Retro Spins: Genesis - Duke

I'm not very versed in Genesis. I know the hits, most of which are from the band's 1986 monster, Invisible Touch. Today felt like the right day to expand on that. To do so, I chose their first entry into the 80's, Duke.

Personally, I've not heard any of the Peter Gabriel fronted Genesis tunes, or at least if I have, I didn't recognize who or what those songs were. For me, Genesis has always been Phil Collins. Still, and with that said, I know very little about the band. For example, I had no clue their catalog encompassed fifteen studio albums. Nor did I know Collins had been fronting the band as early as 1976 with their album, A Trick Of The Tail.

As Duke fired up, I was treated to a pretty fantastic instrumental intro in Behind the Lines. It seamlessly transitioned into track two, Duchess. So seamlessly that I didn't even realize I was listening to a different song. As a whole, I was digging both songs and quickly added them both to my shuffle list.

Another perfect transition and I was on my way through the hauntingly fantastic Guide Vocal. A short minute thirty second song, but a wonderful one all the same. It was at this time that it dawned on my, I wasn't listening to just any ordinary album. No, this was poising to be an epic rock opera.

Man of the Times was decent, but didn't excite me as much as the prior tracks. However, the following track, which also somewhat changed the tempo of everything, definitely hit the right notes. This was also the only track on the album I knew coming into it. That song was, Misunderstanding.

Duke somewhat lost my attention at this point and relegated itself to background noise. It wasn't until Alone Tonight that I started paying attention again. While the following track, Cul-De-Sac, was okay, my attention started to drop again. It was also at this point that I found myself wishing the album would just end. At a running time of fifty-five minutes, it was outstaying its welcome. Mind you, it wasn't "bad". It was just getting boring.

Overall, Duke wasn't a bad album. However, when I reached my limit with it, I was ready to just be done. I think at that point, it wouldn't have mattered what track played next because I had already made up my mind that I didn't want to hear anymore. Still, the first half of the act, as we'll call it, was pretty entertaining to hear. Maybe in the near future I'll fire it up again, but this time on the back half, to see if my opinion has changed.

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