (that grows to 15-20 feet in height) shouting, "Human bodies soon will know our anger. Kill them with your Hogweed hairs!" tickled me pink.
Other bizarre imagery includes a young boy that ages suddenly, dies, and his spirit then takes up residence in a musical box belonging to his playmate. Consumed by a "lifetimes worth of desires", the spirit of "young Henry" lunges at the girl, only to have the nanny rush into the room and destroy the musical box, thus killing poor Henry.
All in all, this is a great album that initiates a four-year period where Genesis was at a creative and artistic peak. Although the production quality is somewhat muddy, and it does not possess the polish and sophistication of "Selling England by the Pound" (1973), this is still an excellent album and is recommended.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album rocks hard, May 6, 1999
By A Customer
After hearing Tresspass, I didnt have very high hopes for NC. So I skipped it and got into Selling England, The Lamb and so on. Boy was I the fool. The production quality of this album really gives Genesis a distinguished sound. Also, with the appearance of Phil Collins, it makes the album that much better. The album begins with a really incredible 10 min song named The Musical Box(probably the best tune on the album). The drumming is truly intense, which keeps up with the furious guitar work. Gabriel really lets loose on this tune vocally, and helps Collins out with his old beat up bass drum. Rutherford, truly underated as a member, gives his all in this tune as for Banks who makes the tune, with his incredible talent. As for the rest of the album it can make you go from the sadest of moods with songs like, for absent friends and seven stones, to really angry moods like the freakin amazing, return of the giant hogweed, with a really heavy incredibly kicking ending. The rest cannot go unnoticed, no matter how hard you try. Its just too amazing. Especially the vocals on Harold the Barrel and the lyrically and musically beautiful, fountain of salmacis.
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