A TRICK OF THE TAIL

Clearly feeling they should continue making quality music in the face of Gabriel's departure, they mustered up the strength to carry on with Collins becoming the main vocalist and front-person. The result is remarkably good. Although the lyrics are clearly missing Gabriel's gifts, Collins demonstrates he can provide sufficiently intelligent substitutes, and furthermore (and probably most importantly, for the history of the band), that he can sound like Genesis. This would come back to bite them as Collins increasingly would take the band into commercial territory that dismissed (or even seemingly mocked) the progressive musical developments on these earlier albums, but for now the band is working well together to come up with 'Genesis' music, hugely aided by the presence of Steve Hackett (who would also remain for the next album, his last with the band). Over time, this album would become an icon in itself, representing a middle-70s Genesis sound and compositional style. I actually think that contemporary band Big Big Train sounds not so much like Gabriel-era Genesis, but instead most like this album in both lyrical form, singing style, and musical form (if one had to compare). This album also presented to the world a number of tunes that would later be considered among the best in the Genesis catalogue. Songs like the opener 'Dance on a Volcano', 'Squonk', 'Ripples' and the title track are really very good. They are also very direct and unpretentious. I don't think that 'Wind and Wuthering' - the only other album to feature this exact same line up - was able to do this so well, leaving Trick of the Tail as a unique and distinct album in the larger Genesis body of work. I give this album 8.2 out of 10 on my 10-piont scale, which translates to 4 PA stars.

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Walkscore
• Report this review (#1696056)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to A Trick of the Tail page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions