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Genesis - A Trick of the Tail CD (album) cover

A TRICK OF THE TAIL

Genesis

 

Symphonic Prog

4.28 | 2948 ratings

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zedkatz
3 stars I recently got this on CD having not heard it for years and years. I remember it as being a really pleasant surprise back when it was issued. Like many others I was nervous at the prospect of Phil Collins taking on lead vocal duties because at the time I was only really aware of his vocal contributions via "For Absent Friends on Nursery Cryme and "More Fool Me" on Selling England by the Pound. Looking back that was wrong of course. Listening to Gabriel era Genesis now I can spot how much Collins was there in the background, his voicing blending perfectly with Gabriel's.

I think the sense of relief at Phil's ability to handle the vocals overcame me for a while and I wasn't as critical of the album as I am now.

There are some kick ass moments in Dance on a Volcano, Squonk and Los Endos for sure, but I don't hear a lot of Hackett's influence or trademark guitar.

Other problems for me are: Entangled- (nice, but overextended); Mad Man Moon- (lyrics, more on that later); Robbery, Assault and Battery (an attempt to deliver a Gabriel-esque song involving multiple characters- more on that later too); Ripples- (actually, not much wrong with that except again overlong for the musical ideas it contains); Trick of the Tail- (pleasant enough but nothing stunning);

What it really seems to lack to me is the lyrical complexity and humour that Gabriel brought to the band. Collins doesn't have Gabriel's ability to assume different persona within songs either.

So it's pretty good, but certainly with hindsight it marks the beginning of end for the classic Genesis sound, a trend that continued with Wind and Wuthering and ended with And Then There Were Three.

zedkatz | 3/5 |

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