A track-by-track review of
NURSERY CRYME by Hugh Fielder & Friends Hugh Fielder (Esteemed Rock Journalist and Author): Released in November 1971, Nursery Cryme was a critical album for Genesis – not only did the band have to fulfil and develop the promise evident on the warmly received Trespass but they had to do so without one of their key composers and founding members, Anthony Phillips. Phillips had left following the recording sessions, having found the rigours of touring the UK on a shoestring budget and the harsh realities of operating on a continuous basis within a band framework too much to bear. He went on to study composition at the Guildhall School of Music before returning to the rock world with the release of his first solo album The Geese and the Ghost in 1977. For a band as unique as Genesis, finding a new guitarist was not going to be an easy task. There are countless guitarists with some skill and the ability to tear through blues licks, but what Genesis needed was someone sympathetic to their music and able to contribute compositional and textural ideas. They found their man in Steve Hackett who, despite having next to no professional musical experience, impressed the band with his musical ideas and technical abilities. That Hackett was influenced by Robert Fripp of King Crimson doubtless stood him in good stead, as Court of the Crimson King was an acknowledged influence on the band. Another key event at the time was the decision by the band to replace drummer John Mayhew with Phil Collins. Where Mayhew adequately provided the band with quite basic drumming, the newcomer brought a level of skill and inventiveness far in excess of his years and experience. With Collins in the driving seat the music immediately had real dynamics and swing. He was also an 9
