GENESIS 1970 -75

And so I've reached the end of my one year long review streak leading up to the 700th review! Now that I've covered pretty much all of my progressive rock collection, there is only one release that deserves a little more attention than what it has gathered so far.

Let's face it, I'm a huge fan of Genesis and they will always remain one of my all time favorite bands. This alone makes a compilation box like Genesis 1970 -75 an essential part of my collection. This comes from a fan who already owns all these albums on vinyl, '90s CD remasters and, in some cases, even the unedited CD-versions of the vinyls. But having said that, I also consider this compilation to be an essential part of any progressive rock fans collection since it pretty much sums up everything that you need to know about the band called Genesis!

The five studio albums sound amazing on the new SACD's and brings out so much new detail in the performances on Trespass and Nursery Cryme. I also found a few new details on Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound but those were few and far between. The whole talk about drums sounding like tin cans on Trespass, as the result of the new mix, is far from the truth since what I heard can only be regarded as the best possible version of that album that has been released to date. Note that I've already heard three different mixes of Trespass and Nursery Cryme before listening to the new ones!

Still, it's actually not the album mixes themselves that steal the show for me here. Instead, it's the vast amount of bonus material from the time that makes this compilation's hefty price tag sound quite affordable. Not only do we get almost all video live footage that has been circulating on the web ever since the '90s, but also a few new discoveries like the slide show from the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, which can be experienced together with the music! I also love the attention to details that the artists have put into designing this package. On top of all this we also have the newly recorded interviews with all of the original band members where they talk extensively about this period of their career and their thoughts of it today.

There is no doubt in my mind that these five studio albums, alone, are worth the recognition of the highest honor from the entire progressive rock community. But the fact that this compilation actually gives its audience a complete package featuring almost everything anyone would ever want to experience of this amazing period in Genesis' career, makes Genesis 1970 -75 an essential collection with a plus on the side. Get it if you haven't already done so!

PS There is no need for song-by-song ratings here, is there?