Review Summary: They say there is a pigeon hidden in the artwork. All I spot here is an average EP.
Recorded at Wind & Wuthering sessions, Spot the Pigeon makes for a radical change in
Genesis style. The 13 minutes EP has sparks of the Rock Pop sound that appears in the following album,
And Then There Where Three, and develops during the 80s Genesis. On a side note, the EP pretty much owns it existing to the fact that the songs belong to Wind & Wuthering but are just too informal and in a different mood to be included on the album.
The EP starts with
Match of the Day, a rather pop tune with the right balance of guitar and bass riffs. The song is straightforward and tells us about a day at this sport event. Next what we have is the repetitive yet funny
Pigeons. It is like cute pop and here we realise why this couldn't have been on Wind & Wuthering.
"Who put fifty tons of shit on the foreign office roof" is a bit too much. Musically, the guitar riff is abused make it a forgettable tune. At least the lyrics are true:
Oh you have to watch out (...) cause they are everywhere.
The only thing that get this record out of the crappy zone is the last song. With a duration of 6 minutes,
Inside and Out relies heavily on the lyrics, as they are more intricate than the other 2 songs EP. It seems to tell the story of young horny male who accidentally crosses the
line one night and ends up in the slammer. Musically, the track is rather calm in contrast with the first part of the EP. The chorus are the most memorable music of the whole thing, where Collins work as a singer shines. Moreover, the track from the mark of 4 minutes shift to a not so previsible sintetizer solo of Tony Banks making for the climax of the whole EP and giving the track the "worth owning" character.
All in all, I would define Spot the Pigeon as a weird EP. Genesis fans might appreciate having it, but it doesn't deserve more than that.
