Trespass
	Produced by John Anthony
	Released on October 1970
	UK CHART POSITION #68 (re-charted to #98 in 1984)
	Find it at GEMM
MCA-37151 cover [high resolution photo]

T he beginning of the great epics. This period of Genesis (the strange music box madrigals) found its fullest expression on Foxtrot and Selling England, but the law of supply and demand (and magic being the commodity that it is) dictates that all classic Genesis fans will eventually breach the precious bubble that is Trespass. It’s not the band’s first progressive masterpiece (I’d save that honor for Nursery Cryme), but it is their first attempt at making a progressive masterpiece. Peter Gabriel tells tall tales in his overarching voice, Tony Banks’ mellotron charges forward, and the whole album is gilded with the ornamental acoustic guitar of Anthony Phillips and Michael Rutherford. (Drummer John Mayhew lasted only the one album, and like John Rutsey had the historical misfortune of being a good drummer replaced by a great one.) The album is remembered fondly for “The Knife,” a heavy number that set the stage for subsequent nightmares like “The Return of the Giant Hogweed.” However the whole of Trespass is worth loitering by. It’s not a particularly cheery album, but it is interesting and wonderfully woven in spots (“Looking For Someone,” “White Mountain”). I suspect some sort of concept is at work here, as the theme of trespassing appears in “The Knife” (dedicated to those who trespass against us) and “White Mountain.” Lord knows the biblical concept of their debut sailed right over my head, so maybe I’m missing a similar connection in Trespass. The album does mark a stronger use of metaphors than their first (among other advances) which conceals the spiritual interests that fuel Gabriel’s imagination (life, death, eternity, war). And I still haven’t figured out the significance of 7-7-7 (each of the first three tracks runs exactly seven minutes). No matter, since I know I’ll creep into Trespass’ guarded garden again.

MCA-37151 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE    7:00
2. WHITE MOUNTAIN    7:00
3. VISIONS OF ANGELS    7:00
4. STAGNATION    8:45
5. DUSK    4:15
6. THE KNIFE    8:55
   
   All titles composed and arranged by Genesis
   

CREDITS

ANTHONY BANKS -- organ, piano, mellotron, guitar, voices
PETER GABRIEL -- lead voice, flute, accordion, tambourine and bass drum
JOHN MAYHEW -- drums, percussion, voices
ANTHONY PHILLIPS -- acoustic 12-string, lead electric, dulcimer, voices
MICHAEL RUTHERFORD -- acoustic 12-string, electric bass, nylon, cello, voices
Robin Cable -- engineer
Paul Whitehead/Cleen Machine Studio -- artwork

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