Nursery Cryme

Quick and perfect condition

At the time of this album's release (1971), Genesis was still very much in its formative stages. The immediate predecessor of "Nursery Cryme", "Trespass" (1970), featured the first classic Genesis tune ("The Knife"), and showed us a band really starting to find its musical voice. However, several key personnel changes helped this band make the leap to a true prog-rock giant: the addition of Phil Collins on drums, as well as Steve Hackett on guitar. These were significant upgrades (both were master musicians), and the increased quality of the band's musicianship allowed the band to push the limits musically.Nursery Cryme features several great progressive rock epics: "The Musical Box", "Fountains of Samalcis", and "Return of the Giant Hogweed". All of these songs exhibit what would eventually become the distinctive Genesis sound; long, brilliant chord progressions, layers of Tony Banks' keyboards and Hackett's tasteful guitar lines, classically structured with numerous time changes and modal shifts. Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford provide a locked-in rhythmic foundation, effortlessly handling the changes in time and providing exceptional momentum to these fairly complex structures. And of course, Peter Gabriel adds his brilliantly dramatic, mythical and at times humorous vocals and lyrics to the proceedings to top things off.This album has a few weaker short tracks on it, and for that reason it is not quite of the same overall quality as the follow-ups "Foxtrot" (1972) and "Selling England by the Pound" (1973). However, the quality of the epics more than makes up for this minor shortcoming.The recording quality is not up to the level of their later releases. In fact the source tape seems pretty limited. I don't think they had access to the best recording equipment available at this time, However this seems to work with the darker material present on this album, and I don't feel it detracts from the listening experience.The remastering is good here, as good as it can be I think, and this 1994 Atlantic release also includes liner notes & lyrics. I am curious to see what the new Rhino 5.1 surround mixes will sound like, although I have heard some complaints about some of the other albums that have already been released for this edition(i.e. Trick of the Tail, Wind & Wuthering). I'll be OK with it if these aren't great, as I have enjoyed my current copy for nearly a decade and have no complaints with the relative sound quality.Genesis was one of the leading bands of the 1970s English Progressive rock scene, along with Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, ELP and King Crimson. Every fan of progressive rock should have a copy of this album (as well as the next 4 or 5 Genesis albums), as these guys were one of the greatest prog-rock acts ever. Highly recommended.

Love this album

Released in 1971, Nursery Cryme is Genesis’s third album and it represented a big leap forward for the band. Phil Collins and Steve Hackett had become new band members. For older fans, this is the classic line-up. All the songs were composed and arranged by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford.Many prog fans regard the album as a classic of the genre. The readers at "Prog Rock Archives" rank it as the 12th greatest prog album of all time. Geddy Lee of Rush rated it as one of his ten favorite albums. The idiots at Rolling Stone gave it two stars in their Album Guide in 1979.I first heard this record in the early 1970s and it still sounds good. The album has three classic songs: Fountain of Salmacis, Return of the Giant Hogweed, and of course The Musical Box. This is my fourth favorite Genesis album after Foxtrot, Selling England and Trick of the Tail. The musicianship is excellent. Phil Collins is superb and was only 20 at the time. Peter Gabriel was 21. This remaster is excellent.I stopped buying their records after Hackett left the band in 1977. However, I highly recommend Nursery Crime. and all the albums they released 1971 and 1977.

Nursery Cryme - Genesis (3.56 stars)Original Release: 11/26/1971Songs:The Musical Box (4 stars)The story behind this song and the lyrics are so distant from one another that it requires some imagination to connect the two. To appreciate this song you must find out the story from the album liner or some other source. Also, I have heard that the onstage performance that accompanies this song live probably aids very much in making meaning of these lyrics. I will probably want to find a youtube video of a live performance of this song sometime and watch it. The song starts after a murder (the "nursery cryme") has occurred. The music is calm, even sedate but its tone inhabits somewhere in the vicinity of a quiet madness. Very gradually the melodic themes pick up more intensity for a time and then relax again. There are extended instrumental sections and an aggressive fanfare on guitar and organ which coincides with part of the stories' drama where the concentrated passion of a lifetime is released. The song comes to a conclusion with a more joyful energy that detracts a little from the mythic horror of the rest of the song and even ends on a kind of a joyful, "happy" note. This song requires a lot of work to get its full value but if you meet it half-way it is rewarding.For Absent Friends (3 stars)After the horrors of the previous song I tend to see shadows of the former song in this seemingly innocent one where a girl is seen passing by alone. Also the song mentions that once there was four but now only two into which I find myself thinking of the couple and their murdered son and institutionalized daughter. It is as likely that this song has no relationship to the former and is simply a stark contrast with the former placed for maximum effect. Quiet, layered guitar and gentle vocals relax the mood nicely.The Return of the Giant Hogweed (3 stars)Intentionally silly song anthropomorphizing an exotic that has taken over the British landscape. Guitar and organ play a semi-comical war march to the lyrics. There is an instrumental section called "The Dance of the Giant Hogweed" which I imagine abstracts the work of the ill-tempered weed to bring their plot to "fruition". The venomous oath of the Hogweed is finally sung and an ominous guitar and organ and mellotron passage announces the chaos of war thereby concludes the song. To me the lyrical joke runs on a bit long in this long but entertaining song.Seven Stones (4 stars)Cases of individuals following their hunches or suspicions or intuitions are presented in the guise of the wise old man's stories. But the wise old man turns a trick in the end. A sometimes awkward rhythm section underlies this simpler composition. But the lyrics and the mellotron pump in mystery and passion to bring to this song a timeless mysticism.Harold the Barrel (3 stars)Clever dark comedy about a man who is living out the last unbearable moments of his life before taking the plunge from a tall building. Presented in a play format the protagonist is obviously surrounded by a society who seems insanely unprepared to rescue him. The instruments play an upbeat, light tone until the very end where profoundly sad piano chords escort poor Harold into the next world.Harlequin (3 stars)I'm not able to make sense of the lyrics; they seem to describe a scene and to explain something... Otherwise the instruments play in a straight-forward, syncopated way. The song has a quiet baroque feel with gentle harmonies and delicate sounds the never escape their calm demeanor.The Fountain of Salmacis (5 stars)This song compellingly tells a story that could be right out of Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ lending the ancient story a beautiful soundtrack. The pace never lets up as various musical ideas play out in time with the tale. In the moment of transformation the supernatural transformation is uniquely represented instrumentally but seemlessly with the song's overall flow. Instrumental sections keep the story moving without lyrics and lyrical sections progress elegantly and imaginatively. After making a full circuit the song returns to its original theme before moving into a glorious coda. Although this coda also aims at a "happy ending" it has a better fit to the song overall and features a sumptuous guitar passage that has a beauty all its own. One of the first great progressive rock songs.Album:In some ways this album, which has been referred to as a transitional album in many reviews, spells out a transition within the order of its songs. "The Musical Box" seems to harken back to the bitter darkness of _Trespass_. The middle songs reveal the humor and more straight-forward song style that would be present going forward. The dialogue of voices in some songs would also make very significant (in the history of classic prog rock) appearances later. "The Fountain of Salmacis" would tie the musical complexity of _Trespass_ back into this Genesis' greater song compositional skills and be a bar set for later highly instrumentally imaginative rock. In some ways the hard rock edge of _Trespass'_ "The Knife" is more present here as if that last song on the previous album anticipated this one. As with Jethro Tull's work during this same time period I find that my overall rating of the album declines slightly even as I can see a progression in the band's compositional abilities. But for all the great prog bands the next few years would be a sort of climax time of progressive rock as the greats of the genre seemed to peak more or less together in their ability to produce timeless music.MP3 recommendation:Nursery Rhymes (4.25 stars)1. The Musical Box (4 stars)2. Seven Stones (4 stars)3. The Fountain of Salmacis (5 stars)

Everything as promised. Very happy

One of there best albums with Peter Gabriel.

It sounds a bit larger than life but I like it. Phil's backing vocals really shine through in places and the effect is very musical. Some detail is evident that I'd never heard before on the LP - an 80s reissue. The insert is a big improvement on the DER CD series, though still not a patch on the LP gatefold, obvs. I'm not an audiophile so I have no thoughts on the loudness or otherwise of this remix. I may try to buy a flat transfer too (cropped cover 80s issue) just for the hell of it. There is a lifetime's work of listening pleasure to be had from music of this era.

todo correcto

Non entro in merito alla musica dei Genesis, per me n°1,l'LP che mi è arrivato è privo di difetti, nessun fruscio, nessun Toc Toc.La registrazione è ottima rispetto all'originale dell'epoca, c'è da dire che le vecchie registrazioninon erano proprio il massimo....per intenderci, all'epoca (a mio avviso) David Bowie aveva una stereofonia incredibile, con una evidente separazione dei canali.Consiglio l'acquisto

Raízes do progressivo, inspirador.

Przesyłka zabezpieczona fatalnie, pękło pudełko. Inna wytwórnia niż w opisie, nie polecam.