Wind & Wuthering



Wind & Wuthering is the eighth studio album from English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released on 17 December 1976 on Charisma Records in the UK and the following January in the United States. It was the last studio album to feature guitarist Steve Hackett before his departure to pursue a solo career. Following the success of their 1976 tour to support their previous album A Trick of the Tail, the group relocated to Hilvarenbeek, the Netherlands to record a follow up album, their first recorded outside the UK. Writing and recording caused some internal friction as Hackett felt some of his contributions were dropped in favour of material by keyboardist Tony Banks.

Wind & Wuthering received a mostly positive response from critics which contributed to the band's growing popularity in the US. It reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 26 in the US and continued to sell, eventually reaching Gold certification by the British Phonographic Institute and the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's sole single, "Your Own Special Way", peaked at No. 62 in the US. The band's 1977 tour, their last with Hackett, was their first with Chester Thompson hired as their live drummer. Three tracks left off the album were released during this time as an extended play, Spot the Pigeon. The album was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2007.

Recording
Following the end of their 1976 tour of North America and Europe in support of A Trick of the Tail, Genesis proceeded to work on their next album. The line-up during this time was Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Steve Hackett. Recording began in September 1976 with producer David Hentschel at Relight Studios in Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands, the first time Genesis recorded an album outside of the UK. The band worked hard, recording all the basic tracks for the album in twelve days. Further work on the album was completed in October at Trident Studios in London; the album was mixed there in three weeks. The album's title derives from two pieces—"Wind" comes from "The House of the Four Winds", the title of one piece Hackett wrote that became the bridge on "Eleventh Earl of Mar"; the "Wuthering" alludes to the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, the final sentence of which provides the titles of "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..." and "...In That Quiet Earth". The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by Hipgnosis.

Banks recalled a considerable amount of music had been written before the album was recorded. Rutherford said it took an estimated six weeks to write the album. He pointed out the band wished to distance themselves from writing songs that were inspired by fantasy, something that their past albums "were full of". Hackett found himself arguing with the band as he felt his ideas were rejected in favour of material that Banks, in particular, had put forward. Having already released his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte, Hackett requested the band use more of his musical ideas on Wind & Wuthering. Banks ended up with six writing credits on the album's nine tracks, more than any other member. Collins spoke of Hackett's request: "We just wanted to use what we agreed was the strongest material, irrespective of who wrote it".

Songs
"Eleventh Earl of Mar" refers to the historical figure of John Erskine, Earl of Mar, a Scottish Jacobite. The first line of the song, "The sun had been up for a couple of hours, covered the ground with a layer of gold", is the opening line of the novel The Flight of the Heron by D. K. Broster. Rutherford, who wrote the song's lyrics, got the idea after reading a "history book about a failed Scottish rising ... around 1715".

"One for the Vine" was a track that Banks wrote during the writing sessions for A Trick of the Tail. He spent a year working on the song until he "got it right".

Collins describes "Wot Gorilla?" as one of his favourite tracks on the album as it brought in influences of jazz fusion and Weather Report which he liked. Rutherford said of the track, "[it is] a reprise of a section out of 'Vine'. It was Phil's idea to play a fast, jazzy rhythm."

"Blood on the Rooftops" is a song concerning "the tedium and repetitiveness of television news and the overall mocking disgust that must sometimes accompany watching the news happen". The music to its chorus was written by Collins with Hackett writing the music to the verses, song's lyrics and its acoustic guitar introduction. According to Hackett, the song was a love song originally. He explained, "When I heard the other lyrics on the album, there was a bit of a romantic tinge anyway, so I decided to go right the other way and make it as cynical as possible." Banks and Rutherford both claimed it was Hackett's best song as a member of the group.

"Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..." and "...In That Quiet Earth" are two linked instrumental tracks. The titles, of course, refer to the last paragraph of the novel which donated the album's title - "Wuthering Heights", by Emily Brontë:

"I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

In contrast to the amount of time it took Banks to develop "One for the Vine", he wrote "Afterglow" "just about in the time it took to play it". A few days after he wrote it he came to the sudden realization that its melody resembles that of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which led to him playing it back and concluding "it wasn't the same". A Moog Taurus, a foot operated analog synthesizer, was used to create a drone effect. It was a staple on Genesis tours for over ten years.

Release
Wind & Wuthering was released in the UK on 17 December 1976. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 26 on the U.S. Billboard 200. By April 1977, the album had sold roughly 150,000 copies in the U.S. "Your Own Special Way" was released as a single in the U.S. that reached No. 62 on the Billboard singles chart, the band's first charting single with Collins as lead vocalist. In February 1977, the album was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry.

In May 1977, Genesis released the extended play Spot the Pigeon containing three songs recorded during the Wind & Wuthering sessions but were left off the final track selection–"Match of the Day", "Pigeons", and "Inside and Out". Spot the Pigeon reached No. 14 in the UK.

Critical reception
When recording finished, Banks expressed some concern that the album would be too "heavy" and "difficult" for people on their first listen, but he knew fans would give the material a chance. He noted the three tracks recorded during the album's sessions that were ultimately left off were "quite simple". Hackett and Banks have named it as one of their favourite of all Genesis records.

Wind & Wuthering turned out to be favourable with several critics at the time of release. In a positive review for Record Mirror, David Brown opened with "The grey misty, autumn cover gives away the mood of this album, with its mellow tones and airy songs". He believed the band's new following after the success of A Trick of the Tail would not be disappointed. He thought the album is "remarkably well-paced – the music flows ... in an almost undisturbed stream ... subtle instrumentals cleverly link the songs together". Barbara Sharone reported her various positive impressions of Wind & Wuthering through multiple sessions listening to the album for Sounds. Her thoughts include "too much to digest on one listening", "less immediate but more substantial" than A Trick of the Tail, and "the band now seem relaxed and confident to be themselves". As the review progresses, she comments that "One for the Vine" is "Genesis' finest moment". Rolling Stone gave the album a positive review, praising Genesis for being more experimental and steeped in conventional rock than their progressive rock contemporaries. They made particular note of "Your Own Special Way", calling it "a first-rate pop song". Wind & Wuthering was included in Billboard magazine's Top Album Picks feature, noting "Genesis has grown into one of the premiere art-rock bands to come out of England and its fans will not be disappointed with the latest offering ... sometimes the music and the words are brilliant". Stephen Lavers for National RockStar named the album the best from Genesis at the time of its release and their most ambitious work since The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Circus magazine described the album as "flawless" with "the most mature orchestration to date" from the band. Bruce Malamut for Crawdaddy! said the "Unquiet Slumbers" suite was "majestic" with its "colorful sound textures".

The album continued to receive praise from retrospective critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a retrospective rating of four stars out of five on AllMusic. "Eleventh Earl of Mar" and "One for the Vine" were selected as the album's two "Track Picks". He made note of "Your Own Special Way", calling it "the poppiest tune the group had cut and also the first that could qualify as a love song" and summarised the album as "a standard Genesis record" that finds the band "working the same English eccentric ground that was the group's stock in trade since Trespass". Andy Fyfe, writing for 'Q', named "One for the Vine" as one of Genesis's "moments of impressive songwriting".

Tour
Following the album's release, Genesis embarked on a world tour covering Europe, North America, and their first dates in South America. The tour marked the first time Chester Thompson was hired as their touring drummer; Thompson replaced Bill Bruford who played drums on the A Trick of the Tail tour. The band concentrated their stage set with an elaborate laser and lighting display. The tour received enthusiastic responses from crowds. Collins recognised a growth in the size of their audience in some cities they visited in the US. The tour began on 1 January 1977 with a sold-out UK leg, beginning with three nights at London's Rainbow Theatre where over 80,000 applications were made for the 8,000 available tickets. The North American leg saw Genesis play their first show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Their concerts in Brazil were attended by over 150,000 people, with a proposed 100,000-person gig cancelled for fear of rioting. Each band member was accompanied by an armed bodyguard during their stay.

Reissues
Wind & Wuthering was first reissued on CD in 1985 by Charisma Records. A remastered CD followed in 1994 by Virgin and Atlantic Records. In 2007, the album was released in a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix individually and as part of the Genesis 1976–1982 studio album box set engineered by Nick Davis and Tony Cousins, with bonus material including interviews, tour programs, and bootleg videos of live performances. The European and Japanese editions replace the CD with a hybrid Super Audio CD which contains the stereo and a multi-channel surround sound mix.

Personnel
Genesis
 * Phil Collins – vocals, drums, cymbals, percussion
 * Steve Hackett – electric guitars, nylon classical guitar, 12 string guitar, kalimba, autoharp
 * Mike Rutherford – 4, 6, and 8 string bass guitars, electric and 12 string acoustic guitars, bass pedals
 * Tony Banks – Steinway grand piano, ARP 2600 synthesizer, ARP Pro Soloist synthesizer, Hammond organ, Mellotron, Roland RS-202 string/brass synthesizer, Fender Rhodes piano

Production
 * David Hentschel – production, engineer
 * Genesis – arrangement, production
 * Pierre Geoffroy Chateau – assistant engineer
 * Nick "Cod" Bradford – assistant engineer
 * Hipgnosis – sleeve design
 * Colin Elgie – sleeve design
 * Tex (Nibs) Read – equipment
 * Andy Mackrill – equipment
 * Paul Padun – equipment
 * WB Music Corp. – publishing
 * ASCAP – publishing