Genesis – 1970-1975 CD/DVD promo sampler – review

The time has come – the release of the SACD/DVD box set 1970-1975 is just around the corner. As with the last two box sets, EMI has sent media partners a CD sampler and a DVD sampler in advance. These are intended as an appetiser, giving an impression of the new stereo and 5.1 mixes.

A History…

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was supposed to be released as an SACD and DVD-Audio back in 2004. What followed was a long odyssey full of delays and misunderstandings. Finally, it was decided to do it ‘right’ and release all the albums as SACD hybrids with bonus DVDs. One of the reasons for the delay was Peter Gabriel’s perfectionism. After listening to it for the first time, he was not satisfied with The Lamb and sent Nick Davis back to the studio to ‘do it right’ and exploit the ‘possibilities of surround sound’. So it was no surprise that, parallel to the Turn It On Again Tour 2007, the years 1976-1982 and later the late phase 1983-1998 were released as SACDs. Tony Smith also admitted in early 2008 that there had been some speculation about a possible reunion tour with Gabriel in connection with the Gabriel era box set.

After the release of the first two box sets, fans engaged in heated discussions about the legitimacy of the ‘new mixes’ and mercilessly pointed out discrepancies and errors. As a reminder, new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes were created based on the old master tapes. This was done as closely as possible to the original so that, in the best case scenario, the songs would sound significantly better, but not different. For this reason, no new recordings or effects were used – however, some reverb effects had to be re-produced as they were not included in the multi-track tapes.

Nevertheless, the lengths of the songs differed in some cases – in some cases, incorrect recordings were even used – for example, the bass line in Anything Now is different in one passage, Dreaming While You Sleep contains one ‘oh’ too many, and Anything She Does has a whole series of deviations. These are just three examples. For these reasons, it is to be expected that the songs from the Gabriel era will provoke passionate, if not bitter, discussion in their new mixes.

Die Promo-CD enthält folgende Tracks:

Happy The Man
Resignation
The Knife
Harold The Barrel
Musical Box
Get’em Out By Friday
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Cinema Show
Counting Out Time
Carpet Crawlers

First of all, it should be noted that the new mixes of Happy The Man and I Know What I Like are already known, as they were previously released on Turn It On Again: The Hits (Tour Edition). However, some fans have recently noticed differences from the original versions – in I Know What I Like, the flute solo, or at least parts of it, has been mixed into the background. In addition to the two tracks mentioned above, a new version of The Cinema Show has also been released on a Mail on Sunday promo sampler.

The previously unknown track Resignation is likely to attract the most attention. It is part of the legendary Jackson Tapes and was included on the promo sampler. However, Resignation is an instrumental piece, and a relatively unspectacular one at that, with the possible exception of the ending. It is also rather insignificant, so one can assume that the selection of songs for this sampler was not based on concentrated expertise.

Other highlights of the promo sampler: Counting Out Time and Carpet Crawlers – both of which were already featured on the Platinum Collection in new versions, but these are even sharper and more precise. Counting Out Time ‘plays’ with the lead vocals; you can no longer tell when Phil or Peter takes over the lead part – fascinating…

Carpet Crawlers gains contour, seems invigorated, refreshed, as if someone had given the song a cold shower and got its circulation going. Curious: at the end, part of Phil’s backing vocals is missing – fans notice everything…

Last but not least, Get’em Out By Friday deserves special mention. This song can be heard in a new version for the first time, and here too, it’s time for a rejuvenation. While Watcher Of The Skies (see below) never really worked in the studio version, the opposite is true for Get’em Out By Friday. And so the song unfolds, the highs now sound more accurate, the drums more precise, and background noises can be clearly heard. This is where the anticipation for the 5.1 mix really builds.

The DVD sampler now combines a few new surround mixes. These are available in normal Dolby Digital 5.1, but also in rich dts 5.1, which comes relatively close to SACD. We tested the songs in dts sound and provide an overview here – admittedly subjective:

The Knife

If there is such a thing as the song ‘that started it all,’ then The Knife has a good chance of claiming that title. The promo DVD also begins with The Knife, even though the song was always one thing above all else: an encore. But The Knife marked the beginning of the cult of early Genesis, and curiously enough, Genesis played the song for the last time in 1980 – by the time Duke came out, fans of early Genesis had declared the progressive phase over. The album Trespass always had a different sound – and it had a different drummer and guitarist than the other albums of the Gabriel era included in the box set.

And it quickly becomes clear that nothing has been polished up here to make the drums suddenly sound like Collins. The Knife is actually an unspectacular remix. It sounds relatively muffled overall, as in the original, with the cymbals sounding a little clearer here and there. The vocals are not concentrated solely on the centre speaker. Occasionally, especially during the ‘stand up and fight’ passages, Gabriel’s voice is distributed across several speakers. It seems likely that there was nothing more to be gained from The Knife. Purists will definitely consider this version a highlight.

The Musical Box

The surround versions of the classics, including The Musical Box, are of course eagerly awaited. However, Nick Davis had already announced that the possibilities for Trespass and Nursery Cryme are limited, as these were not recorded on 32 tracks, but only on 8 or 16. Against this background, The Musical Box could be one of THE winners of the new mixes. It sounds fresher, more powerful, reasonably discreet in quiet passages, and surround effects are used where they make sense (e.g. Phil’s voice when he sings ‘here it comes again’).

The vocals benefit again from the centre mix. The Musical Box seems improved as a whole, and it would be completely out of place to highlight further details here.

Watcher Of The Skies

This live classic has been impressively revived in recent years by the Canadian band ‘The Musical Box’. The impressions of the live performance are still so fresh that one wonders whether Phil’s cymbals really ‘only’ faded in after the intro in the original – but that was actually always the case in the studio version. The intro sounds much more dramatic in surround sound, the cymbals sound brilliant, the bass drum is powerful – and everything sounds clearer and doesn’t overwhelm each other. The snare drum could be louder here and there, but the drums are distributed interestingly in surround sound overall.

Gabriel’s vocals are mainly output via the centre speaker, which makes them come across very clearly, as in numerous other comparable examples. Steve’s guitar wanders through the room in surround sound and the finale of the song is furious. But still: Watcher Of The Skies was never a studio track – it’s a live track…

Firth Of Fifth

The 1973 classic features Steve Hackett’s definitive solo. It has often been copied, but never equalled. Technically, it is not the most demanding solo, but this style is inimitable. Stuermer did not even attempt it, instead playing a higher, faster, further variation, and although Drennan came close in 1998, he was never impressive.

The song remains one of Genesis’ strongest songs to this day. Not least because of this, it has rarely been missing from the band’s live repertoire – until today.

The 5.1 version on the DVD sampler more than lives up to this claim. As expected, percussion elements come to the fore that were previously barely audible or not audible at all. Gabriel’s voice comes mainly from the centre speaker. The drums are powerful and the bass is appropriately powerful or subtle in the different phases of the song.

The absolute highlight is the instrumental section. Here, too, it begins with many ‘aha’ moments regarding the percussion, before Hackett’s solo enchants the listener. The lead guitar is concentrated on the centre speaker, just like the lead vocals before. This effect puts Hackett’s work at the centre of the action. And suddenly you can also hear the 12-string guitar in the rear speakers. Collins’ drums drive the song forward before Tony’s piano playing quietly brings the song to a close.

Many will rediscover Firth Of Fifth in this surround version, an absolute gem celebrating a fresh-cell-inspired resurrection.

Twilight Alehouse

The song will be included on the extra tracks SACD/DVD. Twilight Alehouse was originally a B-side (on the single I Know What I Like). However, the song was written much earlier during the sessions for Nursery Cryme. The 5.1 mix must therefore be evaluated against this background. The airy passages, such as the beginning, benefit significantly from the 5.1 sound and the new mix. However, no significant improvement can be detected in the more densely instrumented elements of the song.

The reason for this is likely to be the source material, which was simply less differentiated at the time of Nursery Cryme than it was later during the Selling England By The Pound era. On a positive note, the bass drum has been mixed in a balanced way rather than haphazardly, depending on the overall atmosphere of the respective song sections. In the quiet phase at around 5:00 minutes, you can hear amazing effects again. The flute parts in particular come into their own. The finale is powerful and also sounds better than the ‘louder’ passages before it.

In The Cage

For years, the greatest expectations have been placed on the remixes of the legendary The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. There are better Genesis albums. Above all, A Trick Of The Tail and Selling England By The Pound are much more popular among Genesis fans. At the same time, these two albums are also better produced than The Lamb. And so fans are wondering what Nick Davis can get out of the album. Especially since Peter Gabriel sent him back to the studio to get more out of the 5.1 mix in particular. Given Peter’s penchant for effects, a subtle version is not to be expected.

When comparing In The Cage to Firth Of Fifth, for example, it quickly becomes apparent that the Selling album was recorded with greater care. The overall basic sound of the Lamb album pales in comparison. However, the 5.1 mix of In The Cage is a delightful experience. Admittedly, after decades, it’s somehow strange that Peter Gabriel sings this song (Phil Collins sang it on almost every Genesis tour since 1976), and there’s no denying that the live versions of this song are an improvement on the studio version – but Nick Davis elicits unexpected depths from the song. One or two percussion elements are now conjured up from the rear speakers and are not drowned out by the overall soundscape, as they were in the old stereo versions.

The drums do not achieve the brilliance of the live recording on the Archive 1967-1975 set. On the other hand, Mike Rutherford’s bass line after the line ‘my little runaway’ does not fail to make an impact. In The Cage is a real appetiser in its 5.1 version and probably only hints at what we can really expect from the 5.1 mix of The Lamb.

All in all

As with the promo samplers from the second box set, the song selection on these samplers is somewhat strange. It is doubtful that these songs can convey a representative impression of the entire box set. In any case, the songs on the samplers give us a hint of what is to come and whet our appetite for more. And so we have to admit that the purpose has been fulfilled. However, it remains to be seen whether this will also be the case for journalists.

In the end, the biggest test will be the fans. Are these the definitive versions of the songs? Or are they variations that are mostly seen as bonuses, but cannot replace the original versions? That’s for the fans to decide…

Author: Christian Gerhardts