"It's a bit sad that [people] say, 'This is the old Genesis, which I like' or 'the new Genesis,'" Mike Rutherford mused in 1986, while promoting the band's divisive LP from that year, Invisible Touch.

Back in their '60s public school days, the founding members of Genesis fancied themselves as pop songwriters — aiming to operate in the shadows, penning hits for others to sing. They wound up ...