Audio CD review:
Genesis - Trick of the Tail (CD + SACD/DVD)

Genesis - Trick of the Tail (CD + SACD/DVD)

Band: Genesis Title: Trick of the Tail (CD + SACD/DVD) Rating: Release Date: 15 May, 2007 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Dance on a Volcano 2: Entangled 3: Squonk 4: Mad Man Moon 5: Robbery, Assault and Battery 6: Ripples... 7: Trick of the Tail 8: Endos 9: Dance on a Volcano [Audio][Multimedia Track] 10: Entangled [Audio][Multimedia Track] 11: Squonk [Audio][Multimedia Track] 12: Mad Man Moon [Audio][Multimedia Track] 13: Robbery, Assault and Battery [Audio][Multimedia Track] 14: Ripples... [Audio][Multimedia Track] 15: Trick of the Tail [Audio][Multimedia Track] 16: Endos [Audio][Multimedia Track] 17: Robbery, Assault and Battery [DVD][*] 18: Ripples... [DVD][*] 19: Trick of the Tail [DVD][*] 20: Reissue Interviews 2007 [DVD][*] 21: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe] [DVD] 22: Fly on a Windshield [DVD][Live][*] 23: Carpet Crawlers [DVD][Live][*] 24: Cinema Show [DVD][Live][*] 25: Entangled [DVD][Live][*] 26: Supper's Ready [DVD][Live][*] 27: Endos [DVD][Live][*] 28: "White Rocks" Premiere Programme 1977 [*]

Customer Reviews not my cup of tea My comments are focused on the remaster and how it sounded to me. First let me say, that Trick of the Tail is a wonderful album and has been a long-time favorite of mine. While I suppose on a technical level this remaster brings more clarity and crispness to parts of the songs that you may have never noticed on your old LP or earlier CD, I found it almost excruciating to listen to some of the tracks. I am not a technocrat, so I will leave those reviews for others - but as a long time fan of Genesis, I have to say this remaster is tough to listen to. It sounds to me as if more attention was given to bringing out the previous hidden or overshadowed aspects of the original recording in equal measure while neglecting the overall sound and feel of the original songs. The bass sounds dull and thudding and the vocals sound tinny -- at least on the CD version, the richness and overall depth is lacking with the mid-range overshadowed, creating a lack of balance. And were those cymbals really that loud on the original -- they make my teeth hurt ;-0. It seems like the engineers were trying to give this a more 'poppish' sound like the Phil Collins' recordings a la We Can't Dance. Bottom line for this long-time Genesis fan: very disappointing. caveat: when I get my surround sound system - I'll give the DVD a try and hope for better! . Phil Collins Steps Up To The Microphone, And Genesis Come Down To Earth Both the music and the lyrics became simpler, which was a good thing, because I never really did care for Gabriel's cosmic lyrical flights very much. With A TRICK OF THE TAIL, drummer Phil Collins replaced Peter Gabriel as lead vocalist, and the result was phenomenal. Collins, on the other hand, seemed to express real human emotions in a way similar to how I answer my therapist when she asks me about what's on my mind. In other words, it's a lot easier to relate to Collins' lyrics than to Gabriel singing about all sorts of strange creatures, which distorted my sense of reality too much. Contrary to what many fans think, Peter Gabriel didn't make or break Genesis. In fact, as this CD makes clear, the band actually improved when he left and Collins took over. Genesis' first album without Peter Gabriel gets a superb makeover The album marked the debut of drummer Phil Collins' tenure as lead singer (which he would be until 1996). English art rockers Genesis released their eighth album entitled A Trick of the Tail in early February of 1976. Phil reluctantly became original singer Peter Gabriel's replacement as vocalist after fellow Genesis members(keyboard player Tony Banks, bass player Mike Rutherford and guitarist Steve Hackett) concluded that he was better than the hundred some-odd people they were auditioning to replace Peter. The album was recorded at Trident Studios in London in late 1975. I first purchased the remastered CD in October of 1997 without hearing a single note, and my gamble paid off. All of the songs on A Trick of the Tail are fantastic. My favorites on the album are the opening epic group penned "Dance on a Volcano", the Banks/Rutherford collaboration "Squonk" (which was Phil's first vocal track recorded for this album), the humorous Banks/Collins number "Robbery Assault and Battery", Banks and Rutherford's atmospheric "Ripples", the Banks penned title cut (which had a silly promo video with a two inch tall Phil walking on a piano) and the closing group composed instrumental "Los Endos". The other two tracks (the Hackett/Banks number "Entangled" and Banks' "Mad Mad Moon") are good as well. This album was the first studio disc from the four piece Genesis line-up and arguably the best of the two from the four man lineup. Strangely enough, A Trick of the Tail was also the band's first US Top 40 album peaking at #31 and eventually went Gold in the US. In 1994, a remastered CD version was released and buried the weak sounding Atco CD issue from the 1980s. Now in May of 2007, Rhino/Atlantic re-release the album as a CD and DVD set. The album is remixed on CD in stereo for excellent sound (kind of like what was done to The Who catalog in the 1990s). The new mixes are AMAZING and I hear things in the new mixes that I have not ever heard before. Also, it comes with a DVD which has the album mixed in 5. 1 plus the three promo videos for the album (Robbery Assault and Battery, Ripples and the title cut), new interviews with messieurs Collins, Hackett, Banks and Rutherford and the concert film Genesis In Concert (with live versions of I Know What I Like, Fly On a Windshield, The Carpet Crawlers, Entangled, Cinema Show, Supper's Ready and Los Endos). Highly recommended! . . You can see a complete list of all Genesis discography, or go back to the Genesis tabs