Trespass

Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis. Released on 23 October 1970, it was preceded by some live appearances and rehearsals. Spending five months rehearsing in Dorking, preparing songs for a second album, they had a new drummer. John Silver was replaced by John Mayhew, found through an advertisement in Melody Maker.

Genesis played quite a few gigs during September 1969, at youth clubs and colleges and were building up some massive following. After completing the new album in July, Anthony Phillips and John Mayhew both quit. In August 1970 Phil Collins, a former actor who had played drums with Flaming Youth, was recruited through another Melody Maker ad. In December 1970, Phillips was replaced by Steve Hackett and the band's classic line-up was formed.

The new album was produced by John Anthony, who had worked with Van Der Graaf Generator (also signed to the Charisma label), and recorded at Trident Studios, London, during June and July. The album felt more confident, more dynamic than the first album and included a seven minute "The Knife", with the other tracks mostly relying on pastoral moods.

While it set a path to what the band developed in the following years, they were not completely happy with the production, though they got on well with John Anthony. As Tony Banks said, they didn’t know what they were doing and they have put too much on each track. Working with a 16 track system, abandoning the 4 track machine used on From Genesis to Revelation, they had some six guitars running at the same time, and the vocals were very quiet.

The album cover was developed by Paul Whitehead. It depicted two figures peering through a castle window, with a knife stabbing through the picture.

The recording did not sell well initially (only 6.000 copies worldwide), but the live material from this period was very positively met. "The Knife" was the only main single from this album, while "Looking for Someone" was also released as a promo. With some positive or mixed reviews in the media Trespass gained more success in the later years.

Reissues
With a major 1974 reissue, Trespass was again issued in US when MCA Records bought out ABC. The first CD was issued in 1985, while a remaster finally arrived in 1994. A SACD/DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) was released in 2008.

Track listing
All songs by Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford.

Side one

 * 1) "Looking for Someone" – 7:06
 * 2) "White Mountain" – 6:45
 * 3) "Visions of Angels" – 6:51

Side two

 * 1) "Stagnation" – 8:50
 * 2) "Dusk" – 4:13
 * 3) "The Knife" – 8:56

Personnel

 * Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, flute, accordion, tambourine, bass drum
 * Anthony Phillips – acoustic 12-string guitar, lead electric guitar, dulcimer, vocals
 * Anthony Banks – Hammond organ, piano, Mellotron, acoustic 12-string guitar, vocals
 * Mike Rutherford – acoustic 12-string guitar, electric bass guitar, nylon guitar, cello, vocals
 * John Mayhew – drums, percussion, vocals

Production
 * John Anthony – producer
 * Robin Geoffrey Cable – engineer
 * Paul Whitehead – layout
 * Nick Davis – mixing for the 2008 edition
 * Tony Cousins – mastering for the 2008 edition