Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by the English progressive rock band Genesis, released on 15 September 1972 on Charisma Records.

Frontman, Peter Gabriel, wore the dress and a fox's head on stage during the following tour, which gathered press attention and raised the group's profile.

The album has continued to attract critical praise and was reissued with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix as part of their 2008 Genesis 1970–1975 box set.

The Italian leg of the tour in April saw Genesis play to large and enthusiastic crowds, which gave the band a new sense of their audience appeal.

[5] Gabriel appeared wearing a jewelled Egyptian collar, black eye makeup, and had shaved the front of his head, which drew attention from the press,[6] while the fact that the set included the first public performance of "Watcher of the Skies" went unnoticed.

Genesis continued to tour England extensively throughout June and July, as well as playing their first shows in Holland, while simultaneously dedicating time to write and rehearse new material for a new studio album.

[8][5] Hackett considered leaving the band after feeling "fairly shattered" by the lengthy tour, but his bandmates persuaded him to stay.

[16][11] The band did not get on with Potter because he disliked their music, comparing Banks's Mellotron opening to "Watcher of the Skies" to the soundtrack to the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and felt that the song was better without it.

[18] Smith then asked Dave Hitchcock to produce the album, in part because he had experience with recording epic suites like "Supper's Ready", specifically, the track "Nine Feet Underground" from In the Land of Grey and Pink by Caravan.

However, Genesis decided "Twilight Alehouse" was inferior to the newer material and kept it off the final track list, though Banks said in 2012 that, in retrospect, it was better than most of the songs which ended up on the album.

A piece devised by Rutherford and rehearsed by the band in a 3/4 time signature was not used, but it was adapted by Hackett into "Shadow of the Hierophant" on Voyage of the Acolyte.

[29] The tremendous power the chords had when played at the Palazzo dello sport, Pesaro and Palasaport, Reggio Emilia during soundchecks on 11 and 12 April 1972, during their first Italian tour, convinced Genesis that they should be used in a song.

[30] The lyrics were written by Rutherford and Banks in Naples on 19 April,[14] inspired by the view from the roof of their hotel, the Domitiana, overlooking the Mostra d'Oltremare.

Banks described them as "a sort of sci-fi fantasy" inspired by the novel Childhood's End (1953) by Arthur C. Clarke, and the Watcher race of extraterrestrials featured in the Marvel Comics.

[36] Gabriel wrote some of the melodies in the verses and chorus, and Hackett came up with the idea of having a section where the 6/4 rhythm plays without accompaniment, first very softly and then very loudly.

[37] "Time Table" features a romantic theme that yearns for tradition, decency, and an age of kings and queens that is banished by war and conflict.

Melody Maker's Chris Welch described the track as light relief and a "gentle but stirring pop song" after the "pounding excitement" of "Watcher of the Skies".

[38][42] The opening instrumental section consists of fragments from "The Movement", a never-recorded epic song dating back to when Anthony Phillips was in the group.

[44] During recording of the instrumental tracks, Scottish musician Donovan came into the studio and remarked that the part where Gabriel and Banks harmonize on flute and Mellotron-flute respectively sounded like endless rows of houses.

After an instrumental section, the date is 18 September 2012 and Genetic Control announce on a Dial-A-Program television service its decision to shorten the height of all humans to 4 ft. Joe reasons this so housing blocks will be able to accommodate twice as many people.

[57] Hackett remembered Collins saying that there should be applause added to the end of the piece, and felt surprised when the band agreed to include it on the album.

Gabriel believed the band's growing support as a live act gave them the confidence to start writing extended pieces.

[60] The song and its theme of good versus evil was inspired by an experience Gabriel and his then-wife Jill had with Anthony at Kensington Palace, when she reportedly entered a trance state as the room's windows suddenly blew open.

[61] Initially, the song took form as an acoustic track similar to "Stagnation" from Trespass or "The Musical Box" from Nursery Cryme, something the band wished to avoid repeating.

[66][63] Banks assumed his organ solo would have no vocals, but after Gabriel proceeded to record lyrics over it, something that he disagreed with initially, he said, "it only took about ten seconds to think 'This sounds fantastic, it's so strong'".

[87] A short critical review from Rich Aregood in the Philadelphia Daily News read: "Genesis still has trouble putting songs together, but they play and sing beautifully.

As part of the band's box set Genesis 1970–1975 released in 2008, Foxtrot was reissued as a hybrid CD/Super Audio CD with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix with a DVD of previously unreleased bonus material.

[94] Whereas Genesis's previous tours had featured setlists that varied from show to show, the tour which followed the recording of Foxtrot had a relatively stable setlist; from September through early November it usually consisted of "Watcher of the Skies", "Can-Utility and the Coastliners", "Get 'Em Out by Friday", "The Musical Box", "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", and "The Knife", with occasional performances of "Twilight Alehouse" and "The Fountain of Salmacis".

During the last song, "The Musical Box", Gabriel disappeared during the instrumental section, and re-appeared wearing his wife's red dress and a fox's head, mimicking Foxtrot's front cover.

Despite the band's critical opinion of the concert due to a lack of rehearsal time, technical problems, and a perceived unenthusiastic audience, it went down well with the crowd that requested more Genesis songs be played on local radio stations, thus increasing their exposure.