A TRICK OF THE TAIL

A Trick of the Tail is the last interesting Genesis album. Not that they wouldn't do any good songs anymore, but here there are still enough of them to satisfy our thirst. But rating it above the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway? with dreary sentimental stuff like Entangled or Mad Man Moon? You must be kidding.

The reason for the many good songs is the genius of Steve Hackett of course. His trademark style is all over this album making it almost as good as his first solo album Voyage of the Acolyte. Almost, we must admit, because there's a few occasion where Collins takes the spotlight and gives us a first idea of the bland soft pop direction he would steer Genesis in. Entangled has a nice closing section but the pop song at the heart of it is a punishment to endure. The same can be said for the lackluster Mad Man Moon and Ripples.

Now, that brings us to the reason why you can't convince me this deserves more then 3 stars. All good tracks here appear in a better version on Seconds Out, so if you get that live album instead, you get all the good tracks from this one plus a good deal of classic Genesis tracks in very pleasing renditions by Phil.