"Genesis 1970-1975"- (Wayne's review)

(Includes the following albums: Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England By The Pound, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway in both 5.1 DVD-A and CD remixed/remastered plus bonus tracks/videos)

DVD EXTRAS:

(1.) "Reissues Interview" {2007} - (42:35)

7.)-The Fountain of Salmacis - 8:00

(DVD EXTRAS) (1). (Reissues Interview) {2007} - (36:19)

(Midnight Special -1973)

Watcher Of The Skies/The Musical Box/

Rhino saved the best for last. The entire Genesis catalog has been reissued on CD in regular CD mixes as well as 5.1 remixes of the original material. Be aware, however, that some of the 5.1 mixes are NOT exactly like the original versions. Fans will get a total of 13 discs comprising discs in both formats as well as the disc of extras. There are a couple of reasons for this one of them would be the is that Brian Eno's original effects were applied during the mixing stage of the album and it's quite possible they were applied directly to the stereo mix and/or that the treated tapes are missing. Also, whenever someone does a remix it is a matter of second guessing the original mix in many respects because to the best of my knowledge none of these were considered for quadraphonic mixes when they were originally released (or quad didn't exist at the time). If there were any quad mixes made, they've since long disappeared into the history of flaky oxidized tapes (70's recording tape was notoriously bad at flaking and clumping together. Many of these multi-tracks had to be "baked" prior to listening to them much less transferring them to the digital medium. The reason they are baked is that the tapes tend to liquefy over time, become soft and clump together. Baking them restores them somewhat to their original shape although there is always the chance that sound from another layer can bleed thru and be deposited on the previous layer of tape another problem for those who do these type of remixes/restorations). ***

All of that said, the 5.1 remixes sound quite good although they are mixed a bit loud with less than half the dynamic range of the original source tape. What that means is that whenever you hear a sound that hits "0" on a meter, it has hit the ceiling and anything over "0" will push it into the red and digital distortion will result with a corresponding loss of fidelity/detail evident because of the distortion. If it constantly hits "0" this is called "brickwalling" and essentially means that it is at a constant peak with no dynamic range taking much of the punch and power out of the original recordings. The result is that sometimes you can HEAR more detail at a lower level but that if you turn these up too loud you can end up with a problem called "listener fatigue" where you'll either want to turn it down after a short exposure to it or want to skip to a new track unaware that this fatigue has created a sort of listener Attention Deficit Disorder. While the recordings here aren't brickwalled, they are often at their peak which means that the recordings often hit the ceiling and when they do there is something called "clipping" and digital distortion is the result. This is bad but that's not to suggest that these are a bad mix. It will really depend on what medium you use to listen to these recordings; for example if you listen to the albums on smaller speakers, a car stereo with so-so fidelity or a computer system they will sound fine--in fact they might sound GOOD to your ears BUT they won't sound as good on a terrific stereo or even mediocre one for that matter. You'll find that you won't want to turn up the volume because when you reduce dynamic range the mixing engineer has turned up the volume for you. While the remixes sound pretty good on a lesser system, when I played them on a top notch stereo system in the house, they did, indeed, cause some listener fatigue. The trade off with the post-production compression and increased volume/decreased dynamic range is that, again, these recordings are going to sound less natural, less organic or "analog" sounding and harsher, more digital with all the flaws I mentioned before. I say all of this because before you drop big bucks on this set you should be aware of the flaws as well as the highlights. The other bit of bad news about this set is that unlike the UK release, these are released as DVD-Audio and remastered CDs rather than SACD's. While the SACD format has been declared dead as a popular medium more than likely most Genesis fans would probably have SACD players but I suppose Warner/Rhino recognized that more fans would have DVD players (although keep in mind that most DVD players UNLESS they are DVD-A compatible will NOT give you the highest resolution for these discs) ***

One other bit of important information--this doesn't include the band's first album "From Genesis to Revelation" so those interested in having everything will want to still acquire that disc that means that founding guitarist Anthony Philips isn't represented as best as he could be. ***

Image & Sound:

The vintage video footage varies in quality. Keep in mind that it was recorded on analog videotape from the time and betrays its origin. That said, the older videos look good and the new video interviews look marvelous. In addition to vintage footage of the band performing on BBC TV's "The Old Grey Whistle Test", Italian TV and other networks/programs, we also get the original slide show that was part of the live performances of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" (something that wasn't included in the "Rarities" boxed sets release previously). ***

Audio Positives: The DVD 5.1 mixes (please note that these aren't SACD so you can't switch between the different layers and compare but, instead, must play the CDs or the DVDs) are tastefully done giving fans a chance to hear the recordings in a new enlightening way. For example you'll get Peter Gabriel's vocals isolated on certain tracks or the music remixed so it isn't quite as prominent as on the stereo mix allowing you to highlight PG's vocals. In addition, you get remixed/ remastered stereo editions of the album as well as DVD footage. You do have to question how involved the band was in the remixing process--after all they've all moved on and have other things they are doing with their lives. They would have to have given approval but how much input did they have in revising the mixes? That's open to question but, regardless, these do sound extremely good IF you consider all the previous issues I brought up. Do they sound better than the original vinyl/CDs? No. Just different and I'm one that usually prefers the original mixes to remixes where possible simply based on the fact that it would be similar to removing each later of a great painting and then REPAINTING it using the same sketch as the guide. It will still look great but it will also always look different to some degree.

Special Features:

We get a number of stray tracks that got lost over the years some such as the b-side "Twilight Alehouse" and the single "Happy the Man", the demo "Going Out to Get You", BBC appearances where the band performed unique versions of "Shepherd", "Pacidy" and "Let Us Now Make Love",(which did appear on the "Rarities" boxed set). The real treat, though, are the four songs the band composed for "Genesis Plays Jackson" a soundtrack for a show by artist Michael Jackson recorded in 1969 (no, not the singer). Each disc comes with vintage video performances where possible as well as new interviews discussing the album. The best in the way of extras is "Selling England By The Pound" which comes with appearances shot at Shepperton Studios for Italy and video shot at Bataclan, France both from 1973.

Final Words:

It would be lovely to have a perfect "Genesis 1970-1975" perfect boxed set. This isn't it but it's probably as close as we're going to get. Between the 5.1 remixes, the b-sides/singles, the video appearances on the BBC and other TV shows, new interviews and the Jackson soundtrack, this is an extremely good set. I do have reservations about the remixes/remasters being too loud without enough dynamic range on the CDs but overall Rhino has done a nice job here.