From the French Best magazine about the Genesis performance at the Olympia June 26, 1972. A rather dense and whimsical article. Translation:
The arrival of Genesis
Genesis’s appearance at the Olympia as part of the Charisma evening, with Lindisfarme and Van der Graaf Generator, was shrouded in uncertainty. The somewhat unconvincing “Trespass,” their first album, might have led one to fear a certain boredom. The interesting “Nursery Cryme” offered hope for some good moments.
In reality, Genesis seemed to oscillate continuously between these two tendencies, beginning the concert with a very disjointed and confused opening composition and ending with much more substantial pieces. Rather than speaking of “pieces,” one should, to be precise, use the term “musical piece” or “suite,” each track being composed of distinct parts, of diverse inspiration.”
The simple, "singing" melody seemed to attract Tony Banks (keyboards, vocals), Michael Rutherford (bass guitar, vocals), Steve Hackett (guitar), Phil Collins (drums, vocals), and Peter Gabriel (lead vocals, flute), but instead of seeking stripped-down arrangements that would allow this melodic phrase to stand out, they incorporated it into a very dense orchestration.
For a long time, the listener was simply offered a "ready-to-serve" product. No effort required, remove the packaging and consume this nice, sanitized little thing.
The music of Genesis is received with less "obviousness." If there are riches of musical lyricism, they are buried at the heart of a complex knot, made up of superimposed themes, rhythmic changes, and numerous breaks. Somewhat as a corollary to this approach, we also find a concern for a profound exploration of sound. Not necessarily with the introduction of new instruments, generally born from electronic music, but more simply by reconsidering the position of each instrument. Instead of seeking "the effect" by considering only the instrument that will produce it, groups like Genesis conceive of it much more in terms of the place it is intended to occupy within the overall sound of the group.
This same concern to always consider the music as something that must "truly" be that of a "group" also leads to a rejection of demonstrations such as long, phrased solos. While these various observations apply to Genesis, they should not obscure the fact that although this group moves in this direction, success does not always crown its endeavors.
Genesis is an interesting group that deserves to be discovered, but whose personality seems to lack a bit of scope and temperament, not allowing us to hope that they will take their music much further than it is today.