Genesis

@jpconer - did you ever listen to KOME in the '73 - '76 period when they were pretty much prog and psychedelic rock all the time, with DJ's like Phil Charles and Zim Zoots? They turned me on to so many great bands.

@mapman - you are right about The Musical Box, from Montreal; I've seen them several times in San Francisco, including the Lamb show and the Foxtrot tour show, which was a real blast from the past for me, having seen Genesis do it in '73. One of the guys from the band even contacted me concerning early photos I have of them from those early tours. 

@bzawa - yes indeed, Phil was a brilliant drummer; back in the early 70's, Phil Collins and Bill Bruford were considered (arguably) the best drummers in progressive rock. And on the first Trick of The Tail tour, Bill was the original second drummer before Chester Thompson. 

Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.  A top-5 pick for me (of any music).  Saw Genesis do the entire album live (plus encores of course) at the NY Academy of Music (on Broadway!) back in Dec. 1974.  A life-changing experience, they were that good.  I think it helped that I was in the 11th row (I kept notes of all the shows that I attended).

Next in order: Selling England by the Pound, Trespass (highly underrated IMO), Trick of the Tail, Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme, all good.  Can’t get into any post-Gabriel stuff past Trick of the Tail.

I agree with the commentary re: Hackett.  Also a highly underrated guitarist that brought so much to Genesis.  IMO after he left, the band was done.

For me, that’s a hard question. The PG albums are different, more “progressive rock” and PC’s stuff became less progressive and more rock/pop rock with each release. PG’s lyrics were more “heady” as well.  Selling England is a wonderful album and so is Lamb.

to me, A Trick Of The Tail is the only PC/Genesis album I like as a whole album.  After that things began to quickly change.

Genesis is one of the bands that really led me to get into high-end audio.  I saw them twice (And Then There Were Three and Abacab) and Gabriel solo twice (Three and So).  Previous comments about how they changed after Gabriel left are all true and some of the later stuff is far more commercially oriented.  That said, writing good pop tunes is very hard to do consistently and the pop stuff they did was all done to a superior level.

Favorites, for me like many others, are hard to pick.  I enjoyed all of the stuff with Gabriel and have multiple copies on domestic, English and Japanese pressings.  the later stuff is highlighted by Trick of the Tail and both double live sets.  Abacab also represents a fusion that worked well for me.

Happy listening to it all!

@akgwhiz Some recommdations. Most of these are not Genesis sound alikes but are art rock, prog rock, avant gard or what ever you want to call it. Sound samples can be found on Discogs. Hopefully a few might suit your tastes. Some are way out there. Also, I've heard a few Hackett albums and wasn't turned on. Maybe I didn't hear the best ones. In your opinion, what's his best?

Anglagård - Hybris 

Narr – Oxymore Dans La Chrysalide Des Rêves

A Piedi Nudi – Creazione

Dewa Budjana – Mahandini 

Kultivator – Barndomens 

Wobbler – Hinterland

 Present – Triskaidekaphobie, Certitudes

Taal – Mister Green, Skymind

 Weidorje – Weidorje

Ange – Caricatures

Anekdoten – From Within

Egg  – The Civil Surface

The Omnific - Escapades

Supersister – Present From Nancy / To The Highest Bidder