Best Genesis songs (with Phil Collins) is a listicle idea that has been stuck in my head for a while now. There is a common misconception amongst progressive rock fans that when Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, it was all downhill from that point. This perception has hardened against the band especially in the 1980s when Genesis (Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford) become a genuine commercial success.
While it is arguable that the quality of the music waned the more commercially successful the band became, the above-mentioned generalisation is simply not true and manifestly unfair to the members that remained after Gabriel’s departure (which includes guitarist Steve Hackett for two albums).
As is evident from the list itself, we have focused heavily on the early albums of the post-Gabriel, with a track each from the eponymous album onwards. Also, there is a huge preference for the songs solely composed by Tony Banks in that special era. Presumably, the songwriting was not at the same standard the moment, it became a collective effort and perhaps groupthink became part of the equation as well.
In any case, hopefully, this best Genesis songs (with Phil Collins) list will go some way towards convincing the naysayers, the critics and the trolls of the merits of the music of Banks, Collins, Rutherford and Hackett!
MAD MAN MOON (A TRICK OF THE TAIL)
SQUONK (SECONDS OUT)
ONE FOR THE VINE (WIND AND WUTHERING)
BLOOD ON THE ROOFTOPS (WIND AND WUTHERING)
DOWN AND OUT (… AND THEN THERE WERE THREE …)
UNDERTOW (… AND THEN THERE WERE THREE…)
BEHIND THE LINES (DUKE)
HEATHAZE (DUKE)
CUL-DE-SAC (DUKE)
YOU MIGHT RECALL (ABACAB SESSIONS)
EVIDENCE OF AUTUMN (B-SIDE)
NO REPLY AT ALL (ABACAB)
ME AND SARAH JANE (ABACAB)
THAT’S ALL (GENESIS)
IN TOO DEEP (INVISIBLE TOUCH)
DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE (WE CAN’T DANCE)
… still there’s more …