Trespass

(1970), 6/10
After finishing school, Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, Phillips, and new drummer John Mayhew retreated to a remote college, where they rehearsed for 11 hours per day, living off food parcels from their parents. Genesis had their style figured out here despite only having three members of the classic quintet on board, relying on gentle 12-string acoustic guitars, prominent organ parts, Gabriel’s croaky emotional vocals, and creative but not entirely serious lyrics based on mythology. In terms of song writing and arrangement, the group are still learning their craft; the first side maintains a pleasant sound but tends to run together, especially in the lengthy instrumental passages, although the second half is more accomplished. The funereal ‘Dusk’ achieves an almost hymn like atmosphere with its pretty harmonies and slow feel, but the top tier track is the closing ‘The Knife’, with its uncharacteristically aggressive sound from Philips guitar runs, Gabriel’s violent lyrics, Rutherford’s busy bass lines, and Banks’ cutting organ. Trespass is a  large step below the albums that follow it and it’s not the ideal place to start in the Genesis catalogue, but it’s very much cut from the same cloth.