Comment from Brad G.
Hi Lileigh,
It's hard to express the emotions felt by the soundscapes created by Genesis in 'Selling England by the Pound', and 'The Lamb...'. I, like you, was 15 in 1975 in Lisbon, Portugal (next to Cascais, which I saw referenced in one of your videos). I've been in the US for 30 years and am a citizen. I enjoyed your video. Guitar is my favorite instrument, but the rich sounds of the synthesizer work in those two albums take me to another dimension as well (like Rick Wakeman does in 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'). Thanks for sharing your passion. Very few people understand when I literally go into a 'different zone' while listening to Steve Hackett's ethereal solos, well... I'm glad to know you truly get what that means.
All the best,
Brad
Lileigh answers:
Hi, Brad ~
Your eloquent descriptions of the shared cause/effect (of the "evoked-emotions-to-familiar-musical-soundcapes") we all feel when we listen to early Genesis and Steve Hackett's work - are right on the $$, my dear! *beaming look*I think that most of us feel this way about this collection of unique musical genius.I often wonder about the underpinnings of it all, psychologically - on the whole for our age group.Is it that the music became an important identifier during our "formative" teenage/young adult years...so much so that it became ingrained in our organic, inner souls?Why is it, that most of us could be brought to tears by the sounding of the opening arpeggio keyboard fingerings of Tony's intro to The Lamb's Title Track...or at the penetrating boom of Mike Rutherford's base pedals...or Phil's lilting, winsome background vocals to Peter's "Veil-of-Smoke" sung lines like "...For She's A Lady....", within the song The Musical Box? I'm told that even the most hardened of men (and a few women) have been seen with tears streaming down their face at certain parts of the Tribute Band "The Musical Box's" perfectly-detailed performances.What is it - within those melodies, counter-melodies and lyrical arrangements - which captures us, so intrinsically, as a group?I think I'd love to have a recorded video feed of us, the audience, at one of those Musical Box performances..as we all get transported - en masse - into that rare "Different Zone", of what you speak.Mesmerized by what once was...both in original performance and in who WE were, individually, at that point in time when The Lamb (or any of early Genesis' music) was entrenched in our very souls, developmentally.I know this might sound a little too esoteric and grandiose to some people (on the outside)...but, to those of us who experienced this same musical "bonding" with Gabriel & Genesis' early recordings, way back when...it makes perfect sense, does it not?Like some deeply implanted Tuning Fork, within us, is struck - when we here those familiar chord progressions and often romantic-yet-mercurial sung lyrics.Powerful and heady stuff, all.It's nice to know that I am not the only one locked into this tractor-beam of personal historic significance - while listening to their work.Before this video series came to be...I had drifted away. Attention diverted to Life's demanding everyday needs.But, now...through that serendipitous YouTube series...I've come to re-discover the depth of what their music truly meant to me, all those years ago. A magical mirror in which I may gaze (like in Harry Potter) where I may see the floating images of who I once was and how far I've come to be who I am now.But, always - at the core - the 15-yr-old girl who found great solace in Gabriel's intonations & grit, Steve's magical, musical filigree paintings of colorful sounds, Mike's solid, double-neck Rickenbacker duty of 12-string & Bass, Phil's incredibly complex drumming structure (offset by his lovely, winsome high tenor harmonies) and, finally, Tony's overwhelmingly precise & illustrating keyboard fingerings!*shake of head* There's not much more to be said, than that. *knowing smile slowly grows on my face*Thank you so very much for writing me...and being so open in sharing your story of personal discovery ala the Genesis Journey.It has made my day...xoxo Lil