Genesis: Worst to Best Albums 

Dat "Up" vinyl

I just starting getting into this band and oh boy, is it an amazing journey.

I actually LOVE 'Get 'em out by Friday', it's so underrated. Also really dig Nursery Cryme.

Selling England by the Pound is my favorite Genesis album, also.

"Genesis never had a problem being accessible" That is why they are the greatest. They blend complexity with simplicity - they write ROCK SONGS. BUT COOLER!

"When Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975 I was concerned..." How old are you?

Great list. I listened Firth of Fifth every day for a year, never got tired of it.

There's hardly a bad moment on Trick of the Tail.

"and then there were three" is their most underrated album in my opinion.

Favorite Group is Genesis, favorite Song is Cinema Show, listened to that since 1973, I get emotional.

2 days ago, I heard Steve Hackett preform Fountain of Salmacis live. Man. That was freaking epic. I've always loved that song, but hearing it live. Damn.

I don't agree with Abacab - I actually like No Reply at all, Keep it dark and man in the corner.

I’ll take “Abacab” as a song over the entirety of “We Can’t Dance” or “Calling All Stations”, personally.

Abacab worse than Calling all stations and Genesis to revelation? Surely not!?

I have a great love for 'And Then There Were Three'. For me something that characterises the album is that it's much better when you listen to it than you remember it being. I thought that was just me, but when the Tabletop Genesis podcast covered it, the same thing happened. In the introduction, they all professed to being lukewarm on the album but then in the track-by-track they each go crazy over virtually every song.

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway album is by a mile my favorite.

My top 10: 1 - Selling England By The Pound 2 - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 3 - Foxtrot 4 - Nursery Cryme 5 - A Trick of the Tail 6 - Wind & Wuthering 7 - Trespasss 8 - Duke 9 - And Then There Were Three 10 - Genesis

Actually Tony wrote the main chord progression on Hold On My Heart. And a great track it is. Totally wrong thinking Phil is the only one who moved to the more pop side.

Trespass deserves to be a lot higher if you ask me

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is my favorite album of all time, so...

You can’t rate all their albums unless you enjoy both Phil and Peter eras

Duke is my favorite Genesis album, and one of my all time favorite albums.

Cul-de-sac and Man of Our Times are awesome! Heathaze is unique and dreamy and I prefer those Duke tracks to Misunderstanding any day.

Curious but Selling England by the pound was my first Genesis album. I didn´t like it at first time. I got back when Phil assumed the vocals and I liked it. Then I got back to Selling England and I loved it so much I bought all Genesis records with Peter on vocals. Since then, I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan and, for me, Selling... is the best Genesis album so far.

Selling England By The Pound is one my all time favourite albums..a Progressive Rock Masterpiece!

Cul-De-Sac is a snooze fest, are you crazy? Have you listened to the song? It's a masterpiece. Phil's singing and drumming is insane on there.

...so...all ballads are "snoozefests"? Sorry, the chord changes in most of them ("your own special way", e.g.) are fantastic, as are the lyrics. You have to pay attention, though.

Drink every time he says "snoozefest"

A very balanced view from someone who obviously experienced the band as a young man in a highly changed musical environment. It must be a testament to the timeless nature of their music. The reality is you still returned to the roots of their development and the true genius of those early albums. I fell in love with 'SELLING..." probably 20 years before you did - amazing!

In my mind, The Lamb was the most "Gabrielesque" album that Genesis ever produced -- and that's enough reason to put it solidly on top of any ranking of this band. Banks is the other bona fide genius that came from this group, but I do believe that The Lamb made him very uncomfortable about Gabriel's place in the band ... and, ultimately, that's why Peter decided to do his own thing. To this day, you can research comments from Banks that attack certain Gabriel era work as being "too wordy," which supports my point about the friction between Peter and Tony. In the end, however, it's really too bad that the lineup of Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett and Rutherford didn't grace the world with more timeless treasure.

"Tonight Tonight Tonight" = snoozefest? No way man.

You're mad Cul-de-sac is a stunning track so epic, dunno how anyone could find it boring

Wind and Wuthering is a masterpiece and One for the vine together with Eleventh Earl of Mar is about as far you can get from straight forward rock. For me number one!!

Abacab ? No reply at all? Man on the corner? Keep it dark. Worst album? That’s just silly.

Dodo/Lurker from Abacab is pretty good

I just found lately your channel and this video was just MMMMMHHHHHH. ^^

Abacab is one of my top five favourites along with Duke, The Lamb, Selling England by the Pound, Trick of the Tail.

Let's face it the 70s Genesis and the 80s Genesis are just two totally different bands playing a totally different type of music. It happens, it's a shame and I feel exactly the same way about Queen after about 1977/78. Best just to enjoy the Genesis you like best (70s for me) and treat the other stuff as something else.

Thank you! I couldn't separate anything from Nursery Cryme to Wind & Wuthering as they're all masterpieces for me, each with their own distinctive character. I realise you're only doing studio albums, but I'd have to put Seconds Out in there as a phenomenal live album, especially as we get to hear Collins take on all the Gabriel era epics so brilliantly, and of course we have Chester Thompson and Bill Bruford in the lineup as well.

For me Foxtrot is the best, followed closely by Selling England and The Lamb

Nice one mate for putting A Trick at number 2 in your selection. It's my personal favourite. Every single track is top notch and the drumming and keyboard playing are exceptional as well as Phil Collins doing the best Peter Gabriel tribute vocal you are ever likely to hear. It's also the one album that the Gabrielite faction would love to hate but can't because it is soooo good!!!

I finally found a reviewer that talks about prog bands and talk about one of my favourite bands in this video I agreed with most of things you said well done dude you earned a sub! 😃

Abacab's title track is awesome.

Dude! Get ‘Em Out By Friday is amazing! One of Peter’s best lyrical moments of storytelling and social commentary

I have seven Genesis albums and they are your top seven. But I’d put them in a slightly different order. I liked hearing your comments because you mention things about songs that I hadn’t noticed. So I can go back and listen again and keep an ear out for those things.

May not agree with Abacab but I’m just glad you’re talking about Genesis. And yes, Selling England by the Pound is Dope as f. Trick of the Tail left me speechless. My personal fav is ...And then there were three. Tony Banks doesn’t get enough props imo. Love these dudes to death. And thank you for being a fan like me! ✌🏾

The bass line FoS on Nursery Cryme is amazing.

I enjoyed your personal assessment of your favorite Genesis albums. My own favorite Genesis LP's are the 3 post-Gabriel, pre Hackett departure albums "Wind and Wuthering," "A Trick of the Tail," and "Seconds Out." I think its pretty cool that you are only in your thirties, yet an avid enthusiast for classic Genesis and progressive rock. It's nice for a younger generation of music fans to have an appreciation for this phenomenal older music which is sadly being forgotten. Keep up the good work!

Even if you are a prog Genesis fan, how do you put Abacab below Invisible Touch and We Cant Dance??

"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" I saw the tour.

Love most of their albums. To me, their best track though is The Lamia. I can never get enough of listening to it…

The first time i saw Genesis in concert was 1987. I do wish that I had seen them in the seventies, which is what I think is their best era. I cut my teeth on Genesis by listening to Seconds Out, so the live sound will always hold a place in my heart.

Love your review man !

A bad Genesis album, is still a good album.

Nice Sam the Record Man shirt! Takes me back to the late 70's, cruising the Yonge St. strip in Toronto.

How do you put And Then There Were Three above Invisible Touch.

Bought "Selling England by the Pound" beginning eighties. Masterpiece!! listned to it a million times or more....Thought there couldn't be any album better then this... so I am now ready (after almost 40 years) for probably their next brilliant album. Any suggestions?

Yes, we know you hate Abacab but its a really good album and still sounds fresh and new after all these decades.

man u pretty much nailed it, cracks me up when people question where abacab was ranked, clear to see you are a true fan who gets it....i question the comments about Gabriel leaving, simply too young to have an opinion on at that time. i'd be willing to bet, the players would agree with the ranking

What is your background music here Notes? Love it.

I grew up with Genesis in the 70's. I bought their albums religiously and knew every song, every lyric like the back of my hand. I played them every day after school and my younger brother was also as mega-fanboy as myself and had his playing in his room, too. We drove our poor parents mental with two blasts of Genesis reverberating down the stairs. Our Mum would stand in the hall and ring a bell, shouting "Supper's Ready!" for us to come down for dinner. Quite how they put up with it I'll never know. This reviewer, whilst enthusiastic, really doesn't fully appreciate the transition from album to album. At the time when these albums were released the amount of time my friends and I spent trying to work out the meanings entwined into the lyrics was quite excessive, at least borderline obsessive. It was certainly helped because we did Latin, and so were familiar with Greek mythology and Ovid's Metamorphoses and all that. Not so easy with The Battle Of Epping Forest, as the contents of that were somewhat too mature for us mere schoolboys. It was only later that I was able to fully understand what went on there and it remains to this day an absolute favourite. Suffice to say the "Reverend" was not a man of the cloth... and if anyone ever worked out what was meant by a "Staffordshire Plate", well, well done you. I'll say no more for not spoiling anyone's fun of discovering for themselves. When Gabriel left it was beyond shocking. However, upon hearing A Trick Of The Tail for the first time, it's opener Dance On A Volcano - good grief, it was unbelievably great. And Genesis live during that period with Bill Bruford. Fantastic. I attended a number of Genesis concerts over the years. On the Abacab tour I was at their Berlin show and was leaning onto the edge of the centre of the stage. Phil Collins was standing singing right in front of me. Nobody can tell me these Abacab songs were not fantastic when performed live. The sound coming off that stage and the energy and brilliance of the band all playing was something else entirely. I simply don't have a "list" of Genesis albums. You just don't do lists for such a brilliant band. Each of their albums inhabits its own space and competes with nothing but the listeners attention. Interestingly, Tony Banks thinks Silver Rainbow (written by Genesis - all three of them) is easily one of the least inspiring songs that Genesis recorded. Each to his own as they say. But I still like to hear others opinions and this was one of them.

I'm shocked that Genesis is your favorite band yet you don't like anything on Abacab. I dig several of those jams. Crazy

you, sir, are a man of taste! the Duke suite is a flugging masterpiece, and I think the unsung Supper's Ready of the 80s. such a fantastic suite

Love the Sam the Record Man shirt. Oh and your take on Genesis.

Fountain of what now ?

Phil Collins's and Peter Gabriel's favourite Genesis album is , I am proud to say , The Lamb Lies Down In Broadway . Easily their best album .

Right on! I completely agree with your choices!

Couple thing. The Waiting Room to me is Genesis’ cover of Revolution 9. And I love that you have Your Name in the background. ;)

my list only has 7 albums on it. Trespass through Wind and Wuthering. They all rule.

totally agree with a Trick of Tail. It´s my favorite Genesis Album. it´s so powerfull, so complex and yet so acessible (wait, the title track isn´t it, but you got it).

Trespass is my pers fav. Love your videos!!

I love, love, loved Duke. A favorite to this day. I even had the pleasure of playing Turn It On in a cover band, along with ABACAB, which was fun to play.

For Trespass, the drummer was John Mayhew. They went through two others prior to him. When he left, Phil replaced him.

Abacab was my first Genesis record, and I love it. Especially Dodo/Lurker. So I have to take issue with you over that. Otherwise, thanks for posting this! I'm glad to hear another person's perspective on this great band, and I did hit the 'like' button. Cheers!

Interesting review, and the order is totally a matter of taste and not something anyone can argue about, although I totally agree with your number 1, but I was just wondering if you had ever listened to "The Watch"'s take on what some of the songs on "Genesis to Revelation" could have sounded like without J. King steam rollering his sound over them? Listen to Timeless by The Watch to find out. Enjoy!

Do you have a Facebook page,? And have you done your favorite Kinks albums yet?

Trespass drummer: John Mayhew, Only one with this guy

It's not that he said Abacab his least favorite that made me shake my head. It's that he thinks it has no redeeming qualities at all. That's ridiculous.

Wonderful ranking! Exept I see The Lamb on snd place, I agree! Greetings from Hamburg Germany

Wow my list is pretty similar, only that trick of the tail is at 1 and selling England is at 2, I have a special spot for trick of the tail since it was the first Genesis album that I listened to and it made me fall in love with the band, sincerely its a master piece

I wonder if you agree with this assessment of Genesis' debut.... It's uniquely "British" in it's quaintness and simplicity... The only other album I can compare and say has a similar feel to it is David Bowie's debut.

nice Summary. Although being that I love Genesis like you, I wanted ask 1 or 2 things. Steven Hackett? I guess I've never heard him called that, but maybe he has/does? On Trespass, are you not a fan of "Stagnation"???? to me, it's 1 of the 5 best songs they ever wrote/recorded. Also White Mountain is awesome which I didn't hear you mention. MY rankings: 1. Foxtrot 2. Selling England by the Pound 3. Trespass 4. Nursery Cryme 5. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 6. Duke 7. Trick of the Tail 8. Wind and Wuthering 9. And then there were Three... 10. Invisible Touch 11. Abacab 12. Genesis 13. We Can't Dance 14. Calling all Stations (Kevin Gilbert would have changed this 1 dramatically) 15. From Genesis to Revelation

When you mentioned Burning Rope about the minor into major are you talking about the part around 35 seconds into the song at the end of the intro with the blazin' drums? Just curious being that part always tripped me out when I was a kid. It's actually the coolest riff of the whole album. I woulda' stuck the first album probably last. It's kinda' like they did full circle - crap record to excellent in the middle back down to crap (CAS). My #1 would have been Wind & Wuthering (you're right - Your Own Special Way sucks) but I do agree on a lot especially on the Silver Rainbow & Brazilian being the best songs. Don't forget Abacab had Me & Sarah Jane now - it's kinda' sorta weird ; )

So what's his list can't find it in the comments

My list, from worst to best: 15. From Genesis to Revolution: A completely different sound and style from the band that I never really got into. Sounds more Bee Gees than prog rock. 14. Calling All Stations: Ray Wilson is a good singer, but with Collins gone and only two classic members left, it doesn't sound like Genesis. Not surprised this was the last one. 13. Invisible Touch: Domino is cool, The Brazilian is underrated and I've always liked Land of Confusion, but the rest of the album sounds very dated and the songs are too popish. 12. We Can't Dance: It was nice they went back to longer songs, but some of the pop stuff just does nothing for me. It's less dated than Invisible Touch, due to not relying so much on electronic instruments. 11. Abacab: I like Dodo/Lurker, Keep it Dark and the title track. No Reply at All sounds too much like solo Phil Collins, as does Man on the Corner. The rest is forgettable. 10. Genesis: I like Home by the Sea, Mama and That's All. I'm not keen on the rest of the album. 9. And Then There Were Three: Hackett's departure is noticeable, but there are some decent cuts. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either. 8. Duke: My favorite of the three man era. I do wish they kept the Duke suite together, as those tracks are much stronger, but I do have a soft spot for Misunderstanding, likely because it sounds like Sail On Sailor and Hot Fun in the Summertime. 7. Trespass: Some really good stuff on this album, but you can see the impact Collins and Hackett had on the sound, though Anthony Phillips is a great guitarist. A very pastoral sound, and I love the hard rock of The Knife. 6. A Trick of the Tail: Peter Gabriel is gone, but the band sounds awesome. I love Dance on a Volcano, Squonk, Los Endos and Entangled in particular. 5. Wind and Wuthering: Steve Hackett's swan song with the group has some really awesome material such as Eleventh Earl of Mar, Blood on the Rooftops, Afterglow and One for the Vine. 4. Nursery Cryme: The addition of Phil Collins and Steve Hackett was the best move the group ever made. The Musical Box, Fountain of Salmacis and Return of the Giant Hogweed are all outstanding tracks. 3. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: There is a lot of brilliance in this double album, but also some filler. Peter Gabriel's stamp is all over his final album with the band, for better or worse. 2. Foxtrot: Watcher in the Skies, Supper's Ready, Horizons and Can Utility are all excellent, and the other two songs are very good. 1. Selling England by the Pound: Without a doubt, their masterpiece. Some of the best guitar and drum work ever.

The missing drummer on Trespass is John Mayhew :)

Did I miss something, was Seconds Out live in there??

Great that you consider "A Trick Of The Tail" so highly, because I do too. It's glorious from start to finish. However, I was puzzled that you have difficulty with "Get 'em out by Friday" and that it affected your opinion of "Foxtrot". I personally think it's brilliantly conceived and performed. Maybe it's the subject matter.

As I've discovered Genesis in the past year, my number one has continually changed. It all began with A Trick. I agree ENTIRELY that there exists NO duds on that one. Every song is brilliant. Entangled and Ripples are just some of the most beautiful compositions I've ever heard in my life...life changing. Next, I decided to give Wind a listen. I didn't really get it at first. It was just enough of a contrast from Trick that it threw me off. What a surprise I was in for... I believe it was the bridge on Eleventh Earl of Mar that let me know just how amazing the rest of the record was going to be. Blood On the Rooftops is a massive standout for me. Same thing happened with ATTWT. Just didn't get it at first. But, I fell in love with it very quickly. Undertow is a song that really helped heal me. Then came Duke. Fell in love with it, especially Heathaze. Dear God how can more mortals compose songs that beautiful? Now one year on, in the past month I started to get into Gabriel Genesis despite some unfounded aversion to doing so previously. I was irritated with myself for not discovering it sooner. For not listening to those who professed the awesomeness of the Gabriel era. I started with SEBTP. What brilliance. Then came an album that has quite categorically changed my life. The way I see life, in fact. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway has got to be the greatest concept album of our time. The Lamia. The Carpet Crawlers. Hell, of course, the whole record. It is my favorite record ever. Bar none.

Wind and Weathering deserves to at least be on the list. At most, among my favorite 5. I think their last gasp at British flavored material (Blood on the Rooftops), with prog jams (11th Earl of Mar/All In a Mouses Night?) their last epic samplings (One for the Vine/Unquiet Slumber For the Sleepers-In That Quiet Earth). I think it's their most grossly underrated album.

Pretty much agree with you I like the old stuff too .good assessment of one of the greatest bands of all time. Great watch

Abacab was an album I never really listened to since I never really liked it, but when I bought it at a flea market and gave it a spin again after so long, it grew on me.Man On The Corner is such a good song.Other than that, Duke is all my time favorite Genesis album.

On FGTR they were asked by Johnathon King to write an album of Bee Gees type songs. That is why they sound like that. Plus, they were seventeen year old schoolboys, so give em a break.

My list with an score: 15 - Calling All Stations - 3 14 - From Genesis to Revelation - 5 13 - Genesis - 6 12 - We Can't Dance - 6,5 11 - Trespass - 7 10 - Abacab - 7 09 - Invisible Touch - 7,5 08 - And Then There Were Three - 7,5 07 - Nursery Cryme - 8 06 - Wind & Wuthering - 8,5 05 - A Trick of the Tail - 8,5 04 - Duke - 9 03 - Selling England by the Pound - 9 02 - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - 9,5 01 - Foxtrot - 9,5

Disagree with you on invisible touch, kinda wish that Lamb Lies Down was higher up, but totally respect this list. Also I see Kimi no Na Wa and Bladerunner 2049 on your shelf, niceee

I was listening to Physical Graffiti about the same time as Lamb Lies Down, and loved them both. As I got older, I realised there's quite a bit of ballast on both - because they're double albums, and there's so MUCH good stuff, the dull interludes tend to get overlooked and you look back on them as classic albums. Probably the opposite with Tales from Topographic Oceans - I couldn't take it in at the time, but it really stands the test of time, I believe.

I can totally understand why people don't like Abacab but i really like it because i can relate to what they were trying to do. It's a really abstract version of Genesis as a whole, sitting in between pop and prog but without any concept of structure whatsoever. In its own way, it's very proggy because it's so abstract. That hurt its reputation because there are very few moments one can latch on to when diggesting this record. But i admire that apporach and i think they succeeded for the most part. It's not among their strongest work but i feel it's way better than anything that came after. And to be honest, Who Dunnit is one of the reasons i like Abacab: it's very much its own silly abstract thing.

I appreciate your enthusiasm about the later stuff, but after Peter left, they lost almost all of their beautiful weirdness. And that was what set them apart from the other from the era. The last two with Peter are easily their best for me.

Genesis is also my all-time-favorite band. So hard for me to ever seriously rank the records, as a teen in the 80's, but a love for the Gabriel-era makes me appreciate the whole catalog. But a hear what you're saying. (But since Abacab was one of my first cassettes that I bought, I've got a soft spot for that one)

Yo, you should put the list on the description afterwards!