Genesis

Duke

Style with substance, substance with style.

Review Score:

(8/10)
Compared with all of the other Genesis albums I own (and I own many, including the "classic" albums with Peter Gabriel) Duke brings me the most satisfaction as a listener. It is a rare breed of record, not unlike Rush's Moving Pictures, that works as a progressive album AND a pop album, a work both musicians and more casual music fans can enjoy equally without compromise. Duke is artistically grand in its scope, accessible in its execution. It has style with substance, substance with style that sets it apart from most records. The sprawl of classic art-rock records ("Behind The Lines/"Duchess"/"Guide Vocal" suite) with a grand instrumental excursion ("Duke's Travels/"Duke's End") that ties the beginning and end together, giving the record somewhat of a "concept" feel. It boasts concisely arranged AOR radio hits ("Misunderstanding", "Turn It On Again"), adult contemporary ("Please Don't Ask"), and great symphonic prog pomp in tightly arranged pieces ("Heathaze", "Cul-De-Sac", "Man Of Our Times") that could very well have given birth to the "neo-prog" movement a full three years before Marillion was given the credit. Even though Duke did mark the end of Genesis as a "progressive" band, this is a great step forward in many areas. And that is a TRUE definition of progression: moving forward. The production is much improved over any Genesis record to this date (1980). Previous records, such as And Then There Were Three...(1978) and Wind And Wuthering (1977) suffered from thin production value, so much that you began to wonder: Where is the BAND? On Duke, everything is brought further to the front, especially the "wide-open" sound of Phil Collins's drums, soon to become an identifying trademark. Collins is in fine vocal form here, likely because you feel he is not straining to be heard. Tony Banks's keyboards provide an otherworldly atmosphere to the tracks, especially the haunting chorused electric piano segue into "Duchess", the grace and pomp of "Cul-De-Sac", and the grandeur of "Duke's Travels/Duke's End"). Mike Rutherford moves forward as a guitarist here, providing the right textures in his inspired parts. Plus, you can actually hear the bass this time, which sorely lacked on the last two records. There is a bit of a murkiness to the overall production, but it actually serves the downcast nature of the material well, giving the songs an irrepressible aura that appeals for continued listening and absorption into one's soul. The only flaw here songwise is "Alone Tonight", which just comes off as overblown and tepid. The emotion feels so forced here that the song has no real soul, especially when compared with the other ballad "Please Don't Ask", which is much more genuine and meaningful. This proves, in light of Collins's marital problems at the time, that sometimes the best songs do come from real life. You can really FEEL him pouring out everything in his heart and soul here, and it's REAL. So, for that one flawed song, I cannot quite give Duke a 5 star rating. I do wish I could give it 4 and half, because it does deserve more than 4. My personal favorites here (although all other 11 tracks are good) are "Behind The Lines", "Duchess", "Heathaze", "Cul-De-Sac", and "Duke's Travels/Duke's End". A further recommendation, and somewhat similar soundwise, is A Curious Feeling, a Tony Banks solo record that came out the year before this, which proves that he is an outstanding writer even outside the band context.

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