Genesis. Often unjustly maligned in the British press over the years. They've sold eleventy billion albums, and yet remain the most uncool of bands. But I like them, no I love them.

Their evolution from the Peter Gabriel led progressive rock band of the late 60s to the Phil Collins hit singles era is well documented. With Collins taking over vocal duties in 1976, they underwent a transformation, embracing a more streamlined and accessible sound. The 1980s saw Genesis reach new heights of commercial success with albums like "Abacab" and "Invisible Touch." Collins' distinct voice and the band's knack for catchy melodies resulted in chart-topping singles and sold-out stadium tours.

Their self-titled album from 1983 is often overlooked, which is a shame, because it contains quite possibly the best song they ever wrote. Home By The Sea is, quite frankly, a masterpiece. I love the atmosphere, the delivery, the production, and even the subject matter. A burglar breaks into a house, only to find it haunted, he's captured by the spirits who force him to sit and listen to their stories for the rest of his life.

I can't think of a better vocal performance by Collins in his career. I could listen to this song every day for the rest of my life and it would never fail to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

'Cause you won't get away
No, with us you will stay
For the rest of your days

SIT DOWN

As we relive our lives in what we tell you
Let us relive our lives in what we tell you

On a photo walk out and about with the trusty 7D Mk II, you sometimes run across things that make you go "a decision was made here".

The factory reset totally worked are words I did in fact say. That aged poorly. So let the shipping-headphones-back-to-Sony dance begin! In their place? Cheap wired temp headphones. The horror 💀

Getting signs the long desert summer is winding down. Going outside this morning was delightful.

Cambridge, England 2023. Nice surprise to have this one chosen for Flickr's Explore.

Last year I wrote about my new Sony headphones. Nice they were. Incredible sound quality, long lasting battery. Let's fast forward 15 months to right about now shall we. The right earbud will only charge to 90%. Never 100%, because why would it?

And today dear reader, I listen to a podcast for 35 minutes, the right earbud is at 11% and the left at 74%. I'm currently suffering through the chatbot troubleshooting steps so they can see if my "product requires servicing".

So that's fun.

UPDATE: well, a reset to factory defaults seems to have fixed it? Turns out we can have nice things!

UPDATE: well now, that aged poorly.

One more quick point to add to my subscribing to more blogs post from the other day, it's a shame allowing comments seems to have fallen out of fashion.

I was listening to U2's Achtung Baby 30th anniversary edition recently. There are 50 tracks on that monster including b-sides and remixes. This track came on and I thought, this is a bit good.

I knew I'd never heard it before, and yet something about it was so very familiar. It was a bit maddening as I couldn't figure it out. The AHA moment came after reading this excerpt from The Edge:

There was a song called ‘Lady With the Spinning Head’ which we were really struggling with. It eventually ended up as a B-Side. But we tried and failed to develop it so many times. It actually spawned three different songs, “The Fly,” “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)” and “Zoo Station”. If you ever listen to “Lady With the Spinning Head” you will hear elements of all of those songs.

Yes, yes you do.

Subscribed to a few more blogs of late. Think it's healthy to keep that independent publishing ring alive in 2023. Eye opening that not having the full post in your feed is still a thing. The absolute horror 💀

What happened was, I started reading again 😳 After a two year slump in which nothing happened whatsoever, turns out all you need to do is start. Imagine that. And the rest just falls into place.

I'm a big believer in supporting your local bookstore and order each next installment of The Expanse series in plenty of time. Well, usually. I'm now eleven days into waiting for book five. Which I could have had Uncle Amazon Prime deliver it the next day.

Just be patient and do the right thing. Right?