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Genesis

Genesis - Genesis Audio CD

A fair review of the Genesis "Genesis" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Genesis reviews here, or go back to the Genesis tabs.

Band: Genesis
Title: Genesis
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-11-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mama [Dolby Digital Surround Sound] 2: That's All [Dolby Digital Surround Sound] 3: Home by the Sea [Dolby Digital Surround Sou] 4: Second Home by the Sea 5: Illegal Alien [Dolby Digital Surround Sound] 6: Taking It All Too Hard 7: Just a Job to Do 8: Silver Rainbow 9: It's Gonna Get Better 10: Mama [Dolby Digital Surround Sound][Multimedia Track] 11: That's All [Dolby Digital Surround Sound][Multimedia Track] 12: Home by the Sea [Dolby Digital Surround Sou 13: Second Home by the Sea [Dolby Digital Surro 14: Illegal Alien [Dolby Digital Surround Sound 15: Taking It All Too Hard [Dolby Digital Surro 16: Just a Job to Do [Dolby Digital Surround So 17: Silver Rainbow [Dolby Digital Surround Soun 18: It's Gonna Get Better [Dolby Digital Surrou 19: Mama [Dolby Digital Surround Sound][*][Multimedia Track] 20: That's All [Dolby Digital Surround Soun 21: Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea [ [DTS Surround Sound] 22: Illegal Alien [Dolby Digital Surround S 23: [Bonus Material] [*] [DVD] [DTS Surround Sound] [Dolby Digital Surroun 24: [Bonus Material] [*] [DVD] [DTS Surround Sound] [Dolby Digital Surroun

Great
Getting it on SACD and listining to it on my player was great. I had previously heard this album on tape, in a mono player, many moons ago. My kids and wife just love this album, especially "Mama" and I love "Home by the Sea". Sound is great. I have a Maranz universal player and 2 channel amp with QUAD bookshelves and a Boston sub. Just great to hear every detail in this SACD.

Still Going Strong
I think it is fair to say that they did have many songs which one would not call progressive at all, but at the same time one can't ignore those pieces which clearly aren't pop style songs. It has often been said that Phil Collins moved Genesis from progressive to popular music, but I think the group managed to maintain at least a progressive feel in a lot of their work.

"Mama" opens the album and was released as the first single, but it is hardly a standard "pop" song by any measure. It has a darker sound than one would expect for a Genesis song, though it does fit well with other songs on the album. The song didn't do very well on the U. S. pop charts, though it did reach #4 in the UK. "That's All" comes next and it is more of a standard pop tune, soft and simple and not surprisingly it did better in the U. S. as a result. The last song(s) on the first half of the album is/are "Home By the Sea". Though split into "Home By the Sea" and "Second Home By the Sea" this is really one piece and is a good example of how Genesis still incorporated progressive elements in their songs. The song was played on tour for years after this album and was often a showpiece with its extended instrumental section. The piece also works well with "Mama" in giving the album a somewhat eerie feel up to this point with the exception of "That's All".

The second half opens with "Illegal Alien" a light and humorous piece which suffered from overplay. It was released as a video, but after hearing and seeing it a few times it tends to become annoying. "Taking it All Too Hard" is next and is another typical soft-rock type pop song. Being on the same album as "That's All" and "It's Gonna Get Better" made it somewhat redundant. It was released as a single but didn't do particularly well. "Just a Job to Do" provides a fairly high energy piece in an album which needs something other than "Illegal Alien". It is one of my favorites on the album, though it isn't quite at the level of "Mama" or "Home By the Sea". "Silver Rainbow" is a rather odd piece, especially with regard to the lyric, but perhaps that is why I tend to like it. "It's Gonna Get Better" is another ballad, making 3 of the 9 tracks ballads, and when one considers that "Home By The Sea" is really one piece it tends to make the album a bit ballad-heavy.

On the whole, this is a fairly decent album. One can always skip over "Illegal Alien" and one of the second half ballads and have an enjoyable listen. The first half of the album is clearly the strongest part of the album, though other than "Illegal Alien" the rest of the tracks are fairly easy to listen to. The group shares the writing credits for all the tracks with: Phil Collins (drums, percussion, lead vocals); Tony Banks (keyboards, backing vocals); Mike Rutherford (guitars, bass, backing vocals).
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Mindblowing
And hearing it in this quality just blew me totally away. Wow this is what SACD is all about, this was one of my absolute favorites from my youth. It was my first SACD even though I've had dvd-audio disk for years. This really is something special. If you're a fan and can play SACD disks you 100% for sure should buy this ASAP.

The "Mama" album gets its due in this CD+DVD edition
k. Armed with such classic tracks as the dark,haunting "Mama","Home By The Sea","Just A Job To Do" as well as such hits as "That's All",the tounge-in-cheek novelty "Illegal Alien" and the limpid ballad "Taking It All Too Hard","Genesis"(a. a the Mama album) rose to #9 on the Billboard album chart and sold 4 million copies in the USA. Being a child of the 80's,this was my first exposure to this legendary band(yes,I admit it!)and it still holds up 25 years later. This CD/DVD edition,thanks to Nick Davis's brillant remixing and remastering,is a huge leap in sound quality over the flat,weak old intial CD. It sounds deeper,cleaner,crisper-even the lesser songs like "Silver Rainbow" and the aftermentioned "Illegal Alien" sound improved while the rest("Mama","That's All","Just A Job To Do")sound as wonderful as ever. The DVD also includes the complete album in fantastic 5. 1 Dolby Digital/DTS Surround sound,plus the famous music videos,an informative,entertaining interview with Phil,Mike and Tony,a photo gallery and a tour rehearshal video(the only disappointing feature here). Highly recommended and that's all(no pun intended).

Genesis
The second cd is a dvd with a live show from the time, some music videos and we get to see a tour rehearsal. Genesis being Genesis 1983 release and their 12th studio album had hits such as "Mama", "That's all", "Illegal Alien" and "Taking It All Too Hard". The booklet has a blurred photograph with strange and odd shapes on it. The lyrics are easy to read but we do not get a list of whom plays what and that is a shame. 4/5.

You can see a complete list of all Genesis discography, or go back to the Genesis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.