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Here’s why Genesis<\/a> abandoned prog rock for pop in the 1980s!<\/p>\n Progressive rock<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0huge<\/em>\u00a0throughout the1970s, but as the music industry and the pubic gradually leaned into synth-pop, art pop and new wave during the dawn of the 1980s, so too did many\u00a0genre foreberers.<\/p>\n Undoubtedly,\u00a0Genesis\u00a0had the most radical \u2013 yet arguably most popular \u2013 reinvention.<\/p>\n Just compare 1971\u2019s \u201cThe Return of the Giant Hogweed<\/a>\u201d and 1991\u2019s \u201cI Can\u2019t Dance<\/a>\u201d to hear how different the group became between phases! Obviously, there\u2019s more to the story than that, which is why we\u2019re examining the reasons for\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and reactions to\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Genesis abandoning prog rock for pop in the 1980s!<\/p>\n Although Genesis\u2019 creative \u201cmetamorphosis\u201d (as Collins once called it<\/a>) truly<\/em> ignited in the early \u201880s, they\u2019d been incorporating pop into their work since the beginning. In fact, their 1969 debut LP \u2013 From Genesis to Revelation<\/a><\/em> \u2013 tapped into orchestral\/psychedelic pop more than it did prog rock (\u201cThe Serpent,\u201d \u201cIn Limbo\u201d). Over the next decade, they continued weaving accessible pop hooks and instrumentation into the majorly challenging LPs of the Gabriel era (\u201cDusk,\u201d \u201cHarlequin,\u201d \u201cCounting Out Time\u201d).<\/p>\n Collins had been singing since he joined around 1971 as well (\u201cFor Absent Friends,\u201d \u201cMore Fool Me\u201d), and during their time as a quartet, tunes such as \u201cRobbery, Assault and Battery,\u201d \u201cA Trick of the Tail,\u201d \u201cYour Own Special Way\u201d and \u201cAfterglow\u201d more overtly foreshadowed\u00a0Genesis’ significant and controversial stylistic revision.<\/p>\n Naturally, their first LP as a threesome \u2013 1979\u2019s appropriately titled …And Then There Were Three…<\/a> <\/em>\u2013 hinted at their creative conversion, too, as you can hear below.<\/p>\n Clearly, Genesis had\u00a0always<\/em> favored pop to some degree and their shifts in lineup weren\u2019t solely responsible for how they\u2019d sound in the 1980s.<\/p>\n As Classic Rock Magazine<\/a><\/em> noted in 2021, \u201cFollow You, Follow Me\u201d became Genesis\u2019 “first U.K. Top 10 hit\u201d and \u201ctheir breakthrough into regular singles radio play.”<\/p>\n As Collins clarified in the same feature, \u201cIt was always on the band\u2019s to-do list to have hit singles, to be played on the radio,\u201d and now they legitimately had the formula and potential to do it.<\/p>\n That success \u2013 coupled with the fact that synth-pop was taking over the airwaves \u2013 makes it clear why Genesis further explored inviting pop territories on 1980\u2019s Duke<\/em> (\u201cTurn It On Again,\u201d \u201cMisunderstanding\u201d). Of course, they still upheld some<\/em> prog rock traits on it (especially with connected closing duo \u201cDuke\u2019s Travels\u201d and \u201cDuke\u2019s End\u201d), just as they did on 1981\u2019s even simpler and poppier Abacab<\/a><\/em> (\u201cDodo\/Lurker\u201d).<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a010 Prog Rock Bands That Went Pop<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Another factor was Collins\u2019 first solo album \u2014\u00a0Face Value<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 which arrived between Duke<\/em> and Abacab<\/em>.<\/p>\n Thanks in large part to hit single \u201cIn the Air Tonight,\u201d the pop-rock\/R&B\/blue-eyed soul sequence made Collins\u2019 an overnight sensation. Understandably, his sudden (and massive) solo success \u2014 alongside Banks and Rutherford\u2019s fruitful experiences working on their<\/em> debut LPs, A Curious Feeling<\/em> and Smallcreep’s Day<\/em>, respectively \u2014 was the final confirmation the trio needed to continue pursuing their multifaceted pop path.<\/p>\n \u201cThis change [in style] was coming,” Rutherford reflected in a 2007 interview with Mike Kaufman (qtd. in Genesis: 1975 to 2021 \u2013 The Phil Collins Years<\/em> by Mario Giammetii). He added that \u201cthe transition from The Lamb<\/em> was the start of the end of an era and . . . it was actually inevitable if [Genesis] were to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Save for a few instances (namely, \u201cLand of Confusion\u201d), Genesis indeed abandoned prog rock for pop across the subsequent 10 years.<\/p>\n You can check out some of the biggest and most overt instances of that<\/em> below:<\/p>\n As demonstrated by their placements on the Billboard 200<\/a><\/em>, every<\/em> 1980s Genesis album did better commercially than all<\/em> of the 1970s LPs in the United States. In general, audiences who weren\u2019t into their prog rock period largely loved their pop stuff (and vice versa), with music critics being split accordingly.<\/p>\n Today, prog rock fans tend to tolerate \u2014 if not enjoy \u2014 Genesis\u2019 latter material more than they used to (whereas the opposite situation is much less prevalent). Nevertheless, and cumulatively, the trio\u2019s \u201880s output routinely falls below<\/em> their \u201870s stuff when you look at professional and casual Genesis album rankings.<\/p>\n In Ultimate Classic Rock\u2019s<\/a> 2017 grading, for instance, they put We Can\u2019t Dance<\/em> near the bottom, calling it \u201cobnoxious, overproduced pop pap.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re not wrong.<\/p>\n See, the 1980s did have solid prog rock records!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Jordan Blum<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The departures of singer\/flutist\u00a0Peter Gabriel<\/a>\u00a0and guitarist\u00a0Steve Hackett<\/a>\u00a0in 1975 and 1977, respectively, certainly had something to do with it, as did drummer\u00a0Phil Collins<\/a>\u00a0also becoming Genesis\u2019 frontman when he, keyboardist Tony Banks and bassist\/guitarist\u00a0Mike Rutherford<\/a>\u00a0kept\u00a0the group\u00a0going as a trio.<\/p>\nWhen<\/em> Did Genesis Go Pop?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Genesis, \u201cScenes From a Night\u2019s Dream\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Genesis, \u201cFollow You Follow Me\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why Did Genesis Go Pop?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Genesis, \u201cIllegal Alien\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Genesis, \u201cInvisible Touch\u201d<\/h3>\n
Genesis, \u201cJesus He Knows Me\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
That\u2019s All: How Have Fans Felt About Genesis\u2019 Pop Period Over the Years?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The 11 Best ’80s Prog Rock Albums (Ranked)<\/h2>\n