A TRICK OF THE TAIL

The "Trick of a tail" album by Genesis is a very good recording. Unlike a lot of Genesis albums from the 70's, the production is very strong from beginning to end. Phil Collins is lead vocalist now, taking over from Peter Gabriel. I think Gabriel probably had to go, he'd gone as far as he could with the band. I don't know how you follow up "The Lamb lies down on broadway". With Gabriel out of the picture, there seems to have been a fight for the leadership, and Banks seems to have won. Anthony Banks gets songwriting credit on all of these song, but, say, Steve Hackett, he only gets credit on three songs, one of them the reprise. That said, "Tail" still follows fairly closely in the footsteps of 'Peter Gabriel', though goes back to the more English, eccentric, elegiac sound of albums like "Nursery Crymes" and "Sellling England by the Pound".

Without having to take orders from Gabriel, these mega-talented instrumentalists were 'freed' to do what ever they want. The instrumental parts on this album are just amazing, they are so amazing. The boys were at the top of their game here. The songs are catchy and have memorable choruses. They are typically off-kilter and have typically eccentric stories about various subjects from dancing on volcanoes and violent, thieving felons to little creatures who cry themselves into extinction.

As for the songs, "Dance on a volcano" is an accomplised, if ominous opener. Some good guitar textures here, I think Hackett has a strong influence on this song, but the writing credits go to the entire band. The second song "Entangled" is a gentle, acoustic song, and I think it's mostly Hackett's work. Again, very catchy chorus and a wonderful guitar solo at the end, very ethereal.. After this song, Hackett prettymuch disappears.

"Squonk" is kind of medieval funk-rock. Very catchy, and even though this is the only song where the vocals get obscured, it is still one of my favourites on the album. There are a pair of Banks Ballads "Ripples" and "Mad Man Moon", which have melodic perfection and ever- so-inspiring instrumental interludes. The rocker "Robbery, Assault and Battery", which featured Phil Collins giving us his wonderful cockney accent, also has some very interesting instrumental sections. The last two tracks, "Los Endos" and the title track area bit of a let- down, hence the four star rating. The title track is an Elton John-ish piece of piano pop that is probably only on here because it's a song glorifying the Devil. "Los Endos" is a reprise. Not a bad song but a lot of it feels like it is reliving a lot of the earlier music. This album is also out-done in terms of ambition, by other Genesis albums, but still most of the music on here is just amazing.

A lesser-classic from the seventies that is sure to please with it's amazing instrumental vision, originality and catchy songs.