Calling All Stations

[Rych]

Now is it really all that bad? It was kind of cool to hear Mike and Tony with someone else on vocals for a change. I think that it was admirable for them to put out another album after Phil left. I understand that It may have been alittle better if some of the other tracks were put on instead of a few that were.
Whats your opinion?

[Jeremy Green]

I have always thought it was an excellent album. Some very strong moments (There must be some other way, Dividing line) and in my view no weak tracks. I have never quite understood why it has been so frowned upon. Mike and Tony don't produce poor music, it's different without Phil but I listen to it a lot alongside all their other stuff.
Jeremy Green

[Ed Kuszajewski]

I loved Calling All Stations. Since it didn't have Phil on it I don't think that Atlantic got behind it enough and that caused the sales to suffer which demoralized Tony and Mike which was a big shame because I really think a follow up would have been even better. I feel it's a much more cohesive album than Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance.

[Rych]

I didnt get this CD until last year and found it a nice change from WCD and cetainly IT. Heavier sound and not so pop oriented in my opinion. I just took it for what it was. I had no high hopes because everything I read was pretty much a poor review. So I was delighted when it turned out to be heavier than expected.
Plus I ended up getting all the other tracks that were left off and including Nowhere Else To Turn. That was a bit poppy but certainly did hate it.

I actually created a version of the album with its B-sides and so forth and enjoy that alternate track listing as much as the original. Now I think that if this track listing was released it may have gotten more attention, in my opinion. Tell me what ya think of it.


1. Calling All Stations
2. Congo
3. Not About Us
4. Alien Afternoon
5. The Dividing Line
6. Anything Now
7. Phrett
8. Small Talk
9. Sign Your Life Away
10. There Must Be Some Other Way
11. Uncertain Weather
12. Run Out Of Time
13. One Mans Fool

[Leon Alvarado]

I think Calling All Stations is quite nice. I like it much better than Invisible Touch and We can't dance altogether. For all the criticism about Phil these days you would have thought that it would've gotten a better reception. However, Phil still carries lots of weight regarding the fans' expectations which never gave the album the chance it deserved. In my opinion the album is not as dark as people make it to be but it certainly was a step in the right direction. I have always wished that they would at least have a follow up album with that lineup because it could only have gotten better. I also think that by loosing Phil, Chester and Daryl at the same time it meant to much for the die-hard fans to digest. After all, just to have two of the five guys who usually play the stuff live is quite the change. The record label also misbehaved in the sense that they over-estimated the album's success without massively promoting it. When you have such a drastic change (remember they lost three members and not one of the "live" version of Genesis), you have to step up promoting in order to create interest. In all, Calling All Stations is usually dismissed (unjustifiably) by many fans because it doesn't have Phil on it which is too bad because it is a pretty good album.

[Rych]

Exactly Leon, take it for what it is. It was an admirable effort by all. Studio and live personel and everyone who made it happen.
One thing that I found disappointing is that they decided not to include Ray Wilson on Carpet Crawlers when origanily they planned to.

[Steve]

I enjoyed CAS and was sad that it was not well received in the USA. The musical landscape had changed drastically from 1991's WCD. By1998 it was pop bands, boy and girl, bubble gum crap which I cannot stand.

Losing Phil was a blow. His solo success blurred into Genesis that radio stations would often reference a track bysaying "PhilCollins and Genesis" which would make me cringe. For close to 20 years.

I liked Ray's voice but they needed a bigger splash and they should have opened the door to one Mr. Steve Hackett and they could have kept Chesteron drums. He played on Hackett's Genesis Revisited. This could have made the project more expectant for fansandnot DOA as it was.

Also, Ray should have gotten a shot to join Peter and Phil on Carpet Crawlers 99 singing solo on the third verse.

[Leon Alvarado]

It would have been just brilliant if CAS had Hackett back. I also agree with the idea that they should have kept Chester on drums, at least for the tour leg. It does bother me a bit that they decided to split the drums among two drummers on the album but I don't really know why. The drum tracks sound very good throughout the whole record.

[Ed Kuszajewski]

Damn! I never even considered the possibility of Steve rejoining for Calling All Stations but when I think about it I can definetly hear it working especialy with Steve revisiting his days in Genesis around the same time. Now I can envision Tony and Steve playing unison lines on The Dividing Line or great embellishments to Alien Afternoon or a solo on Small Talk.

[Rych]

man can you imagine. Cant wait for Hacketts new album.

[Brad]

When this album came out, I was pleasantly surprised by how uncommercial it sounded. From that point of view, it was a breath of fresh air. However, with the absence of Phil along with his percussion I feel that the album suffered a bit. So, I did miss him enormously! I liked the heavier sound of the album. My favorite track on there is Alien Afternoon; particularly the final 3 minutes of it. I don't listen to this album much I must admit. The heaviness of the sound combined with much of the subject matter on it makes it rather depressing to listen to. It is not a very positive album at all. Nevertheless, despite that, it was a great effort and musically and lyrically it was great!

[Rych]

what I felt was nice about this album was the real drums and more guitar. Love what Phil did drumming wise but it was nice not to hear the electronic drum stuff. Hard to say what my favorite track is, Dividing line, CAS, Congo, Anything now, alien afternoon

[Leon Alvarado]

According to some reading, Alien afternoon actually came about from two different sessions. It is the one track that has both drummers on it. I'm not too wild about the first part of it but I love the second part. I think it is one of the strongest moments in the whole album. A lot of people (including the band themselves), talk about how much darker the sound was. I personally feel that there is a slightly darker sound than the two previous albums but nothing really "dark" per se. I have never been a fan of what I call the silly side of Genesis. Songs like "Who Dunnit", "Illegal Alien", "In too deep", "Invisible Touch", etc, have never done much for me. I started to listen to Genesis back in 1974 and the entire music scene was different then. As the years went by I learned to make adjustments in my expectations but, if I could turn back time, I would do so in a pinch. I think the progressive rock that came out in the seventies was the most inspiring, better composed and better crafted popular music ever done and I haven't seen anything coming close to it in the past thirty years. By the same token, people still hang to certain ideas and are very reluctant to let it go (sometimes me included). A lot of fans couldn't take the concept of having a Genesis without Phil which casted CAS in a negative light from the get-go. Believe me, I know what it feels having to create something that will be judged by fans' expectations. Recording and releasing and album containing covers is a double-edge sword. Some fans will like it because they just love the material and would like to collect versions of it. Others become curious and decide to give it a chance just to hear the take on it but, there is always those fans that will hate it without even giving it a chance to see if they could like it. The mere idea of someone else playing their idols' music makes them cringe. I feel that those fan could be reached if they just open their minds a bit. With CAS, we basically had a two-man writing team. In a sense, too much to take for some of the band's fans. Never mind that these are the same guys that brought us some of the greatest songs in the Genesis catalogue. Why not give them the benefit of the doubt and a good open minded chance? That's how I approached my buying CAS. At first hearing, it was strange not to hear Phil's voice on the songs but let's face it, Ray has an even better voice (he does seem to lack infliction when he sings and looked a bit out of place during the tour). Phil has the don of charm. He is very personable and presents himself with a "belonging" ease. In contrast Ray seemed somewhat stiff, not very animated I think the perception of the live concerts was somewhat mixed and that hurt the chances for the band to continue (alongside of poor sales in America). However, "Calling All Stations" in my mind is a much better album that IT and WCD. Because of that I can't hardly ignore it. I only wish that the band would have done a follow up album and include Steve Hackett along for the ride. I could only speculate about the product but given Steve's musical track record it could only have been fenomenal.