I’ve never liked Genesis. In fact, for the most part, I actually always pretty much hated them. But when you’re—ahem—my age and you’ve already gone through the catalog of just about every major and minor rock act under the sun, it gets to the point where you’re willing to listen again to things you initially turned your nose up at.

First off, for clarification, I’m not talking about the post-Peter Gabriel version of the band at all here. THAT band sucks beyond belief, and there is no hope of redemption, critically speaking, for that lot in my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Peter Gabriel’s solo work, but having said that—the Eno-drenched parts of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway aside—I could never get into that era of Genesis, either. I tried, believe me (and my annoyed wife!) but ‘twas not for sir. At least that’s what I thought until my pal Elvin Estella AKA DJ Nobody recommended that I give a listen to the “forgotten” Genesis album, From Genesis to Revelation, recorded when the group were classmates at the prestigious Charterhouse School in Surrey, during 1968, and all between the ages of 16 and 18 years old. The album was released the following year.

From Genesis to Revelation is a loose song cycle, with no gaps between the tracks, about various books of the Bible. Produced by now-infamous pop impresario Jonathan King (a former Charterhouse School student himself), From Genesis to Revelation, sold a depressing 650 copies when it came out due to its title and somber black album cover, which led record stores to place it in the religious music section! In fact, what the album is, is an absolutely luscious sounding orchestral pop masterpiece, that sounds a lot like the early Bee Gees (That’s how Elvin described it, and hearing that, being the major Brothers Gibb fan I am, I tracked it down, stat!).

If you’re a fan of, say, Scott Walker or early Cat Stevens, and yes, the Bee Gees, this album will really blow your doors off. I must’ve played this nonstop for a month when I first got it, and I still put it on all the time. I’ve read that the group hated King’s orchestral flourishes, which are a bit over the top in places, but given the fact that these kids were getting Moody Blues-level production value on their first record made when they’re all high school students, I can’t see what they have to complain about. Certainly the album would be greatly diminished without King’s after-the-fact orchestral arrangements.

In truth, From Genesis to Revelation’s only relationship to the later, prog rock Genesis sound is minimal. Aside from Gabriel’s voice, incredible even when he was a teenager, there’s virtually nothing in their original sound that they kept for their next LP. 1970’s Trespass.