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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's like going back in time 35 years, but better..., May 29, 2009
For those who aren't familiar with Genesis prior to "Mama" and "Invisible Touch" (or even "Follow You, Follow Me"): there was a time (1970-1975) when they were the most original progressive rock band around. During this time they were fronted by lead singer/flautist/bass drummer Peter Gabriel; whose throaty voice and mind-blowing costumes only enhanced the already incredible music being created by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and (as of "Nursery Cryme") Steve Hackett and Phil Collins. This boxed album set contains new vinyl versions of the Peter Gabriel-era Genesis: "Trespass", "Nursery Cryme", "Foxtrot", "Selling England By The Pound", and what many consider their masterwork: the 2-disc album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". I have had all these albums since they first came out (and of course they are now in shreds from hundreds of playing plus the fact that I was a teenager at the time).
So why not just get the CDs and be happy? I do have the CDs. I thought I was happy. Then I heard about this boxed set, and what intrigued me even more than the 180 gram audiophile vinyl, the half-speed mastering, and the near-exact recreation of the albums covers and artwork, was the fact that they were not just re-mastered, they were re-mixed! Nick Davis, a well-known prog-rock engineer, actually re-created these albums from their multi-track reels.
How do they sound? Incredible, for the most part. For one thing, you can hear the drums! The original albums had, more often than I liked, shoved Phil's drumming toward the back. His drumming was one of the things that made this stuff so great, so having it clear and up front is wonderful. Aside from that, there are a handful of places where a slightly different effect, like a reverb or delay, was used; not sure if these were artistic decisions or if the original effect was no longer available. Having heard these albums so many times, it's easy to hear when something has been changed. But overall, say 98% of the time, I'm happy with the changes. For those I don't, well, it's all a matter of taste, right?
Anyway, it's like taking a trip back to my teens putting on this vinyl (and hearing no crackles) and listening to the most amazing prog-rock of its time recaptured on its original media. I'll be enjoying these records for years to come.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the Price When You Understand What You're Buying, May 8, 2010
This review is from: 1970-1975 (Bonus Dvd) (Hybr) (Bril) (Audio CD)
Let's clear up some confusion: the only reason anyone should spending this kind of money on music is because this music is encoded on Sony's Super Audio (SACD) format. If you are primarily in the market for mp3s, then you need not spend this much money to listen to them through a pair of tiny speakers incapable of micro-dynamics. The reason this and the other Genesis box sets are worth this much money is BECAUSE of the SACD format! But if you do not know what that is and/or do not have a home system capable of reproducing the full spectrum of audible frequencies, then do yourself a favor and save your money because no one looking for this box set wants to hear you whine and cry about the dvds being PAL and not NTSC! Besides, quite a few of these songs are not even available for download.
Now, as far as the SACDs themselves are concerned these remixes are very, very pleasing to the keen ear. They are neither overly bright nor warm but even handed in their coloration. And the multi-channel performance is a more balanced surround field with fewer distracting aural gimmicks than the first SACD box set released for Genesis. My only complaint is with the remix of "Selling England By The Pound" which should have been truer to the original. I love the improved sound quality of "Nursery Crime" and "Foxtrot" and would recommend both over the 1994 Definitive Editions, "Selling England By The Pound" was a case where one should not fix that which is not broken. All I wanted with Genesis' greatest album was an upgrade in sound quality/performance. The alternate vocal takes in "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" as well as the noticeably different mixing of the keyboards on "The Cinema Show" would have been worthy bonus tracks, but these are two of the greatest progressive rock songs _ever_ written! The original mixes have more than stood the test of time and deserved their due on SACD.
The seventies were the golden age of Genesis, the quintet, the quartet, and, at least early on, the trio. But there really was something truly magical when all five songwriters were together. The manner in which Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, Hackett, and Collins would interact with one another both creatively and musically was really one of those rare fortunes in history. Such art deserves to live on in the SACD format! I just wish that the late Eric Woolfson & Alan Parsons (The Alan Parsons Project) would receive a similar treatment.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE era of Genesis..the way it should sound, August 20, 2009
The perfect package for the Gabriel era Genesis fan. For my taste, these are the only five Genesis albums I would want anyways, so this collection caught my eye. Add in that I had none of these on vinyl....perfect.
Nick Davis remixed these in 2008. You can read about all the details; half speed mastering, 180 gram vinyl, slick packaging, etc. It's all true. But, the real question....how do they sound/feel?
I can't stop listening to these! They sound and feel amazing. The feel of the analog bass pedals on Get 'Em out by Friday, the mellotron on The Fountain of Salmacis...outstanding!
It really makes sense to have this stuff on vinyl. It was conceived, recorded, mixed, and produced in an analog world. This is how it should be played. To quote the great Marty Scorsese, PLAY IT LOUD!!
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