New records from Ray

Record Review: Song for a Friend and Makes Me Think of Home by Ray Wilson

It is rare for an artist to release two studio albums in the same year, something that would normally leave them short of material, but Ray Wilson has done exactly that in 2016. July saw the appearance of Song for a Friend, followed in October by Makes Me Think of Home, meaning he has put out no fewer than twenty new songs in just a few months. Although these two albums are quite different in feel and were released separately, Wilson had originally intended them to form a double album (provisionally titled Backseat Drivers) and I bought them both at the same time so to me it makes sense to review them together.

A Genesis revelation

Retro Record Review: Genesis Classic: Live in Poznan by Ray Wilson and the Berlin Symphony Ensemble (2011)

 

 

My musical tastes are increasingly starting to favour artists many of my friends and contemporaries have never heard of, and today's subject is a particularly esoteric album that I would be surprised if any readers are even aware of, yet alone have ever actually heard. In my previous piece in defence of Ray Wilson, I made mention of his Genesis Classic shows with the Berlin Symphony Ensemble. Having seen various YouTube clips of these performances, I recently discovered that an official recording is available and have now purchased it.

Ray Wilson may not be a household name like his Genesis predecessors and hasn't appeared in the UK charts for many years, but he still has a cult following (which is especially strong in his adopted home country of Poland) and has been far from idle since leaving the band almost two decades ago. Alongside a solo career and a revival of Stiltskin, his other recent project has been the Genesis Classic, an innovative fusion of Genesis hits with classical instruments, and after years of listening to the band's own live and studio versions this album is a refreshingly different take and really is a revelation.

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?

Calling All Stations

Retro Record Review: Calling All Stations by Genesis (1997)

 

Think of Genesis as a band and, depending which camp you fall into, you will either think of the vocals of Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins, so an album featuring neither of them seems unthinkable. Such a thing does however exist: the band's final studio album Calling All Stations was released in 1997 by the triumvirate of Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Ray Wilson, and it is the 2007 remastered version of this album I have recently purchased and review here as an antidote to all those Christmas songs currently being played to death on the radio.

"Who's Ray Wilson?" I can hear you asking. He is the forgotten man of Genesis, who had the unenviable task of replacing Phil Collins after his departure in 1996 to concentrate on his solo career, and was only a member for little over a year so his brief contribution seems to be largely ignored. I feel this is a shame really as Calling All Stations is a fine album in its own right but was not a massive commercial success and is so overshadowed by the fame of Gabriel and Collins as to be virtually invisible.