Happy 45th: Genesis, NURSERY CRYME

45 years ago this month, Genesis released their third solo album, an effort which found the band’s sound evolving away from folk and toward more of a progressive-rock sound.

Produced by John Anthony, who’d also helmed the band’s previous album, TRESPASS, NURSERY CRYME found Genesis working with a new guitarist for the first time, one who would stick around for a fair while: Steve Hackett, who replaced the band’s founding guitarist, Anthony Phillips. It’s hard to say that Hackett’s arrival was necessarily the cause of the change in the band’s sound, but it certainly enabled them to step in a different direction. In addition to exploring the wonderful world of prog-rock, the album also provided listeners with the first-ever Genesis song featuring lead vocals by Phil Collins: “For Absent Friends.” Needless to say, it would not be the last.

Although NURSERY CRYME helped established the new Genesis sound, it didn’t exactly set the charts alight: it only made it to #39 on the UK charts, and even then it took the album more than six months to get that high. Still, the band’s live shows continued to be greeted enthusiastically, and by the time they released their follow-up, FOXTROT, in 1972, they’d made enough new fans to find themselves at #12.