Performer Notes

Genesis (UK): Tony Banks (guitar, background vocals); Peter Gabriel (oboe, tambourine); Mike Rutherford (bass instrument, background vocals); Phil Collins (background vocals); Steve Hackett.
Personnel: Mike Rutherford (vocals, guitar, 12-string guitar, cello); Peter Gabriel (vocals, 12-string guitar, cello, flute, bass drum, percussion); Tony Banks (vocals, 12-string guitar, piano, electric piano, organ, Mellotron, keyboards); Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion); Steve Hackett (guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar).
Audio Remasterers: Chris Blair; Geoff Callingham; Nick Davis .
Recording information: Island Studios, London, England.
Photographers: Geoff Terrill; Barry Wentzell.
Arranger: Genesis .
Easily the most angular and eccentric Genesis album, FOXTROT is where Peter Gabriel's idiosyncratic lyricism bears full fruit. "Get 'em Out By Friday" and "Watcher of the Skies" brim with Gabriel's quirky combination of poetics, politics, and philosophy, and with the tricky time signatures and instrumental flights that are early-Genesis trademarks.
Though these are some of the most powerful, memorable songs in the Genesis catalog, FOXTROT's centerpiece is the 23-minute epic "Supper's Ready," a prog-rock classic that moves through several sections, shifting tempo, mood, and tone colors as it weaves its rich, complex tale. This composition would become Genesis diehards' most beloved tune, known as a concert favorite for years. SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND may be the definitive Genesis album, but FOXTROT runs a close second, and is just as much of a gem in the '70s progressive rock crown.

Professional Reviews

Spin (01/04, p.48) - "...This album established Peter Gabriel as something of a prog neorealist. Thom Yorke would carry the torch..."

Q (12/94, p.162) - 3 Stars - Good - "...`Supper's Ready,' the 20-odd minute suite that occupied all of Side Two, looks worrying on paper but still holds up rather well, chiefly because it's a well-made collection of short episodes rather than a vast swathe of noodling..."

Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.82) - "...[Their] breakthrough album....dominated by 'Supper's Ready', which finds Gabriel managing to sound soulful while singing such lines as 'A young figure sits by the pool/He's been stamped 'Human Bacon' by some butchery tool'..."