Genesis Box Set, 1976-1982

The first of 3 box sets of (re-)remastered Genesis albums have arrived. This set covers the years 1976 to 1982. I'm always wary of buying CDs that are marked "Definitive Edition" because we all know that a few years later, as technology improves, another remastered "Definitive Edition" will come out.

The question for fans is whether or not this box set is worth the purchase. Before I answer that, everyone should know that once again the United States is getting a raw deal on these releases. Because Warner Brothers does not support the SACD format, we only get CD audio along with the DVD extras. I spent extra money to get the SACD/NTSC-DVD combination and it is money well spent.

How do the remasters sound? For the most part, they sound great, but I have my reservations. The first thing you'll notice is the clarity of mixes is astonishing, and Phil Collins' vocals are up front and center. Nick Davis remixed these albums from the ground up with input from the rest of group (mostly from Tony Banks). Although they are completely remixed, care was taken not to deviate far from the original mixes. The result is that you will hear many things you didn't know were there, or, things that were there but now have been brought to the fore.

Sometimes this is a blessing and at other times I wanted to scream, "Nooooo!". The worst case of "No!" for me came during the chorus of "Blood on the Rooftops". For me, the mellotron on this song is haunting and beautiful. However, on the chorus the mellotron, while present, has taken a back seat to an organ I hadn't previously noticed in the mix. The second bad case is on
the solo of "Entangled" where the lead synth has taken a back seat to the other instruments. At the end of "In That Quiet Earth", the growling guitars shift speakers too much; it's not bad in surround-sound but on the stereo mix it's jarring.

Mostly though, it is exciting to hear percussion, guitar, and keyboard parts that were previously buried (e.g. the piano on "Burning Rope"). Another word of warning: I had to do some heavy EQ'ing to get these remasters to sound warm on my stereo system. The remasters have almost too much clarity (if that's possible), and only through EQ'ing could I take out the "brittle" and "bite" these mixes have and bring in more warmth. Also, these mixes are suffering from too much compression in an effort to make them sound louder. When will dynamic range return to digital audio?

The live albums from the period ("Seconds Out" and "Three Sides Live") are not included. Also glaringly absent is the "Three Sides Live" film. We can only hope a separate DVD release will occur at some point.

The bonus tracks from the period are included as well, which is great because I didn't purchase the 2nd Genesis archive set. Also, some of the tracks that were not included on that set have been restored here (e.g. "Match of the Day"). At least one track is still absent from both sets: "Indians" - a track available on bootlegs from the "Trick of the Tail" sessions.