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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Musical Box, Part II, November 28, 2007
We now come to the second Genesis box set in the band's box set trilogy, "1983-1998," which covers (mostly) the "commercial peak" period for Genesis: hit singles, MTV, etc. Four albums---"Genesis," "Invisible Touch," "We Can't Dance," and the sorely-overlooked "Calling All Stations"---each one remastered & remixed by Nick Davis, with each album containing a bonus DVD of video goodies such as music videos, interviews, concert footage, etc. And this box set also includes an exclusive bonus disc & DVD of rare tracks and footage, as well as a 48-page book, with liner notes by the band's longtime music video director, Jim Yukich. Regarding the albums themselves, I rate "Genesis" and "We Can't Dance" a perfect five stars, while I give "Invisible Touch" and "Calling All Stations" a solid four stars. As for the sound quality, the albums all sound amazing, but the two that benefit the most in the new & improved sound quality are "Genesis" and "Invisible Touch." Nick Davis' magic mixingboard work especially comes to life on these two albums, the sound quality on both SO strong now, with the band's instruments having more power, and Phil Collins' vocals are more up front. "Invisible Touch" is a WHOLE NEW ALBUM, which is terrific since this is the album that Genesis have been unfairly judged by ever since it was released in 1986. To anyone who hates "Invisible Touch," I say listen to this new version. The sound has been totally opened up on this album in particular, and if you couldn't hear the excellent work that Phil, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford did on it before, I have a feeling you will definitely hear it now. "We Can't Dance" and "Calling All Stations" both sound great too, but, being the last of the Genesis albums, there really wasn't much Nick Davis could do with them, apart from making them sound a *little bit* sharper than before. The video extras are terrific, including rare tour rehearsal footage of Genesis from 1983, the band's "Unplugged" performance at a private dinner party in 2000 (only on the box set exclusive DVD!), and the classic music videos including "Mama," "Land Of Confusion," and the phenomenal but rarely-seen clip for "Congo," with it's stunning apocalyptic look and water effects (the band are REALLY getting soaked in this clip, but it's powerful stuff). So, what makes me give "1983-1998" four stars instead of five? Well, some missing tracks. There's no *full-length* versions of "Mama" and "It's Gonna Get Better," which run longer than the album versions and were released together way back when on a 12-inch single. In fact, Davis momentarily tricked me into thinking that the full "Mama" was going to be on the new disc, as he re-edited the song to drop in a few seconds of the full-length "Mama," only to stick on the original fade-out at the very end (thanks a lot, Nick.). Also, most of the rare tracks from "Calling All Stations" are missing---"Papa He Said," "Banjo Man," "Phret," "7/8," and the never-commercially released "Nowhere Else To Turn." BIG ommissions, all of them. Also, the concert footage of Genesis at Knebworth (only on the exclusive box set DVD) chops out, and I mean *chops out* the "Second Home By The Sea" segment, which is inexcusable. Finally, as much as I enjoyed most of Jim Yukich's liner notes, he seems to have a problem with the band's "Calling All Stations" lead singer Ray Wilson, whom Yukich says has a "limited range" and whose voice lacks "personality." That's rubbish, Jim. Ray Wilson is an excellent singer! If he wasn't, I don't think Mike & Tony would've chosen him. Still, when all is said and done, "1983-1998" has many more positives than negatives. The albums all sound incredible, the video goodies are awesome, and the packaging is very handsome. For the diehard Genesis fan, "1983-1998," like the 1st box set, "1976-1982," is an absolute must-buy. Now, bring on the Peter Gabriel era with box set #3!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genesis' later years given a superb makeover, September 28, 2008
Genesis 10-disc box set entitled Genesis 1983-1998, released in November of 2007 here in the US (and a month earlier in Europe) is a MUST for all Genesis fans.
This 5-CD/5-DVD box set featured the second four 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 1983's self-titled effort a/k/a The Mama Album (see my review of the deluxe edition), 1986's Invisible Touch (see my review of the deluxe edition), 1991's We Can't Dance (see my review of the deluxe edition) and 1997's somewhat weak finale Calling All Stations (see my review of the deluxe edition). Plus a bonus CD/DVD set called Bonus Tracks 1983-1998 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, Ray Wilson and Nir Z, videos and concert footage/TV documentaries). The discs themselves all look like their original US vinyl album counterparts with the labels (the custom picture labels that each album had).
The bonus CD and DVD on this set is called Bonus Tracks 1983-1998. We have all three B-sides from the Invisible Touch album with "Feeding the Fire", "I'd Rather Be You" and the superb instrumental "Do the Neurotic" (which was left off of the original album in favor of "The Brazilian"). Next is the two studio B-sides from 1991's We Can't Dance which are "On the Shoreline" and "Hearts on Fire" which were all left off of the original CD. There is three B-sides from the Calling All Stations sessions (which should have been on the original album in favor of the three tracks that I didn't like (see review) "Anything Now", "Sign Your Life Away" and "Run Out of Time". I haven't heard the other B-sides left off of CAS which were "Papa He Said", "Banjo Man", "Phret" and "7/8".
The bonus DVD has some extra concert footage from Knebworth 1992 and the Genesis Archive 2 (1976-1992) in addition to the 5.1 mixes.
Plus, the box contains a 48 page case-bound book with essays (written by longtime video director Jim Yukich) about each album and rare photos.
RECOMMENDED IMMENSELY!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Genesis Box Set 1983-1999, March 23, 2008
Genesis 1983-1999 is an excellently remasted look at Genesis at their pop prime. Whereas many people are fighting about compression/loudness/B-sides left off, etc., I will discuss what we have, not wish we had.
I think the older albums -Genesis, Invisible Touch - are the most affected by the remastering process. The newer albums do seem to be a little louder, but I don't percieve any substantial differences in the mixes.
But on those two older albums, the differences were dramatic. Hearing them this way definately is like listening to a new album. All the instruments are clearer, more substantial, and mixed better than the originals. My only quibble is with Illegal Alien - this doesn't sound quite right to me, yet I can't put my finger on it. Everything else is phenomenal.
The extra material is quite nice, not quite as good as the 1976-1982 box set though. There is much less concert footage available in the new set, which is what I thought was great about the last set, and what they have is very choppy and a bit disappointing. The interviews are excellent with all the main participants contributing.
On the whole, If you are a Genesis fan, buy this set. If you are just a casual fan, just pick up the individual albums that you like in this format.
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