GO FAR ENOUGH
AND YOU WILL REACH
A PLACE WHERE THE SEA
RUNS UNDERNEATH
WE'LL SEE OUR SHADOW,
HIGH IN THE SKY
DYING AWAY IN THE NIGHT
Wind & Wuthering
is the eighth
studio album
by the English
progressive
rock band
It was released on
December 17, 1976
on Charisma Records
and is their
last studio album
to feature guitarist
Steve Hackett.
Following the success
of their 1976 tour
to support their
previous album
A Trick of the Tail,
the group relocated to
Hilvarenbeek
in the Netherlands
to record a
follow-up album,
their first recorded
outside the UK.
Writing and recording
caused internal friction,
as Hackett
felt some of his contributions
were dropped
in favor of material
by keyboardist
Tony Banks.
The album received a
positive response
from critics
and contributed to
the band's
growing popularity
in the US.
It reached No. 7
in the UK
and No. 26
in the US
and sold steadily,
eventually reaching
Gold certification
by the British
Phonographic Institute
and the Recording
Industry Association
of America.
The single
"Your Own Special Way"
was the band's
first charting single
in the US,
reaching No. 62.
The band's 1977 tour,
their last with Hackett,
was their first
with
Chester Thompson
hired as their
live drummer.
Three tracks
left off the album
were released
during this time
as an extended play,
Spot the Pigeon.
Background and Production
By mid-1976,
Genesis had survived
the departure of
original front man
Peter Gabriel,
with drummer
Phil Collins
taking over
lead vocals,
and produced
the critically
and commercially
successful album
A Trick of the Tail
and supporting tour.
When they started work
on a new album,
keyboardist
Tony Banks
recalled a
considerable amount
of music had been
written before
the recording stage.
Bassist and
rhythm guitarist
Mike Rutherford
said it took an
estimated six weeks
to write the album.
He pointed out
the band wished
to distance themselves
from writing songs
that were inspired
by fantasy,
something that their
past albums
"were full of".
They wanted to
write songs
that they enjoyed,
rather than having
to please all the fans.
Hackett requested time
to do another
solo album
before recording
Wind & Wuthering,
but was denied.
He suggested ideas
like dividing the
song credits evenly
so all four members
had an equal
number of songs
on the album
and bringing in
outside musicians,
which received
a cold reception
from the other members.
He found himself
arguing with the band
as he felt his ideas
were rejected
in favour of material
that Banks,
in particular,
had put forward.
Having already
released his
first solo album,
Voyage of the Acolyte,
Hackett requested
the band use more
of his musical ideas
on
Wind & Wuthering.
Banks ended up
with six
writing credits
on the album's
nine tracks,
more than any
other member.
Collins spoke of
Hackett's request:
"We just wanted to use
what we agreed was
the strongest material,
irrespective of
who wrote it".
He later said he
did like Hackett's songs,
but just thought
Banks won the
popular vote
with the band.
Hackett was
not interested
in writing
shorter and simpler songs,
and felt
"the wackiness was
being toned down".
Recording began
in September 1976
with producer
David Hentschel
at Relight Studios
in Hilvarenbeek,
Netherlands,
the first time
Genesis
recorded an album
outside of the UK.
The band learned that
they could keep
as much as
25 percent more
of their earnings
if they recorded
an album overseas.
Rutherford
found the idea attractive,
for the location
offered fewer distractions.
The band recorded quickly,
and finished
the basic tracks
for the album
in twelve days.
Further work
on the album
was completed
in October at
Trident Studios
in London;
the album was
mixed there
in three weeks.
Collins explained that
the album's title
derives from a combination
of the
early working titles
of
"Unquiet Slumbers for
the Sleepers...
" and "
...In That Quiet Earth",
respectively.
The first was named
because of its
"wind-like evocations";
the second as it has
"a bit of a corny mood"
like Emily Brontë's novel
Wuthering Heights did.
The songs took their titles
from the last sentence
in the novel.
The "Wind" also
has links to
"The House of the Four Winds",
a piece guitarist
Steve Hackett
wrote that became
the bridge on
"Eleventh Earl of Mar",
plus the wind alluded to on
"Your Own Special Way".
Banks suggested
the album's title
which received some
initial doubts
from management
"because it isn't
zap-pow enough."
The album's sleeve
was designed
and illustrated
by Colin Elgie
and Hipgnosis.
Upon hearing the
album's title
Elgie liked its visual title
and immediately thought
of Heathcliff,
a prominent character from
Wuthering Heights,
and English moorland.
He had remembered
a scene from the
Middle Ages film
The War Lord
(1965)
which featured
Charlton Heston
standing beside a tree
and the birds in
it take flight.
The cover is a watercolor
by Elgie
which took around
three weeks to complete.
He looked back
on his design
and wished to use
"a hint more color,
less monochromatic"
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