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Rating: 
Summary: Thier Own Special Way
Review: A good overview of the whole career of this great band, "From Genesis To Revelation" all the way to "Genesis Archive 2". Although a relatively short book the author provides lots of information on each album and subsequent tour. One of the best aspects of the book are the numerous quotes from most of the band members, as well as some of the band's managers and producers. One of the books few shortcomings is in the coverage of the many solo releases from the band. Solo releases by Anthony Philips, Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford and Peter Gabriel are mentioned and briefly discussed. I would have like to have read more on all of the solo releases. As a big fan of Genesis reading about the creative process behind each album made me run to my CD collection to listen to the wonderful music created by this band. I also learned many things about the band that I was not aware of. I would highly recommend this book to Genesis fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Three stars for the effort...but not the content.
Review: Although undoubtedly written with good intentions, Genesis Inside & Out falls wide of the mark for a couple of very obvious reasons.Firstly, and despite the minor coup of interviewing early 70's guitarist-of-about-one-month Mick Barnard for the book (along with new interviews with Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips), four of the five major Genesis protagonists - Banks, Collins, Gabriel, and Rutherford - are represented only by bits and pieces of old interviews, hashed together from rock papers and a Virgin web site. Whether they were approached by Platts for this book, and declined to participate or grant new interviews, is not clear. What is clear though is that old ground is well and truly being trod, with very little new information of merit coming to light. Fans with no knowledge of Genesis' history will probably be okay with this, but those with a greater knowledge of the band will be left wanting. Secondly, the book reads too much like a home-grown fan essay, and too little like objective biographical analysis. Ironically, although the author is quick to offer quite firm opinions on a number of issues - mostly related to a dislike of much of the post-Duke material - the way the book is written, in particular the use of sound-bites from old interviews, suggests some inadvertent and debatable conclusions, namely: that despite concerns Genesis couldn't survive without Peter Gabriel (they could, and did), musically the band actually never really survived the departure of Steve Hacket (when they clearly thought they could); that Banks doesn't seem to like much of the material or records from their entire 30-year career; that Collins can't seem to make up his mind if he likes "prog", and is almost rabid in his desire to break with the Gabriel/Hackett era past; that Rutherford seems to have preferred his 12-string duets with Anthony Phillips to just about anything else; that the Calling All Stations record/US tour was clearly the most ill-judged move of their entire career, and they really should have just stayed home after Collins quit. These conclusions, although possibly unintentional, merit discussion, but unfortunately the author leaves them hanging, without any analysis or investigation. Although it has not been updated since the early 80's, and sadly remains out of print, Armando Gallo's superb I Know What I Like remains THE Genesis book, not just for his incredible photography, but for his concise yet detailed biography of the band. Robin Platts' effort, although welcome, unfortunately does not match the standard set by Gallo, or update the story in any essential and compelling way.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Work Gives Background
Review: The rock research era is upon us! British writers are pouring out book after book off trivia that is simultanesously entracing, irritating, and indispensible. Who really needs Pink Floyd Day by Day? Genesis Inside & Out, however, is a cut about most of the other books of this type, and specifically from this imprint. Platts knows his subjects, and has throughly researched their activities, and their thoughts, particularly the processes behind their music, which I found most interesting. If you are a Genesis fan, or someone interested in Post-Beatle's English rock, this is a good book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Work Gives Background
Review: The rock research era is upon us! British writers are pouring out book after book off trivia that is simultanesously entracing, irritating, and indispensible. Who really needs Pink Floyd Day by Day? Genesis Inside & Out, however, is a cut about most of the other books of this type, and specifically from this imprint. Platts knows his subjects, and has throughly researched their activities, and their thoughts, particularly the processes behind their music, which I found most interesting. If you are a Genesis fan, or someone interested in Post-Beatle's English rock, this is a good book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, A Good Look Back At This Great Band's History
Review: To it's credit, Robin Platts' "Genesis: Inside & Out" is the only book about the rock group Genesis I've come across that is totally up to date with the band's history, including their last studio album, 1997's "Calling All Stations," and their pair of Archive box set releases from 1998 and 2000, respectively. Admittedly, it's a very good read overall, and thankfully, it does contain information about the band that I, a diehard Genesis follower for 20 years and counting, did not know about (such as the wealth of unreleased early Genesis songs that were NOT issued on the 1998 Peter Gabriel-era box set, with such titles as "Masochistic Man" & "Wooden Mask." I wonder if we'll ever get to hear these tunes?). However, the book is far from perfect. Aside from the occasional typo, Platts overlooks several well-known moments in Genesis' history (no mention of the famous onstage explosion at Oslo during the "Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" tour?), and he also makes it obvious that he's not really a fan of the band's Phil Collins-era material from 1978 onwards, with perhaps the lone exception of the "Duke" album from 1980 (and I *strongly* disagree with his derogatory remarks about the band's self-titled album from 1983---his reasons for not liking this excellent album are quite ridiculous). Still, I can't deny the fact that I did learn some more interesting things about my favorite band. "Genesis: Inside & Out" doesn't match up to "Genesis: I Know What I Like" by Armando Gallo," "The Book Of Genesis" by Hugh Fielder (currently out of print), or "Genesis: A Biography" by Dave Bowler & Bryan Dray, which, in my opinion, are easily the most insightful books ever written about the band. Nonetheless, a diehard Genesis fan can't go wrong by adding Robin Platts' book to their shelf, even if his comments about the band's later material are pretty silly. 3 out of 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, A Good Look Back At This Great Band's History
Review: To it's credit, Robin Platts' "Genesis: Inside & Out" is the only book about the rock group Genesis I've come across that is totally up to date with the band's history, including their last studio album, 1997's "Calling All Stations," and their pair of Archive box set releases from 1998 and 2000, respectively. Admittedly, it's a very good read overall, and thankfully, it does contain information about the band that I, a diehard Genesis follower for 20 years and counting, did not know about (such as the wealth of unreleased early Genesis songs that were NOT issued on the 1998 Peter Gabriel-era box set, with such titles as "Masochistic Man" & "Wooden Mask." I wonder if we'll ever get to hear these tunes?). However, the book is far from perfect. Aside from the occasional typo, Platts overlooks several well-known moments in Genesis' history (no mention of the famous onstage explosion at Oslo during the "Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" tour?), and he also makes it obvious that he's not really a fan of the band's Phil Collins-era material from 1978 onwards, with perhaps the lone exception of the "Duke" album from 1980 (and I *strongly* disagree with his derogatory remarks about the band's self-titled album from 1983---his reasons for not liking this excellent album are quite ridiculous). Still, I can't deny the fact that I did learn some more interesting things about my favorite band. "Genesis: Inside & Out" doesn't match up to "Genesis: I Know What I Like" by Armando Gallo," "The Book Of Genesis" by Hugh Fielder (currently out of print), or "Genesis: A Biography" by Dave Bowler & Bryan Dray, which, in my opinion, are easily the most insightful books ever written about the band. Nonetheless, a diehard Genesis fan can't go wrong by adding Robin Platts' book to their shelf, even if his comments about the band's later material are pretty silly. 3 out of 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: What was truly behind the music of Genesis
Review: What a refreshing book on the band Genesis! As current as 2000 - it's nice to have a new book of recent info and new old information. I am a huge fan and have just about everything there is out there - I Know What I Like - Armando Gallo, Musical Box, etc. This book has the most new quotes, background and interesting information about the band-without personal drama or tabliod style journalism. Just straight forward, well-written and specific information on the details behind the writing and recording of the songs. If you're new to Genesis, I would recomend the aforementioned books (I Know What I Like) first, and this a close second. My highlights would be the detail on rare recordings from the late 60's/early 70's and details from the memebers themselves. Highly recomended!
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