In defence of Ray Wilson

Genesis seem to be one of those bands that have a strictly divided fan base, with fans who either like the Peter Gabriel era or the Phil Collins era, but very rarely both (personally I fall into the latter camp as I'm not a huge fan of Gabriel, who is a little too bizarre for my taste). One of the few things both factions seem to agree on though is that neither of them think very much of Ray Wilson, and he has gained a reputation as the man who ruined Genesis and caused them to split up. Having spent a lot of time recently listening to Wilson's work, I've come to the conclusion that this reputation is entirely unfair and unjustified, and the unfortunate Wilson deserves much greater recognition in the annals of the band's long history.  

Is this man really guilty of ruining Genesis?

It had been more than twenty years since Phil Collins had 'temporarily' taken over vocal duties after Peter Gabriel's departure so maybe it was time for a change, especially as all three members also had other projects alongside the band so their commitment to Genesis wasn't as strong as it used to be and the pace of new releases had slowed. It is also fair to say that Collins's individual fame was starting to eclipse the group, whose most recent tours had been unfairly promoted as featuring "Phil Collins and Genesis", so maybe the remaining members wanted someone lesser known who wasn't going to overshadow them. Born in 1968, the year after the original Genesis line-up got together, and some 18 years younger than Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, Wilson was just 29 and injected some young blood into the ageing band that should have given them a new appeal to audiences who weren't old enough to remember the glory days and considered Genesis to be a relic of the past. He does seem to have attracted some new female fans who found him rather attractive, not a quality often associated with the men of Genesis.

Calling All Stations is certainly more interesting and adventurous, both musically and lyrically, than some of the bland and forgettable tracks found on the later Collins albums such as Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance. The title track and 'The Dividing Line' rank among my all-time favourite Genesis songs, particularly the latter with its moody and foreboding sound that appeals to my dark side. Even 'Congo', a track widely derided for not being in the true spirit of Genesis, has its moments with some poignant lyrics in the final verse that mean a great deal to me personally. What is the true spirit of Genesis anyway? The various members have always maintained that the band was the result of three or more people coming together to collectively create music and it has clearly evolved over the years without being too constrained by the concept of genres. Compare the half-hour prog rock epics of Gabriel with the catchy pop of Collins and they could easily have come from completely different bands, so Wilson was really just another step in the group's evolution and in many ways was actually more faithful to the older Gabriel spirit.  

Listening to this album left me wanting to hear more of Ray Wilson, but sadly it is the one and only studio album he ever made with Genesis. Fortunately there are a variety of live performances available on YouTube, both from the ill-fated 1998 Calling All Stations tour and his subsequent solo career, and having spent much time watching these I concluded that as a live performer Wilson is every bit the equal of Collins, with a superb voice and great stage presence, but without the excesses of Gabriel, whose extravagant acting and costumes often detracted from the music. In particular, it's worth seeking out the 'Genesis Classic' shows he did with the Berlin Symphony Ensemble in the late 2000s, an imaginative reworking of Genesis hits, both his own and from the Collins era, to feature a string quartet, something that actually sounds far better than might be expected and a welcome change from Collins's sometimes staid live performances of Genesis material.   

I am unsure how much truth there is in the claims that Wilson was treated badly by Banks and Rutherford, but he is obviously still proud of his time with the band as he regularly includes a collection of Genesis songs from all eras in his solo shows. In fact, some fans have conceded that he actually does a better and more faithful rendition of the Gabriel material than Collins did, but in my own opinion he also makes a fine job of those that were originally sung by Collins. It would have been very interesting to hear what Collins might have made of the Wilson material, but as far as I know none of the Calling All Stations tracks were ever included in the post-Wilson Genesis tours, perhaps another reason why he is so overlooked and has been all but erased from the band's history.

Inevitably, any online comments on Ray Wilson always turn to almost universally slagging him off and getting into a heated debate over whether Gabriel or Collins was the best singer but agreeing that both are better than Wilson. Maybe he was doomed from the start as he was a relative unknown and, no matter what he did, he could never live up to the reputation of his illustrious predecessors, so many fans wrote him off immediately for that reason without even giving him a chance. Yes, Calling All Stations was heavily criticised at the time of its release, but the first album with a new line-up is always fraught with difficulty, especially when the newcomer has to fill shoes as large as those of Phil Collins. Sadly, the largely disparaging attitude of the fans and the disappointing sales meant Wilson never got a further opportunity to prove himself. A second album may have been much better received but we will never know.

I imagine a similar thing happened when Gabriel left and there were predictions of doom from certain elements of the fan base. In that case, despite the initial scepticism the band not only survived but thrived without him, so it may have been the same with Wilson in the long run had fans just been a little more open-minded and receptive to change instead of immediately discounting any notion of a Genesis without Phil Collins. With that attitude he couldn't win and was damned either way: if he tried to continue in the style of Collins he would be accused of being a poor imitation of his predecessor, but by doing things his own way he turned Genesis into something too unlike the band many fans knew and loved. The fans' disappointment could be more understandable if Collins had been sacked in favour of Wilson, but he left of his own free choice, and nor did Wilson muscle his way into Genesis unfairly. Collins's departure created a vacancy and Wilson was chosen by Rutherford and Banks on his own merits from all of those who auditioned, so they obviously felt he was up to the job and the fans should have had more respect for the decision of these experienced professionals.

Maybe Wilson, Rutherford and Banks would have received a better reception had they started afresh and given themselves a new name rather than continuing as Genesis, a famous name with decades of history and an enormous burden of expectation associated with it, as so many comments are along the lines of "this isn't Genesis" or that this line-up is more like a version of Mike and the Mechanics. Things probably weren't helped by the band's established supporting musicians, guitarist Daryl Steurmer and drummer Chester Thompson, opting to continue working with Phil Collins after he departed. They were replaced for the Calling All Stations tour by Anthony Drennan and Nir Zidkyahu respectively, both fine musicians in their own right, but this meant three out of the five members of the live band were new and that was just too much change for many fans to handle, so disappointing ticket sales and the cancellation of the US leg resulted in further damage to Wilson's reputation through no real fault of his own. 

No, Ray Wilson didn't ruin Genesis. What ruined Genesis were those so-called fans who refused to accept that Phil Collins was gone and the band had moved on, and didn't respect Banks and Rutherford's decision to hire him. The only crime Ray Wilson is guilty of is that of not being Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel.