The Legacy of Genesis

Genesis was one of the bands that helped an infant progressive rock mature.
Many future progressive bands, like Dream Theater have cited Genesis as an influence. Also, many tribute bands have sprung up, such as Re-Genesis. Genesis however, is mainly remembered for two things; their live shows and their cover art.

In the 1970’s, Genesis, with Peter Gabriel, were very theatrical with stage design, pyrotechnics, elaborate costumes, and onstage stories. At their live performances they would also never be afraid to perform their hardest songs, this includes the 23 minute long song ‘Suppers Ready’, which Gabriel would change costumes for each part of the song. When Gabriel left Genesis their performances still remained complex, with fascinating light arrangements. The Cirque du Soleil got their inspiration for two of their shows- Midnight Sun and Delirium- from Genesis’s live performances.

Genesis was also the first band to incorporate their musical themes on CD cover art. The band would take paintings or drawings, change them a little and make it related to their music. A good example of this is the album cover for ‘Selling England by the Pound’; they used a drawing called ‘The Dream’. They changed the image by adding a lawnmower which tied to the song ‘I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)’.

On the negative side of their legacy, Genesis is remembered for “putting their audiences to sleep”, giving them the nickname ‘Genesnooze’ by some critics. Some people, mainly the supporters of the punk movement, felt that their music was only for the upper class. They supported this with the fact that all the members went to a private school. This was not true, however, and the band always said that their audience was a mixture of every class. Sometimes Genesis’s live performances would draw criticism as some thought it was too elaborate. This caused Genesis to be more of a cult following then being a mainstream success. It is a known fact that Genesis during their progressive days were not liked by the critics. However, even when they moved to radio-friendly rock, the critics were still not pleased.

I think that Genesis will always be remembered, for its entertaining shows, and very progressive music. Sometimes critics don’t like the music that is the most influential because they break trends that have already been established. People are not always accustomed to change, but without it, we would never grow as a whole.