Duke (1980)
1.Behind The Lines
2.Duchess
3.Guide Vocal
4.Man of our Times
5.Misunderstanding
6.Heathaze
7.Turn it on Again
8.Alone Tonight
9.Cul-De-Sac
10.Please Don't Ask
11.Duke's Travels
12.Duke's End
After a relentless schedule that saw Genesis produce nine studio albums in as many years, And Then There Were Three marked not only a numerical change in personnel but a necessary pause. The resulting hiatus, prompted in part by Phil Collins’ domestic difficulties, provided the members with time to explore solo avenues—an inevitable phase for bands approaching their first decade of existence. Yet it was this interlude that seems to have renewed the group’s energy and cohesion, giving rise to one of their most confident and artistically balanced records to date.
When the band reconvened, they came bearing gifts—or more accurately, leftover solo compositions. Each member contributed embryonic ideas from their respective projects. Most surprising were the offerings from Collins himself. At that time still seen primarily as the competent drummer and reluctant frontman, few expected him to emerge as a songwriter of any real merit. Yet both Please Don’t Ask and Misunderstanding (the latter going on to secure top twenty success) demonstrated an uncanny melodic sensibility and lyrical poignancy. These were not merely adequate fillers—they were revelations. Suddenly, the notion of Genesis producing hits didn’t seem so improbable.
Mike Rutherford, too, presented two accessible, if now largely forgotten, entries—pleasant, tuneful, and entirely emblematic of his measured musical temperament. Tony Banks, ever the cerebral architect, offered his usual fare: harmonically rich, compositionally intricate pieces that may lack immediacy, but reward repeated listening. These weren’t tracks for light housework—more likely, for solitary evenings with headphones and silence.
That’s half the album accounted for. The rest was forged from scratch, with all three members working in tandem—an approach that would soon become standard. It yielded Turn It On Again and Duchess, tracks pulsing with spontaneity and a new rhythmic clarity. The crowning glory, however, is the instrumental diptych of Duke’s Travels and Duke’s End. Here, Genesis reclaims its progressive roots with a sense of urgency and finesse that is at once exhilarating and technically masterful. It is arguably the finest ensemble work they ever committed to tape—bristling with fire, form, and fluency.
Where And Then There Were Three had moments of uncertainty—understandable, as the band navigated life as a trio—Duke sounds assured, integrated, and fully realized. The growing pains are gone. What remains is a band on the cusp of commercial dominance, straddling the divide between complex musicianship and pop accessibility with remarkable poise. In the United States, they were still considered fringe—college radio staples at best—but Duke began to blur the lines between old fans and new, pleasing devotees of the early, exploratory era as well as listeners drawn to the crispness of newer, tighter arrangements.
This is the sound of Genesis finding their footing—and preparing to run.
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