About
Few bands have pulled off a transformation quite as dramatic as Genesis, and fewer still have managed to stay relevant through it. Springing out of Charterhouse School in Surrey, England in the late 1960s, the group coalesced around the songwriting partnership of Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks, with Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips, and drummer Phil Collins eventually rounding out their classic lineup. Early Genesis was a progressive rock beast — sprawling, theatrical, and wonderfully strange. Albums like Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, and the landmark Selling England by the Pound showcased Gabriel's eccentric storytelling and an adventurous approach to composition that put them firmly alongside Yes and King Crimson in prog's upper tier. The double concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway remains one of rock's most ambitious statements.
When Gabriel departed in 1975, Collins stepped up to the mic and the band quietly began shifting gears. By the early 1980s, Genesis had reinvented themselves as polished pop-rock hitmakers, scoring massive commercial success with Duke, Abacab, and the monster-selling Invisible Touch. Collins simultaneously launched a solo career that dominated radio, making the Genesis name inescapable throughout the decade. Love them or mock them for going mainstream, their influence across both prog and arena rock is undeniable.
