Genesis - Genesis 1976-1982

The Greatest!

I just heard the live concert footage on the bonus DVD that comes with the Duke album and had to write this. It is worth the box set alone just seeing and hearing the Live version of Dance on a Volcano into Los Endos. Awesome! My favorite band of all time and their not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!?! October 22, 2008

5 Stars For the Music, -10 for the Remastering

If you want to hear classic late 70s/early 80s Genesis sound like it is being broadcast on FM radio, then this is the ticket. The disrespect to the original mixes here is nothing short of depressing. We're not talking about something that will only disappoint "purists," but work so drastic that it has arguably been the most controversial "remastering" of the past decade. I'm not sure I have ever read so many negative reviews about a remastering job, and if you are curious about such commentary, your search engine will surely reveal enough reading for a lifetime. Even some of the defenders of this set have admitted that they can only tolerate it at "low volumes." Should this be the way we have to listen to music!? I like music that makes me want to turn it up and experience the sound as I become emotionally engaged in the sonics, not music that makes me feel like maybe I should watch some TV after ten minutes. This stuff is a thrill ride for a few minutes, but how anyone could listen to Genesis in this fashion on a constant basis is something I cannot fathom.

Suffice to say that this stuff has clearly been pummeled (and I mean *pummeled*) with compression in the remixing process. The subtle elements of the original mixes are just squashed. Everything is loud, in your face, and dynamically limited beyond reason.

The "Defintive Editions" weren't definitive, and most audiophiles I know seek out the early Virgin/Charisma CDs with those horrible cropped covers (most of which look bad but SOUND great!). However, compared to this stuff, even those DEs were glorious. The DEs may have been digitally no-noised (ick!) and inferior to the original UK discs (and some US discs) by ten miles, but even they were 100 miles better than this approach. I don't hear any digital noise reduction on these, which is good, but the compression is simply unbearable to my ears. You can almost feel the compressor just "pumping" on some of this stuff. The sonic approach seems akin to the worst trip (nightmare) imagineable: Vintage Genesis being mixed to appeal to the modern "dance club" crowd or something...

No thanks,. Two thumbs way, WAY down. ;-(


September 21, 2008

must-have for fans of the period

Please pardon any apparent duplication of other reviews; i haven't read them in over a month, so any duplicity is unintentional and hopefully forgivable.

The DTS mix totally kicks on my stereo, even without digital/optical connectors--i use a hybrid 5.1 system with 80s vintage wooden columns as the front speakers.

The best features are the 76 tour excerpt on Trick DVD from the White Rocks movie, and the 80 tour excerpt on the Duke DVD.

I for one appreciate being able to hear the soft 12 string and classical passages with clarity and without the hiss and pop of the vinyl versions. Percussion, guitar, and synth in particular leap out of the rear channels in ecstatic definition.

Another bonus is the Abacab full lyrics which were not included with my long lost American vinyl copy -- unfortunately, incorrect and unintelligible words have long been etched on my musical memory.

Sadly, the Japanese bootleg footage is brutally abridged and edited and matched with studio instead of live audio, like the American W&W extras, but you at least get the visual with Steve Hackett.

There was a King Biscuit show, i thought, of the 77 and 78 tours, which would have made a great audio addition if workable. Also it would have been nice to have the supposed Dallas footage that is supposedly out there.

Maybe if they issue a box set of the live albums?

Long story short, if you like this excellent period of the band, and particularly if u r a fan who can recite the track lists from memory, it's a must have--especially if you appreciate the energy and visuals of their live performance, which compensates for lost studio layers with extra energy and composition from Steve and Phil in particular.

Concert highlights:
Fly on a windshield, Entangled, Cinema show/Supper's ready/One for the vine/Earl of Mar/Lady lies excerpts; full Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal, featuring Phil 'pushing buttons,' switches and sliders live on his drum machine during Tony's spaced-out sounds and dramatic crescendos.

Other highlights: the band individually discussing each album (in 2007) and its tracks, as well as some additional clarity on Steve Hackett's defection and Phil's crashing lovelife and dashing solo start and its effect and timing concerning the continuation and direction of Genesis.
Also: the video for 'Trick' is not only hokey, it's also funny, with a miniature Phil hamming it up with the guys, turning up in the strangest of places--kinda.

I own the 'Songbook,' the 'History,' and one of the 'Inside' DVD documentaries, as well as the 1980 Gallo book, and each tour's official video release from '3 sides' on, and although there is some overlap of footage and story, I still learned new and interesting things about the band which has both delighted and disgusted me over the years.

Genesis i'm afraid is still my favorite band ever. Now if they could just fill in some of the missing live performance video that has not yet been officially released.... August 13, 2008

Excellent box set giving a fresh new look on Genesis' transitional era

Genesis 12-disc box set entitled Genesis 1976-1982, released in May of 2007 here in the US (and a month earlier in Europe) is a MUST for all Genesis fans.
This 6-CD/6-DVD box set featured the first five titles to be re-released in an exhausting and long Genesis remaster campaign which took place in the last year.
The first inklings that a Genesis catalog overhaul was in the making was the release of the 3-CD Platinum Collection box set in 2005.
The albums in this box set include 1976's A Trick of the Tail (see my review of the deluxe edition), 1977's Wind and Wuthering (see my review of the deluxe edition), 1978's And Then There Were Three (see my review of the deluxe edition), 1980's Duke (see my review of the deluxe edition) and 1981's Abacab (see my review of the deluxe edition). Plus a bonus CD/DVD set called Bonus Tracks 1976-1982 which is only available in this box set.
Each album was painstakingly digitally remastered and remixed by longtime Genesis producer Nick Davis. Plus the albums in the set are double disc sets that features a CD (whereas in territories outside the US and Canada have Hybrid SACDs as Warner Music do not support Hybrid SACDs) and a DVD (which has each album in 5.1 plus interviews with Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, videos and concert footage/TV appearances). The discs themselves all look like their original US vinyl album counterparts with the labels (the classic Atco label, the old Atlantic label and the custom picture labels that Duke and Abacab had whilst it may have the Famous Charisma Label logos on the European counterparts).
The bonus CD and DVD on this set is called Bonus Tracks 1976-1982. "It's Yourself" was recorded during the A Trick of the Tail sessions and bits were used in "Los Endos". The Spot the Pigeon EP (which consists of "Match of the Day", "Pigeons" and "Inside and Out") finally got a US release on this set and the remixes were better than the originals IMHO. "The Night the Lights Went Out" and "Vancouver" are superb tracks that were left off of And Then There Were Three. The original "fourth side" to the US issue of Three Sides Live is here (the Top 30 hit "Paperlate", "You Might Recall", "Me and Virgil", "Evidence of Autumn" and "Open Door" (the former three were on the UK EP 3 X 3 and the latter two were B-sides from the Duke era). Then the last two Abacab flip-sides "Naminamu" and "Submarine" are here and all of the tracks sound SUPERB in their remixed state though some long for the original mixes but these mixes are reminiscent to what The Who did to their back catalog in the 1990s!
Plus, the box contains a 48 page case-bound book with essays about each album and rare photos.
RECOMMENDED IMMENSELY! July 25, 2008

Must have for big Genesis fans.

The 5.1CH mixes in this box set are something to be experienced if you have the proper equipment. The 2CH mixes, though different from the original CDs I have, are superior. They just take a little getting used to. Before you know it you start hearing little sounds here and there that you never heard before. Then, if you have the old mixes like me, you can go back and listen to them and those sounds are still there (though not as noticeable).

I give 5 stars because I am a huge fan of their work, especially during these years (the Collins era). Getting to listen to this work in such clarity and detail as presented with these mixes brings a new level of appreciation.

I also especially like the bonus disc. In particular "You Might Recall" and "The Day The Light Went Out." Another interesting track on this disc is "Naminanu" which is a little more jazzy (I want to say Brand-X ish?) than your usual Genesis track but catchy nonetheless.

If you really like their work, buy it! For casual listeners it may be a bit pricey and more economical to pick up one or two of the remastered CD/DVD combo albums. July 9, 2008

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