Genesis

The official version of the story tends to divide Genesis's history into two eras: the progressive one led by Peter Gabriel and the more pop-oriented one with Phil Collins as frontman. A distinction that, however, as we have also tried to point out in this feature, risks downplaying the contribution Collins made to the band both before and after becoming its frontman.

Having joined Genesis in 1970 as a drummer, Collins was in fact one of the architects of the band's sound during the golden years of progressive rock. His technical, powerful and creative style contributed decisively to landmark albums such as "Nursery Cryme", "Foxtrot" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", works that still stand today as absolute peaks of 1970s rock.
The worldwide success achieved in the 1980s with hits like "Sussudio" and "Against All Odds" has ended up overshadowing, in the eyes of many, his past as an extraordinary drummer serving the band. Collins, however, has always insisted that he never chased a career as a pop star: drumming was always his true point of reference, and even Genesis's pop hits — from "That's All" to "Invisible Touch" — were always the result of the whole band's work.

Among the albums from Genesis's early phase, "Foxtrot" holds a special place, even in Phil Collins's own ranking. Released in 1972, the album — among other gems — also contains "Supper's Ready", the monumental suite of over twenty minutes considered by many to be the band's absolute masterpiece. Within it, in particular, is "Apocalypse in 9/8", one of the most celebrated pieces in the band's catalogue, built on an unusual rhythmic subdivision that has become a touchstone for progressive rock fans. A section that, for Collins, represents "one of the high points" of the English band's experience.

And yet, that very section, seemingly so intricate, came about almost by chance. "When I got back," Collins recalled, "Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks had written 'Apocalypse in 9/8'. Tony had composed it without thinking about the rhythmic subdivisions. I played it maybe once or twice and didn't think too much about it. It was one of those moments when the tape recorder was running and we just managed to capture what was happening. It was probably one of our best spontaneous moments."
Collins's recollection paints a different picture from the one commonly associated with progressive rock, often seen as a genre built with almost mathematical precision. While many bands of the era planned every detail of their compositions, Genesis instead managed to turn even the most complex ideas into something natural, thanks to the musicians' rapport with one another.
For a drummer, tackling a time signature in 9/8 is quite a challenge. Collins, however, had already developed great familiarity with irregular rhythmic structures, partly thanks to his experience with Brand X, and so he managed to play that passage with surprising ease. This is also why "Supper's Ready" continues to be regarded as one of the essential works of progressive rock. Behind the complexity of the composition lay not only sophisticated songwriting, but also Genesis's ability to leave room for instinct. For Phil Collins, the recording of "Apocalypse in 9/8" still stands today as proof that some of the band's best moments were simply born out of playing together, without calculation and without preset patterns.

One of Genesis's most representative compositions, "Supper's Ready" holds listeners spellbound for over twenty minutes with everything one expects from progressive rock: intensity, technique that is never an end in itself but always at the service of the composition and kept well in check by it, intricate complexity, but above all ideas — ideas to spare, with no empty noodling. From the living room at home to the apocalypse and back, the suite tells of Christ's second coming on earth, the struggle against the Antichrist and his defeat, and thus humanity's final conquest of the new Jerusalem, all of it, naturally, seen as a metaphor for the struggle of good against evil. Musically there's an enormous variety of ideas and shifts in tone: from classical to hard rock, from almost cabaret-like, childlike pop to odd time signatures ("Apocalypse in 9/8"), and a martial rhythm that leads to a conclusion of almost unbearable orchestral intensity. Everything conspires to be over the top, yet it never is: this is music that amazes without unnecessary frills.
In the final repetition of the theme, Phil Collins's snare drum gradually creeps in, accompanied by the solemn atmospheres of the mellotron. The harmonic progression changes direction and leads the piece to its climactic moment: "Apocalypse In 9/8". The section opens with Peter Gabriel's powerful, almost declamatory voice, backed by rhythm guitar, organ and the drums' incisive accents, before giving way to the extraordinary instrumental interlude born out of a collective improvisation by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. Tony Banks described the genesis of that passage this way: "Mike wanted to create an alternation between guitar and bass and started playing, quite instinctively really, while Phil was trying to build a rhythmic pattern on top of it. At that point I suggested he stick to just three notes, E, F sharp and B, over which I could develop any chord, in either a major or minor key. In minor, the music can be melancholic and luminous at the same time, so I had complete harmonic freedom without having to worry about the rhythm. The result really surprised us."

(Contributions by Marco Simonetti)

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17/07/2026