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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/foxtrot72_4.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:''"Walking across the sitting room, I turn the television off..."'']]
3
4[[AC:[[WeInterruptThisProgram This is an announcement from Genetic Control:]]]]
5
6''Foxtrot'' is the fourth studio album by Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, released through Creator/CharismaRecords on 6 October 1972. Among others, it notably contains the 23-minute epic "Music/SuppersReady", which has its own page.(So does its animated video adaptation, ''WebAnimation/SuppersReadyIllustrated''.) It was Genesis' first album to chart in the UK, reaching as high as number 12 on the charts. Music/PeterGabriel, imitating the album cover, would wear a red dress and a fox's head during the tour for the album.
7
8Preceded by ''Music/NurseryCryme'', followed by ''Music/SellingEnglandByThePound''.
9
10----
11
12!!Tracklist:
13
14[[AC:Side One]]
15
16# "Watcher of the Skies" (7:23)
17# "Time Table" (4:46)
18# "Get 'Em Out by Friday" (8:36)
19# "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" (5:45)
20
21[[AC:Side Two]]
22
23# "Horizons" (1:41)
24# "Music/SuppersReady" (23:06)
25## "Lover's Leap" - 3:48
26## "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" - 1:57
27## "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men" - 3:55
28## "How Dare I Be So Beautiful?" - 1:26
29## "Willow Farm" - 4:33
30## "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)" - 4:22
31## "As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)" - 2:55
32
33----
34
35!!Principal Members:
36
37* Music/PeterGabriel - lead vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine, oboe
38* Music/PhilCollins - drums, backing vocals, percussion
39* [[Music/MikeAndTheMechanics Mike Rutherford]] - bass guitar, bass pedals, cello, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
40* Music/TonyBanks - Hammond organ, Mellotron, electric and acoustic pianos, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
41* Music/SteveHackett - electric guitar, 6-string guitar, 12-string guitar
42
43----
44
45!!With the tropes of Magog swarming around, the Pied Piper takes his children underground:
46
47* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The lyrics of "Get 'Em Out By Friday" has one verse titled [[https://sinistersaladmusikal.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/100_3547.jpg '18/9/2012 T.V. FLASH ON ALL DIAL-A-PROGRAM SERVICES']], inferring that the events of the song take place in TheNewTens.
48* AfterTheEnd: In "Watcher of the Skies", the titular superbeing encounters an empty future UsefulNotes/{{Earth}} and wonders if humanity has destroyed itself, gone to live somewhere else, or [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to a higher plane of existence]].
49-->Creatures shaped this planet's soil\
50Now their reign has come to end\
51Has life again destroyed life?\
52Do they play elsewhere?\
53Do they know more than their childhood games?\
54Maybe the lizard's shed its tail\
55This is the end of man's long union with Earth
56* CoverDrop: This from "Supper's Ready":
57-->"Like the fox on the rocks...
58* CrapsackWorld: "Get 'Em Out by Friday" is set in an AlternateHistory Britain that is dominated by an agency called 'Genetic Control', who are really just a bunch of [[CapitalismIsBad megalomaniac capitalist landlords]] that are said to go to extreme lengths just to bag extra bucks. They also have total control over every aspect of human development and can change whichever one they want to on a whim, whether their subjects like it or not.
59-->I hear the directors of Genetic Control\
60have buying all the properties that have recently been sold,\
61taking risks oh so bold.\
62It's said now that people will be shorter in height,\
63they can fit twice as many in the same building site,\
64they say it's alright...\
65Beginning with the tenants of the town of Harlow,\
66in the interest of humanity, they've been told they must go;\
67told they must go-go-go-go...
68* EpicInstrumentalOpener: "Watcher of the Skies" opens with a two-minute Mellotron intro.
69* EpicRocking: Well, obviously, "Supper's Ready". There's also "Watcher of the Skies" and "Get 'Em Out by Friday", both of which are over 7 minutes in length.
70* {{Instrumentals}}: A large part of "Supper's Ready" is made up of these, especially in the second half. "Horizons" is an instrumental acoustic guitar piece. After Peter left, the band decided to turn "Watcher of the Skies" into an instrumental piece, likely because Phil would have trouble singing the melody while focusing on a truly complex drum groove.
71* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "Watcher of the Skies" is named after a line from Creator/JohnKeats' poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer".
72* MegaCorp: 'Genetic Control' from "Get 'Em Out by Friday".
73* MinisculeRocking: "Horizons", an acoustic guitar piece that lasts for fewer than two minutes.
74* NonAppearingTitle: "Can-Utility and the Coastliners".
75* {{Pride}}: "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" is inspired by King Canute of UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and his inability to hold back a flood. There is a legend that he was convinced through flattery into believing he possessed supernatural powers and was able to do so, which contradicts historical accounts of his reign. Genesis' song somewhat has it both ways -- "We heed not flatterers," the song has him say, but then "By our command, waters retreat/Show my power/Halt at my feet." In any case, [[ForegoneConclusion he is unable to stop the tide]].
76* RoyalWe: King Canute speaks in this fashion because, well, [[ShapedLikeItself he's a king]].
77* SongStyleShift: "Watcher of the Skies" opens with a churchy Mellotron solo, evocative of Baroque-era ClassicalMusic, before the drums kick in and carry the song into ProgressiveRock.
78* UncommonTime: "Watcher in the Skies" includes a 6/4 staccato passage during the intro; after the vocals end, the staccato portion shifts to 8/4 and is mixed with a 6/4 Mellotron part.
79* {{Zeerust}}: Whatever became of those 'Dial-A-Program Services'?
80----
81-> ''It is my sad duty to inform you of a four foot restriction on humanoid height.''

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