Year: 1972
Country: United Kingdom
Running time: 22 mins. 58 secs.
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One of the most popular symphonic prog groups ever, Genesis was formed in 1967 by a group of art students.They went on to build a huge following during the first half of the 1970's, from where Supper's Ready also originates. It is the closing track of the group's fourth studio album Foxtrot (1972), yet even at 23 minutes, it fails to completely fill the vinyl disc's B side, where a short acoustic guitar composition Horizons precedes it.
Foxtrot was recorded at a point when the group was already well known and their success starting to peak. They had evolved rapidly since their debut, From Genesis to Revelation (1969) which was just a mediocre collection of pop songs. The following years saw fast development. Already on the second album Trespass (1970) regular late sixties pop had given way to ambitious, long art rock songs whose lyrics told tales from faraway lands, whose typical song was over seven minutes long, and whose album cover looked like a medieval painting.
Nursery Cryme (1971) followed in the same vein, and the group managed to sound consistently more or less the same in spite of constant personnel changes. This album introduced new drummer Phil Collins, who was already the fourth different drummer on only three albums (the first drummer change occurred during the recording of the debut album), as well as Steve Hackett, who was the second guitarist. For now, the personnel changes were over and the classic lineup in place. The same five guys made also Foxtrot as well as a couple of later albums and nothing changed until the charismatic singer Peter Gabriel decided to leave Genesis in 1975.
Foxtrot was the first Genesis release to enter the U.K. Top 20 album chart. It peaked at #12, so it is quite fitting to have Supper's Ready occupy that exact same position here. The track consists of seven shorter parts whose lyrics are at times poignant, and at other times silly; one minute deadly serious and the next humorous. Topics range from love, war, and death to the apocalypse. The second coming of "Lord of Lords, King of Kings" is used as a climax.
Musical themes also differ wildly from each other. First, we are treated to a beautiful opening Lovers' Leap, yet later we need to endure the comical Willow Farm and still later be impressed by the Apocalypse, played in the challenging 9/8 time signature. This may sound more than just a little schizophrenic, but regardless of the differences between individual sequences, the ball is never dropped and the piece has a feel of a single composition.
Supper's Ready is one of the best examples of typical, rather easily accessible 1970's symphonic prog. For myself, it has not aged very well and after refreshing my memory with it a couple of times, I decided to drop it out of the top 10 where I had originally thought it would be. I remember buying the vinyl version of Foxtrot in 1980, at age seventeen, as one of the first albums to play with my first genuine stereo set. At that time, it was my favourite track of all time.
Supper's Ready seems to have given inspiration to later artists. If interested, try and compare it with one of Marillion's early works called Grendel. You may notice certain similarities. If you do, pay special attention to the time signature between 12:35 and 15:26.
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