A TRICK OF THE TAIL

After The Lamb, Gabriel packed his bags, leaving Collins to do the lead vocal role and, whilst not in the same class as Gabriel, he has improved since "the track we do not play or talk about" he sang on Selling England. The material is generally strong, with Dance on a Volcano, Ripples, the brilliant instumental Los Endos and Squonk being some of their best material ever. But Robbery Assault and Battery is an inferior song in similar vein to Epping Forest and the title track is weak too. Banks keyboards dominate but Hackett produces some wonderful solos at times and the rhythm section is tight; whatever Collins failings as a singer, he is a master drummer and Rutherford is an underrated bass player who fits in perfectly.

Gabriel's departure weakened the band lyrically and in his unique vocal presentation and theatricals but it did not destroy them as some would contend. This and the next album (Wind & Wuthering) were still high quality and they survived Gabriel's loss far better than that of Hackett when he left after W&W. This is a good 4* album but there are clear signs that the band was past its zenith.

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