In contrast with the somewhat softer and more acoustic A Trick of the Tail album, this late 1976 album is a lot moodier and features more in the way of instrumental pieces. Sadly, this would be Steve Hackett's last studio album with the band, although he would go on to a prolific solo career. It is worth noting however, that some of his finest recorded performances with Genesis are on this album.

As a huge Tony Banks fan, I feel compelled to point out that he contributed most of the material on this album including the excellent One for the Vine. He also pulled out the stops in the keyboard department and plays a total of seven types of keyboards. As a result, the music is very synth-heavy, which lends a deeply atmospheric feel to the whole album. Steve's haunting work on the nylon string classical is also very impressive and contributes a great deal to the music.

The tracks on the album include some classic Genesis compositions including Eleventh Earl of Mar and One for the Vine, several instrumentals that feature the band's unique interpretation of American jazz-rock fusion (and Phil's superior technique on the drums) (Wot Gorilla?, Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..., and ...In that Quiet Earth), and all around good song writing (Blood on the Rooftops and Afterglow). In my opinion, the only weak track is Your Own Special Way, which is a Mike Rutherford composition. The track is weak in large part because the arrangement is poor - in fact, Mike has admitted as much in interviews.

The 1994 remastered version of Wind and Wuthering does recreate the original cover art and record jacket theme along with the lyrics. I feel that the sound quality is OK. Although Rhino has recently remastered this album (in 2007) it is a bit expensive. Moreover, some folks have commented on the severe compression used on the 2007 remaster of Wind and Wuthering.


All in all, this is the last Genesis album that featured the classic elements of British progressive rock, although the band still had a great deal to say right up until 1980 with the superb Duke album. Wind and Wuthering is highly recommended along with Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972), Selling England by the Pound (1973), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), and A Trick of the Tail (1976).

So, why should you buy "Wind And Wuthering" by Genesis? Because, in my opinion, it's the best album the band has ever made (and Tony Banks, the group's Keyboard King himself, concurs). This album gives me such a joyous rush every time I play it, no joke. To my ears, it's the band's finest work.Arguably the last album by Genesis to truly carry the "prog-rock" moniker, "Wind And Wuthering" simply amazes. They may no longer have Peter Gabriel's incredible contributions, but the songwriting & musical chops on display here by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins & Steve Hackett is still breathtaking stuff, nonetheless. Banks' supreme keyboard work is at it's most shimmering on this album. Rutherford's bass-playing is top-notch. Collins' powerhouse drumming & unique singing is superb. And, in his final album with the band, Steve Hackett conjures up some incredible fretboard work, both of the fiery & the gorgeous kind.The music on "Wind & Wuthering" soars ("Eleventh Earl Of Mar," "One For The Vine"), rocks ("Wot Gorilla?", "...In That Quiet Earth"), and also contains some truly beautiful ballads ("Your Own Special Way," "Blood On The Rooftops," and the classic album-closer, "Afterglow"), to create a very special musical palette. I love the band's other albums like "The Lamb," "Duke," et al, but "Wind And Wuthering" is Genesis at the very top of their game. As I've said, "Wind And Wuthering" also happens to be Tony Banks' personal favorite album with the band. Here's a brief quote from the man himself, taken from "The Book Of Genesis" by Hugh Fielder, 1983:"If anyone ever asked me which was my favorite album, I'd say 'Wind And Wuthering.' It's definitely the most musically complex of all our albums, and it has a mysterious quality to it."Hear, hear, well spoken Tony. :-)

After the unexpected success of the first Phil Collins-era album, 1976's 'A Trick of the Tail,' the British progressive rock band Genesis knew they needed something of at least equal caliber in order to maintain the sudden increase in the size of their fan base. Very rarely is it that a band will record and release two full-scale albums within the space of a year (fellow British progressive rock band Yes did it in 1972 with 'Fragile' and 'Close to the Edge,' and the American progressive rock band Kansas did it in 1975 with 'Song For America' and 'Masque'). There is good reason for this: Often times, the quality of the second release suffers both from the lack of time devoted to its composition and production, and from comparison to its predecessor (incidentally, this was true of Kansas, but not of Yes). Fortunately, this is not the case with 'Wind & Wuthering,' which was released in the last week of 1976 in the United States and in the beginning of 1977 in Britain. In some ways, 'Wind' is a more mature and well-developed musical statement than 'Trick.'

Let's explore that statement. The most apparent difference between 'Trick' and 'Wind' is in the overall mood of the collective whole of each album. 'Trick' is eclectic musically, whereas 'Wind' is somewhat contiguous. Specifically, 'Wind' has an autumnal or brumal cast, facilitated by the collective prowess of the band but most apparent in the treatment of keyboardist Tony Banks's Mellotron passages. On 'Trick' the Mellotron had a more vibrant, unfiltered tone. On 'Wind,' however, the Mellotron is bathed in reverberation and processed to silky smoothness; this lends a distant, more desolate tone to the majority of the album. Also significant is the inclusion of icy, neutral male background vocals. On 'Trick,' the Mellotron 8-Note Chorus was used for this effect. On 'Wind' this chorus tape set is never used. Instead, the background vocals (particularly prominent in the closing track) are used exclusively.

There are other differences, though. Steve Hackett's contributions are much less noticeable on this album than on previous efforts. Much of his playing is buried beneath Banks's synthesizers, and Hackett's normally integral songwriting offerings are more sparse. Furthermore, the band outright rejected some of his submissions, which led in part to his exodus from Genesis after this album (they would be terribly crippled by this--it seems Hackett was even more important to the band than former frontman Peter Gabriel, who left before 'Trick').

Finally, and perhaps more importantly, the lyrics on 'Wind' are, on the whole, much darker and more mature than those of 'Trick.' There is also a much greater degree of social commentary on this album, and some of it is more literal than the clever allegory and allusion found on 'Trick.' Neither approach is necessarily better than the other; indeed, the difference heightens the value of both albums symbiotically. Even so, it is worth mentioning that 'Wind' seems almost like a culmination of an artform and the sunset of an era. And, in many ways, it was. Apart from the quasi-progressive stylings of 'Duke' in 1980, 'Wind' was the last truly progressive album Genesis ever released.

The track listing, along with my comments:


1. "Eleventh Earl Of Mar" - This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The organization of an album is important--a band will try to place the most initially appealing figures first so that prospective listeners will be captivated right from the onset. Genesis excels at this sort of thing, and they were no less successful with "Earl." An intriguing and worm-like synthesizer/organ theme repeats itself several times, with Hackett's guitar joining in for good measure. The opening sequence moves toward a dramatic swell on the Mellotron strings, followed by a chord shift. A hint of things to come appears first on the Hammond organ, and is confirmed when Collins enters with a brilliant drum fill.

The song consists of three distinct parts: The first includes the introduction and the main A and B sections, each of which is a unique and dynamic listening experience. The second part is a soft, pensive moment that contrasts the first part beautifully. The final part is a reprise of the first section, along with a conclusion (which harkens back to the introduction, expanding this theme and ending on the decay of a massive chord).

Lyrically, this song seems to tell the story of a child who loves his father despite the man's neglect of his son. The father is called to fight in a bloody and impossible war, and while he is away, he thinks about his son and some very tender moments they had spent together. At several intervals the son begs his father to promise that he will return alive from the battle. Perhaps these instances are also memories. Unfortunately, it is apparent that the father perishes in the battle, and the son's last cry to his father is unanswered, raw, and anguished.

2. "One For The Vine" - This is a return to the Genesis epic format. At exactly 10:00, this is one of the longest Genesis songs ever recorded in the Collins-era. Musically, this one is very interesting--it begins softly with Hackett's guitar and Banks's piano. The lyrics are performed in a very straightforward sort of manner, though the rhythm is often unusual. On the choruses, the first ever instance of the heavily chorused, treble-heavy effect used with wild abandon on Collins's voice in the 1980s appears. Perhaps this is to facilitate clarity, considering that Collins had at this point still not effectively mastered proper announciation. Aside from all this, a standout feature of this selection is the highly energetic solo section in the middle, which seems to induce involuntary movement in all those who listen to it. It seems almost impossible to control the impulse to just get up and move around when this section is playing; it's very uplifting and musically appealing.

Lyrically, this song is the first of the social commentaries, and it deals with the messiahdom expressed by organized religion. The story is brilliant: A fellow who is part of a group who enter battle in the name of a divinity suddenly loses faith and leaves the charge. He wanders into a mountain settlement, where he is instantly seen as "he the chosen one" by the natives. The fellow at first accepts this treatment, until he realizes this is exactly that from which he fled. At this moment, he leaves the settlement and comes upon a stream, where he can explore himself through introspective. As he returns to the plateau, he notices another large group of soldiers. He then glimpses one who leaves the group--he recognizes it as himself. And so messiahdom is cyclical.

3. "Your Own Special Way" - I'm sorry--this song is an embarrassment. It is close to the worst thing to carry the Genesis name, I believe (though of course nothing is worse than "Whodunnit" from 1981's 'Abacab'). "Way" is a disgusting, sappy pop ballad. What's more, it isn't a particularly good one, either. And it certainly doesn't belong on a progressive rock masterpiece such as 'Wind & Wuthering.' Finally (I really am giving this one a beating), though I would have to check the chronology to see which is the original source, this song sounds too much like "Endless Love" for there to have been a conincidence. It's quite obvious that one or the other was derived from whichever of the two came first.

4. "Wot Gorilla?" - This is an instrumental that has never been counted among Genesis's finest. Aurally it seems to have a jungle cast, but this seems forced. It certainly isn't a bad piece of music, but Genesis has done much better instrumentals ("Los Endos" and "Duke's Travels/Duke's End" come to mind, as well as the seventh and eighth tracks on 'Wind').

5. "All In A Mouse's Night" - This track reflects the tongue-in-cheek humor of 'Trick,' particularly "Robbery, Assault And Battery." Incidentally, "Mouse" and the latter song share the same track position on their respective albums. However, "Mouse" presents its story in a much darker, serious fashion. This, in part, contributes to the humor through irony. Musically, this song flows nicely, following a song form similar to that of the first track on the album. The song ends with a beautiful instrumental section that fades into oblivion in a stately, measured, understated manner. Hackett's guitar finds some rare glory in this section.

Lyrically, this song tells the story of a mouse that finds itself in a house where it is suddenly discovered by the owners. It escapes persecution, only to almost literally run into the cat. Assured of itself, the cat taunts the mouse long enough for an object to fall upon the cat's head, thereby allowing the mouse to escape yet again. The cat then comes up with a tall tale to excuse his failure to catch the mouse. The words may or may not have hidden meaning; perhaps the humor is solely derived from the juxtaposition of such a silly, prosaic tale with the mood of the music to which it is set.

6. "Blood On The Rooftops" - This song is a dark, brooding masterpiece. The Mellotron is used expertly to achieve just the proper effect, the synthesizers compliment the mood perfectly, and Hackett shines more brightly than at any other point in the album with an inspired, naked acousitc guitar solo at the beginning of the song. Such delicacy, coupled with such unbridled power and drive, are heard in quantities approaching those on 'Wind' virtually nowhere else in the music world, and this is exemplified by this song. The choruses are some of the most chilling, riveting moments on the album, and they, along with the remainder of the song, epitomize the aural character of the entire 'Wind & Wuthering' release.

Content-wise, this one is pretty straightforward. This song deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the constant coverage offered by the media. The song also hints at the impersonal aspect of this coverage and how it is proliferated in similar fashion all across the world. Classic symbols like rain and blood are used to support a somber tone in this song, which is one of Genesis's finest achievements.

7. "Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers..." - This is the first of two conjoined instrumentals on the album, both of which derive their names from the final sentence in the Emily Bronte novel 'Wuthering Heights' (incidentally, this is also the source for the name of the album). This instrumental is very soft and pensive; it is also the shorter of the two. The synthesizer program used for the melody is hauntingly gorgeous, almost like a cross between whistling and a beautiful soprano voice. This track segues into the second instrumental in the sequence.

8. "...In That Quiet Earth" - This is often cited as one of Genesis's finest instrumentals. It is more animated than the previous track, is composed of several different sections, and is a keyboard workout for Tony Banks. The synthesizers used here are varied and intricately-entwined. There is a sense of movement about this work, a sense that it is not the end but a means to an end. And, in that respect, such a sense proves correct. This work segues into the final track on the album.

9. "Afterglow" - There are many wonderful songs on 'Wind,' but there are some days when I consider "Afterglow" my favorite. There is so much to be said in this song, and it accomplishes it with so small a footprint (4:12) as to intensify the already electric quality of the music. The song moves along at a slow, stately, inevitable pace. Phil Collins's vocal is delivered with a bastion of emotional output rarely matched by other vocalists. The melody, a simple one, is soul-fulfilling. It's a song to sing at the end of all things, when one's world has come crashing down around him. And the ending sequence, with its myriad intricate layered vocals, is ethereal and breathtaking. The impact of these icy sustained phrases, comprised entirely of the word "Ahh!", is simply unparalled. It's the perfect ending to the album, the setting of the sun, the end of an era.


So, above all, this album is one of Genesis's finest. There are occasional weak moments, but on the whole it is a masterpiece. It is especially impactful when taken alongside 'A Trick of the Tail,' as these two albums compliment one another perfectly. Each is what the other is not, and together they run the gamut of symphonic progressive rock. I would recommend this album to fans of Genesis from all periods (both Gabriel-era and later Collins-era); it will require some acclimation, particularly for later Collins-era fans, but it is very much worth the time.

This album was the second (and last, unfortunately) album that Genesis released as a quartet. Steve Hackett would leave after the release of this album and the live collection "Seconds Out". When I first bought this CD, I was expecting to hear something fairly similar to the other "quartet" album, "Trick of the Tail". Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong. Whereas "Trick" showcased Steve Hackett's guitar, "Wind and Wuthering" is much more (to me) focused on Tony Banks and his keyboards. "Eleventh Earl of Mar" leads the album off strongly, but is quickly overshadowed by the awesome "One for the Vine", a 10-minute epic of sound with a middle section that is the best instrumental Genesis has EVER done. After these two tracks, the album stops to catch its breath with the pretty little track "Your Own Special Way", a short love song that is a definite perlude to the Genesis sound of the '80s. "Wot Gorilla?" is a short little throwaway instrumental, not much to it, but pleasant to listen to anyway. "All in a Mouse's Night" is an interesting song about a mouse hunting for food and trying to avoid the cat (I get visions of Tom and Jerry in my head whenever I hear this one - it's hard not to). After a return to the style of the first two tracks with "Blood on the Rooftops", the album finishes strong with the trio "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers/In That Unquiet Earth/Afterglow" - these three songs blend together so well that at first listen, they seem to be one song - it reminds one of the song structure to "Supper's Ready". All good tracks, but for me, nothing comes close to "One for the Vine". The CD is worth owning for that single track alone.

So why DID Steve Hackett leave Genesis? Because they didn't give him enough input in the songwriting, and he wanted the band to move more into the progressive direction, while the rest of the band wanted to become more accessible. Listen to "Voyage of the Acolyte" (Hackett's first and most progressive solo effort) and listen to his tunes on W&W and you'll hear his influence clearly. They are very different from the rest of the tunes, which are very much Tony/Phil/Mike. To understand, it must be noted that almost all Genesis music was written by Tony, Phil and Mike in jam sessions. They would take these ideas and arrange them into songs. Steve Hackett would then add his parts. Last, the entire completed music would be left for Gabriel to write his words and melodies to. Banks said that he got chills when in the studio he heard Gabriel singing the "666" part on Supper's Ready for the first time. The reason Gabriel left is because he was asked to, the rest of Genesis feeling that they were not getting enough credit for the music. The Lamb shows this in the Gabriel-penned tune Counting out Time, arguably the most catchy and commercially viable Gabriel/Genesis tune, and very reminiscent of what would appear in Gabriel's first solo album. Up to this point, writing credits on their albums always said "All tunes by all", or "Written by Genesis". Gabriel was given credit for this tune on the album, also Brian Eno (!) makes an appearance on the Gabriel-Eno collaboration "Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging". Anyhow, after PG left, Phil reluctantly took over the vocals (he sang lead on Nursery Chrymes' "For Absent Friends" and Selling England "More Fool Me", and you can REALLY hear him on their 70's concert album "Genesis Live") and everyone was floored by the similarity to Gabriel, which meant they could continue to tour (the only drummer good enough to replace Collins while he sang was Bill Bruford - no slight to Chester Thomson) and also their audience wouldn't abandon them. Apparently the person most surprised at Collin's singing ability was Collins himself - no one can deny he became one of the greatest and most popular singers ever. It's known that much of the trademark edge on his voice showed up after his nasty divorce, during the "I Don't Care Anymore" phase. Genesis continued to make two great albums, Trick of the Tail and W&W, and for the first time we get individual writing credits. But the progressive sound was a little mellower, which suited Collins still-softer style. TofthT had some seriously mellow tunes, along with the incredible tour de force "Dance On A Volcano" and the underture "Los Endos". W&W was similar but the difference between this material and the first post-Hackett album Then There Were Three is obvious. On TTW3 you hear the core trio of Phil Tony and Mike. Hackett's influence and sound is gone, so TTW3 is mostly very mellow, nicely produced and thick with keyboards and 12-string guitars and Phil's so soft voice. But it did yield their first smash hit, Follow You Follow Me. If you liked Hackett's influence, then listen to his first 3 solos, Voyage of the Acolyte, Please Don't Touch, and Spectral Mornings, all excellent and very progressive records, especially Acolyte (features members of Genesis). W&W is a little uneven due to the tension between Hackett and the rest, and therefore is not their best but has some of their best post-Gabriel moments. By the way, Phil Collins is one of the best drummers in the world, and if you want to know why, listen to an album by Brand X, called "Unorthodox Behaviour", from 1975. The facts herein are drawn from interviews compiled in a book that was published around the time of Then There Were Three. There was a picture showing Collins, Rutherford and Banks walking together on the street deep in animated conversation, with Hackett skulking along about 20 feet behind with his wife. The caption, written by Banks, was "A picture says a thousand words". Finally, not much is said about the appearance of Hackett on Genesis "Match of The Day", a 3-song EP by post-Gabriel Genesis with Hackett credited on one song. The EP is pretty good, mellow again, but with some very catchy melodies. To complete your collection of "progressive rock" version of Genesis, get Wind and Wuthering.