It would be nice if they could play together again, Pete and Steve included, especially with Phil behind the kit….And I don’t know why they couldn’t write new material, in the vein of Lamb, or Selling England By the Pound, Wind and Wuthering, etc. It’s not like they were Led Zeppelin. They sounded very English, very old when they were new and fresh if anyone understands my meaning….the music was fierce, lush and delicate all at the same time and separately in sections/parts, much like classical music is and well, y’know the greats like Bach and Beethoven continued on until they died. In any case It could be debated for years when Genesis stopped being relevant. Selling out has many a meaning to fans and critics alike. To me, a band selling out could only ever mean they weren’t playing to their strengths. Very few musicians can think in layers or beyond the 3-5 minutes mark. Whether it’s easier for a band to hash out or jam 4 minute compositions or more fruitful for the band and fans to explore new musical territory, if one were to judge which spelt the downfall for any of the prog greats, it was when they attempted to adopt the easier approach of hashing out and releasing simpler compositions. Genesis, like Yes and ELP certainly fit into this category. Genesis clearly came out on top with that kind of transition, but I certainly found little to appreciate from the writing corp of Banks, Rutherford, Collins past Duke, which was an amazing album. In any case, bands that trudge forward have some responsibility to the fan base and themselves. Yes’s, Heaven and Earth, or Genesis’s, Calling All Stations, ELP’s In The Hot Seat would have been better NOT released to spare their legacy some embarrassment. And perhaps Genesis, like the other prog bands mentioned, are truly through and we have to let them go.This is why vitriol over bands like these not reuniting is a little silly. I’d like to think Banks, Rutherford, Collins, Hackett, Gabriel have it in them for another round, but that’s more out of respect, and the fact I can’t thank ’em enough for all those great albums up to Duke which epitomized this modern/ancient sound of English progressive rock, and never once sounding cheesy or Spinal Tapish. Blood on the Rooftops, which sounds like it could have been written 200-500 years ago deserves as much respect as Suppers Ready or Dukes Travels. And on top of that, considering how long ago any of those songs were created, they hold up rather well today.
Unfortunately that creative process does not come full circle sometimes and people do get older, move-on, it happens. I am just as sad that there may be nothing more, but as long as they are alive and I am alive, and all these fans who share the same sentiments are alive, the door is always left ajar for hope. Until then we always got a little of this to reach back to. “so let’s skip the news boy, I’ll go make that tea, The Arabs and the Jews boy (too much for me)” ..”Better in my day – Oh Lord! For when we got bored, we’d have a world war, happy but poor”. Absolutely Brilliant, adieu Genesis!!!