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Genesis 1965-2022 Reference manual
With Genesis finally drawing a veil over their career with the last concerts taking place in March 2022, the full career is now encapsulated in one hefty tome. Or as the author Alan Hewitt was adamant it should be referred as - the Genesis Reference Manual. Documenting everything imaginable about the band from the start of pre-Genesis band Anon through to the final London shows of 2022. The go to reference for everything Genesis, the Genesis Reference Manual details all the known concerts, recordings, media appearances and beyond. From both the band and their solo careers. The most comprehensive collection of Genesis information ever compiled in one book. Genesis Reference Manual is an essential guide and reference source for all things Genesis. The final word on one of the worlds' most enduring and successful bands.
368 pages, Paperback
Published September 23, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 7, 2022
If you want to get the most updated and comprehensive guide of Genesis collectibles this is the book for you! This book covers Tour programmes, Books, Videos, TV performances, Discography, A gig guide and much more! There's also 20 chapters on different time periods where you can enjoy newspaper clippings, ads, reviews and much more!
March 1, 2025
Over several decades I've read many histories of Genesis. I purchased a first edition of Armando Gallo's I Know What I Like in 1978, which I still have. It was probably the first 'proper' history of a band in print, with a full-colour section in an already lavishly-printed volume. Nonetheless the startling omission of Selling England by the Pound (1973) seemed very odd then and now.
Onwards to the superb Chapter & Verse (2007) compiled from interviews with the band members over decades, Richard McPhail's My Book of Genesis (2018) & Mario Giammetti's Genesis - 1967 to 1975: The Peter Gabriel Years (2020). There are still other tomes out there unread; Bill Thomas' Decades, Peter Chrisp's Genesis - Supper's Ready - More than 50 Years of Genesis...This is a well-documented band!
Despite that wealth of material, Genesis 1965-2022 Reference manual still manages to include a few facts I never knew, extracts from interviews never previously heard, and photos I'd never seen.
That's the positive bit. The downside is unfortunately, Alan Hewitt's writing. Quite simply he writes as a fan-who-writes, rather than as a writer. That is perhaps most expressed in his frequent use of exclamation marks, and on page 38 he manages to finish a sentence with haven't we?!
Hewitt's writing reminds me of the fan magazines that some bands attracted in the 1970s and 80s before the appearance of the Web. It's chummy, friendly, but comes over as well...a bit amateurish. Which is a shame, as Hewitt is obviously a huge enthusiast for anything Genesis. His writing style though is very, very clunky, and it spoils this volume. An (independent) editor might have been able to correct the shortfalls; I'm sure Hewitt could have been persuaded to change his style to a more formal, less 'obvious-fan' perspective. As-it-is, Chapter & Verse remains my favourite Genesis history resource. If Hewitt ever feels inclined to re-write this history in a less chummy style, I'd likely buy it all over again.
Onwards to the superb Chapter & Verse (2007) compiled from interviews with the band members over decades, Richard McPhail's My Book of Genesis (2018) & Mario Giammetti's Genesis - 1967 to 1975: The Peter Gabriel Years (2020). There are still other tomes out there unread; Bill Thomas' Decades, Peter Chrisp's Genesis - Supper's Ready - More than 50 Years of Genesis...This is a well-documented band!
Despite that wealth of material, Genesis 1965-2022 Reference manual still manages to include a few facts I never knew, extracts from interviews never previously heard, and photos I'd never seen.
That's the positive bit. The downside is unfortunately, Alan Hewitt's writing. Quite simply he writes as a fan-who-writes, rather than as a writer. That is perhaps most expressed in his frequent use of exclamation marks, and on page 38 he manages to finish a sentence with haven't we?!
Hewitt's writing reminds me of the fan magazines that some bands attracted in the 1970s and 80s before the appearance of the Web. It's chummy, friendly, but comes over as well...a bit amateurish. Which is a shame, as Hewitt is obviously a huge enthusiast for anything Genesis. His writing style though is very, very clunky, and it spoils this volume. An (independent) editor might have been able to correct the shortfalls; I'm sure Hewitt could have been persuaded to change his style to a more formal, less 'obvious-fan' perspective. As-it-is, Chapter & Verse remains my favourite Genesis history resource. If Hewitt ever feels inclined to re-write this history in a less chummy style, I'd likely buy it all over again.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews