THE PLATINUM COLLECTION

Not essential but a nice album if you want all the GENESIS era on one compilation, Disc 2 and 3 are better in a matter of fact Disc 3 is the best as it contains the early tracks, will not appeal to all GENESIS fans and I appriciate that! Plus some of the tracks have been rimixed and it contains the rare track 'Paperlate' previously from the 3 X 3 E.P., It's a shame it dosen't contain anything from the 'FGTR' album and 'Watchers of The Skies' and 'Return of the Giant Hogweed' is also not present on this C.D., I like this album, to be honest Disc 1 as all the poppy stuff but don't let that put you off. Enjoy the CD but I don't think it will automatically convert all GENESIS pop fans to the Epic Prog tracks.

Why bother? If you're a Genesis fan, you've got the decent stuff already, why buy this just to get CD3 and a few tracks off of CD2. It's designed to squeeze a few quid into the hefty pension funds of the Band and little else. CD1 is complete excrement and if anything, this collection just confirms again how poor the music got as the 'Collins' effect took over.

a completely selfish and thougtless compilation, with the record companies moneygrabbing fingerprints all over it. This delivers nothing new that previous compilations haven't given us. If you like the collins years then this may be of interest to you but you might as well get either one of the archives, or the hits collection, or better yet the studio albums. Disc 3 is the only one worth listening to because it shows off the best of the gabriel years. Overall this is a poor compilation that isn't shy about favouring the latter years Genesis, because more people are familiar with Phil Collins pop efforts and therefore are more likely to by this. The real Genesis fans are not going to get anything out of this.

A total waste of money, only those gullible enough would spend hard earned money on this latest ' milking the cow' exercise. What will Genesis try next? Hopefully sales will be so poor that it may prompt the band to regroup and try write some new material before their pension kicks in. How can you take excerpts out of The Lamb and call it a Platinum collection. What an insult to a true Genesis follower.Avoid at all costs.

OK, the selection of the songs it's not the ideal, and I agree that it's hard to understand why there are four songs from "We Can't Dance" while "Watcher of the Shies" is missing. But the sound quality of the remixed versions are awesome! All those wonderful songs like "Firth of Fifth" are much clearer than their original versions, even the remstered ones. I recommend it for any GENESIS fan.

I can't help but think people are being harsh on this compilation.After all its not aimed at fans of Genesis as a prog band but rather is meant to include music from all eras and so will appeal to those that want a decent collecyion without going and buying every single album which is quite expensive.Prog fans will already have it all.Non prog fans may hear the 3rd disc and develop a liking for prog rock...you never know!

I just picked this collection up, and to be honest, I was immediately put off by the way that the collection was organized (the songs go from newest to oldest, while the accompanying booklet tells the story from oldest to newest...???) Also, disc 1 is basically unlistenable. I hadn't heard "I Can't Dance" and "Jesus He Knows Me" in 10 years or more, and I had forgotten just how bad those newer songs were. And they haven't aged well....but disc 2 and 3 are OUTSTANDING, and the remixes are really worth it. The vocals and some of the instruments are much clearer on many tracks, and I really enjoyed the "different" versions. Another drawback is the inclusion of "Jesus He Knows Me" and "Throwing It All Away" (which makes me want to lose my cookies by the way), and no "Watcher Of The Skies", or "Dance On A Volcano", or "In The Cage", or "Robbery, Assault and Battery"??? Whoever selected the tracks for this collection was either stoned or stupid, but DESPITE all this....my advice to hardcore Genesis fans....just get it for disc 2 and 3 and leave disc one in the box for all eternity......but YES, YES pick this up...its definately worth it.

First of all, people are forever going to complain about the contents of compilations, so I guess that's no biggie. Everyone's going to have songs that they think should've been included.

Anyway...

I'm probably the target audience, so to speak, of this compilation, since I've recently gotten into Peter Gabriel (through his Up and So albums), and after checking out a few Genesis albums, I thought it'd be good to purchase this collection, since in general it contains at least three songs from most Genesis albums, though some albums are represented by more songs (We Can't Dance, Invisible Touch, Genesis), and some are represented by less (Calling All Stations, Abacab, Foxtrot, etc).

Basically, it gives a career long overview of the band, and gives a general idea of the musical progression. So it's perfect for anyone who wants to get to know the whole career of the band, which I did. The first disc contains a lot of the band's later, "poppier" material, the third disc is focussed on the earlier Peter Gabriel years, while the second contains the material from between the two "eras". And as a huge plus, the sound quality is fantastic and it is great to listen to.

To be honest, I really enjoy the first disc, but that's because I have a pop streak in me a mile wide. However, before you start throwing rotten tomatoes, I was most impressed with the third disc, and tend to listen to that the most. The loser of the bunch seems to be second disc, which I've yet really made the time to explore.

In this case, I'm awarding this release four stars, since although I love the 95% of what I hear on it, there are a couple of dud tracks, such as the somewhat painful "Illegal Alien" and the terrible "Keep it Dark". Oh yeah, and "Your Own Special Way" is diabetes inducing. (ie Horribly sweet).

In short, after listening to this compilation, I'm officially a Genesis fan. As I've mentioned, it contains plenty to listen to, and it gave me a good indication of what albums to check out. (Genesis and Foxtrot, here I come!)

Well, this is where I started with Genesis. They were the third prog band I got into, preceded by Pink Floyd and Yes. So, I popped Disc 1 into the player on Christmas day...and was greeted by 'No Son Of Mine' Hmm. Good song maybe, but wasn't what I thought was 'progressive'. So I gave the next few tracks a listen...very well written pop tunes they were, yes, but...like I said, 'progressive'? Then I came to 'Mama'. Ever since then, 'Mama' has been a definite favourite. Progressive? Maybe. I felt a happier feeling about this 'Platinum Collection' when I heard this. So with a more positive feeling I listened on. Nothing too remarkable really, and then I heard 'Calling All Stations'. An entirely different sound, with some husky singer. But it was good.

Now with hindsight, I know what is progressive and what isn't. I also know what Genesis' music is and isn't. Genesis' music is always good, but like a lot of prog bands, takes different forms throughout the years. And this Platinum Collection takes you through that journey. Yeah, there's all that about this being a 'milking the cash cow' exercise, but the point of this CD is to show, in correct perspective, the change in Genesis' music, and a sample of each style.

So anyway, the second disc, going back in time. First track - 'Abacab'. The only thing 'prog' about this track is it's length and the mathemtical format in which it is written. A couple of drippy, drab pop tunes ensue, with the exception of 'Turn It On Again' which for a poppy number is quite likeable and powerful. On 'Behind The Lines' Tony Banks must have been feeling tired because the epic sounding keyboard power chords which make up this track are sloppily played and recorded. As we progress through the collection, things start to look up. The first sign of this is perhaps the track 'Undertow', which although it might be written to be some kind of 'hit' or 'ballad' is in fact a very dynamic song with emotional vocals from Mr. Collins alongside one of the richest, most heartfelt melodies present on this CD. This pleasant track is followed by a fast-paced, syncopated instrumental 'In That Quiet Earth' which evolves into the rich, sun-drenched, evocative 'Afterglow' with lyrics that may or may not echo 'Undertow'. The Collection is definitely getting better as it draws to the end of disc two, and this feeling of hope is elevated to a new height with the eccentric 'Trick Of The Tail'. This song is an enjoyable, straightforward mythological story which echoes the eccentricity of earlier Gabriel numbers such as 'I Know What I Like'. In fact, Phil's voice on this track is very similar to Mr. Gabriel's; almost indistinguishable. The CD closes with two of the best tracks present here. The beautiful, emotive 'Ripples' is a very finely written, intricate piece of rich music with a very mysterious feel. It's another definite favourite, which is the kind of track that EVERYBODY likes. The disc concludes with the sublime, strange and monumental 'Los Endos' which, as the title seems to imply, is the sign of this album drawing near. It's six minutes of purest prog, with musicianship at absolute peak on all members' behalf...Mike Rutherford's superb Jazzy bass, Phil Collins Bruford- esque syncopated drumming, Steve Hackett's epic and moving guitar manoeuvres, and Tony Banks' crowded and high tech keyboard department. The track hails back to earlier moments on the original album 'Trick Of The Tail' and even steals some lines from 'Supper's Ready'. Words are inaccurate at describing this materpiece, so give it a good listen. It is also hailed as a goodbye to ex-frontman and living legend Peter Gabriel. Speaking of whom...

We are now on Disc 3, his territory. The album opens up with the skittish, rodentesque piano staccato madness of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', a five minute powerful opener with a superb bassline from Mike Rutherford and those beautifully haunting Peter Gabriel signature vocals. A good opener for the best disc on this album. This is followed by a couple of tracks from 'The Lamb' album, which are examples of good songwriting and storytelling in an 'under-five-minutes' showcase format. Now we move onto the real gold... 'Firth Of Fifth' is another monument in Genesis' and progresive rock's history. A magnificently epic intro from Tony Banks at the grand piano would sound just as at home on a Rachmaninov Piano Concerto. This all changes after about 1 minute, to a rich, haunting chord pattern played on what is probably a humongous church organ. This, coupled with Peter Gabriel's voice and lyrics set the theme of the song very artistically. The format of the song is very much classical, with a brief flute solo interlude, followed by an epic fanfare/reprise of the opening introduction tune, and then, out of nowhere, comes one of rock's most divine guitar solos from Mr. Steve Hackett. The amazing guitar exercise is absolutely sublime and again cannot be described with words. With the help of a Les Paul guitar, a volume, fuzz and reverb pedal, Steve Hackett manages to craft the most heartfelt, haunting guitar portrait Genesis ever created. Enough about this track! Let's move on. Next track is 'The Cinema Show' A trademark Steve Hackett guitar introduction brings us into a warm, happy melody with mellotron, clean guitar and Peter Gabriel's articulate vocals. It tells a Romeo and Juliet type story with references to older mythology (Father Tiresias - Greek?). Now, this song succumbs to one of my favourite prog elements - something I call the 'self indulgent descent' where the vocals stop and the remaining bulk of the song tails off into a very talented display of musicianship - in the form of an incredible instumental piece which only seems to serve the purpose of showcasing everybody's musical talent (see also 'LADY FANTASY' by 'Camel' and '21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN' by 'King Crimson'). They need not! We have already witnessed such things! An excellent suite - Perfect Genesis moment. Now we have a break from that epic progressive sound. We have here a quaint little song called 'I Know What I Like' which is a pop-lengthed story from the point of view of a lawnmower eating his lunch on the bench. Fun little song - Nice little break from prog epics. This doesn't last long though... As we now have the quintessential, seminal, magnum opus of a Genesis song. 'Supper's Ready'. The song needs no introduction, go read a review of the album 'Foxtrot' to find out about this track. All I will say is that it is another fantastic mega-suite of 5 or so songs welded together to form one of the best musical journeys EVER. Definitely a definitive progressive rock track, up there with 'Echoes' and 'Close To The Edge'. 'The Musical Box' is another fairytale-esque suite. Opening with jangly guitar chords and warm, angelic Gabriel vocals. This is another brilliant story/journey very similar to 'The Cinema Show' but in my opinion far better. Genesis' first example of the pompous, massive, epic music writing they would do time and time again. The song changes quite a bit near the end - it sounds like a completely different track once it has finished, and contains the most unforgettable climax you will ever hear! Amazingly exhilarating song after the first 5 minutes - evolves into a quirky tale of a man's lust, combined with a nursery rhyme! Dramatic irony! The album concludes with the dramatic, dangerous and early track 'The Knife' which is an oppressive, fascist sounding marching-speed song with a strict tempo and haunting staccato organ riffing. This I believe is the perfect length for a song, clocking in at just under 9 minutes. It is a very early example of Genesis' music, and although staple members Steve Hackett and Phil Collins are not present, it is still a great piece of music with good musicianship and now revamped recording quality. I think this disc is by far the most varied and dynamic, representing and evoking: humour ('Counting Out Time'), sex (Carpet Crawlers), grandiose (Firth Of Fifth), love (The Cinema Show), quaintness and average life (I Know What I Like), mysticism and religion (Supper's Ready), lust (The Musical Box), and fear (The Knife).

Right, I'm finished! Give this collection a go and see which period in Genesis' fantastic, eventful history you enjoy most (I pray for your sake it be the second half of disc 2 and all of disc 3!) Thanks for reading! [Any comments or feedback on this review please e-mail me at [email protected]]

Oh Dear! Really rough mixes of every song - listen to the tambourine in Ripples for instance; far too loud, it's offensive. Eq is harsh throughout; percussion always too loud on the older songs and drop-ins on the bass tracks are very noticeable.

Sounds to me like the engineer had just a few days and a non-automated console to mix this lot. The modern mixing and effects equipment (particularly reverbs) has added a clarity to these recordings which allows you to hear through to the rough edges of the performances and recording technique and needs much more careful mixing to be anywhere near as good as the originals.

The only positive thing I can find is that there are some snippets of Steve Hackett's guitar I've never heard before and they are lovely.

This CD is destined for in-car listening only!

This 3 CD best of Genesis collection is a mixed bag. It contains prog and pop songs from Genesis so if you're just interested in one of the two genres, you'll probably get a bit annoyed. However, you can't argue that about Genesis being good musicians and whatever they play, they do it really well. If you're a fan of Genesis you'll have the CDs you're interested in but if you have none or just one or two of their albums, this collection is a good place to hear a cross section of their music. What I particularly like about this collection is that it contains a booklet that gives pictures of all their album covers and shows from which albums all of the songs on the CDs come from. That is the best packaging I've ever seen on a Best Of collection. It's certainly quality music but only about a third of the songs are prog so beware!

Some call this a sellout, but I do not agree. I think this is an excellent compilation of Genesis' career! Of course The Platinum Collection is not very interesting for fans of the progressive side of Genesis, but it's not fair to judge a compilation by the desires of those fans. They probably have all their progressive albums already. A compilation is aimed at people who want to get a good overview of a band, but do not want to buy the individual albums. They want to buy just one album and get all the essential songs of that band. In my opinion a good compilation should have the following qualities: - it must give a good overview of the different phases of a band's career; - it should include all the important hits; - it should also include all the major songs of a band even if they have not been hits, this includes fan favorites and songs of historical importance (a lot of the pop fans for example will not be interested in Supper's Ready, but a Genesis compilation without it is missing an important part of the history of Genesis).

I think this compilation meets all these conditions. The order in which the songs are placed is unusual, starting with the most recent songs on disc 1 and putting the earlier, lesser known progressive songs on disc 3. This is perfectly understandable. The commercial success of Genesis came with the more recent pop songs and it's probably the fans of their pop songs that will buy this compilation. Meanwhile the third disc might make them interested in the progressive songs also! Many of the earlier songs have been remixed by Nick Davis and the differences are subtle, but great! The sound is more dynamic, the vocals sound better and it's easier to distinguish the different instruments. A lot of the progressive songs, like "The Knife" and "The Musical Box" really improve thanks to the remix.

A lot of positive points, but still this compilation is not perfect. I do have some minor problems. Firstly it leans it bit too much towards the poppy side of Genesis. "We Can't Dance" is represented with four songs and both "Invisible Touch" and "Genesis" with five songs, while an important album like "Nursery Crime" is represented with only one song! Most of the other important progressive albums are represented with three songs. "Foxtrot" is also represented with only one song, but I can live with that because it's the lengthy "Supper's Ready". The other problem is that I miss two essential progressive songs: "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed". This two songs really should have been included. These minor problems are the reason that I cannot give 5 stars. The Platinum Collection is an excellent compilation, with some minor problems. If you plan on buying just one Genesis album, buy this one. Maybe it will convince you that there are a lot of other Genesis albums that you might want to explore!

Good compilation, worth the price if you're new to Genesis.

You get a taste of all eras here, although the choices of tracks are rather disappointing. In many cases they chose the worst songs off of their best albums, particularly on the second disc. For example, Your Own Special Way is an ugly blemish on an otherwise perfect album, why they chose it over Blood on the Rooftops is mind boggling. I also felt they focused too much on the six albums from the trio era, granting them almost two full discs while compressing the six albums from the Gabriel era (one of which is a magnificent double album) into a single disc that ends all too soon. They don't even include anything from their first album, the only album not represented by at least one song on this collection.

But, I'll disregard that because most of the songs are remixed and sound a lot better than they do on the original album, although I felt the end of Cinema Show seriously needs a mellotron boost. Prog fans will enjoy the last disc the most for obvious reasons. The period covered on disc two was also a rather progressive period with many classics, but you wouldn't know it from this collection. In the end, you really need to buy the albums, but wait for the SACDs with all the songs newly remixed in quad sound.

Still, this is probably the best intro to the band you'll ever get, and it's quite a bargain at 20 bucks for 3 cd's of mostly really good music.

Ok if we ask all the people that constantly visit this site to do a three disc Genesis compilation it will surely be totally different ( You should put that on the forum to see what happens ); but i think it's a good compilation although very focussed on the pop years. they probably could do it better but The Platinum Collection it's a good retrospective to all Genesis Career that's why a'll give it 4 stars (this is not "Genesis: The Progressive Collection" ). there's songs from almost all Genesis album that showcases the changing sound throu the years. i think there's a lot of great sogs that should have been include like Stagnation, Watcher Of The Skies, Dukes Travels/End, Fading Lights, One For The Vine, Robbery assault And Battery among many others. It's recommended to newers who want to know about this band, they will sure pick up a whole album depending of the songs they like. Greetings!

Well OK, so you consider yourself a discriminating Genesis collector, right? Is this compilation for you? Well here's a question... did you buy the previous Greatest Hits compilation "Turn It On Again - The Hits" in order to get your hands on that 1999 version of "Carpet Crawlers?" If you answered yes, then "The Platinum Collection" might be for you. Die hards probably already have "Paperlate," and if you don't, the second Archive box set should be further up on your priority list. The radio edit of "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was already covered by the afformentioned Hits compilation... so, what is left? Well, 2/3 of this set is remastered [leaning towards the old material too], that's what. The early Genesis material sounds absolutely fantastic on this set. The tracklisting is, for the most part, in reverse chronological order, which is preferrable. Some ommissions to be sure, but everyone has their own preferance and favorite tracks, and you can't fault the sheer amount of material on display here. The set also comes with a retrospective booklet featuring snippets of interviews with Banks, Collins, and Rutherford, so that is another reason for collectors who have to own everything to pluck down their money for this. So basically, you need to ask yourself... are the remastered versions of early Genesis tracks worth the ticket price? I leave that decision to you...

You get a taste of all eras here, although the choices of tracks are rather disappointing. In many cases they chose the worst songs off of their best albums, particularly on the second disc. For example, Your Own Special Way is an ugly blemish on an otherwise perfect album, why they chose it over Blood on the Rooftops is mind boggling

I also felt they focused too much on the six albums from the trio era, granting them almost two full discs while compressing the six albums from the Gabriel era (one of which is a magnificent double album) into a single disc that ends all too soon. They don't even include anything from their first album, the only album not represented by at least one song on this collection.

But, I'll disregard that because most of the songs are remixed and sound a lot better than they do on the original albums. Prog fans will enjoy the last disc the most for obvious reasons, Pop fans will prefer the first disc, and probably much of the second. But I have a feeling all fans will find something to like on all discs once they put their prejudices aside.

In the end, you really need to buy the albums because this collection by no means represents their best work from each of the albums. The booklet tells you from which album each song comes from so it's a good guide to tell you where to go from there. You may want to wait until Nick Davis remixes all of the albums into quad sound SACD's (like he did with most of the songs on this collection).

Genesis is a great band and I'm sure new fans will find something to like on this collection. Old fans may want to pick this one up too, simply to hear the remixed songs. Three full discs worth of great music for 20 bucks is quite a steal too.

The rating of this compilation depends on where you are within your Genesis collection. I am going to rate this a 3 star because I believe that it is a good addition to any prog music collection. Although it does not have all of the best of the progressive years, it does have The Cinema Show, Supper's Ready, The Musical Box, and Firth of Fifth, which I believe to be 4 of the 5 essential Genesis epics, with Watchers of the Skies being the fifth. (I specifically omitted The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which is mildly represented here, but this whole album is an epic and needs to be heard as a whole).

If you have from a few to none of the Genesis albums, then this is an excellent introductory album to the entire Genesis career. It will give the listener at least one sample song from each of their albums throughout their career so then you can decide if you want to explore the various albums even further. Disc 1 covers their pop rock/AOR years. Disc 2 covers their crossover prog/progressive pop years. Disc 3 covers their progressive years when Peter Gabriel was the lead singer and Phil Collins was the drummer and mostly a backup singer.

An oddity of this compiliation is that the songs are travelling backwards chronologically so it is as though you are stepping in to a time machine and travelling backwards. Which I suppose could mean that this is regressive versus progressive? If you are more interested in seeing the development of Genesis, it might be in your best interest to listen to the tracks in reverse order starting with The Knife on CD 3.

If you have most or all of the Genesis albums, then this truly is a 2 star for collectors only. Most of the songs on discs 2 and 3 were remixed and might have a better sound quality than the original CDs that you may have purchased. There are no previously unreleased studio or live tracks here so there is no need to buy this unless you are a completionist. (To those that complain that this is a money grubbing compilation released by the record company, you may be right, but you have no requirement to buy it. And at least they didn't add anything that you couldn't already have elsewhere. I bought this album because I found it used and I do tend to be a bit of a completionist. I tend to be the sucker born every minute that the record companies are looking for when a band releases a greatest hit package that has a couple of previously unreleased or newly created tracks on it which I just must get because I have to have all of the songs that my favorite bands has ever done). Oh well, if I have to have an addiction it is at least safer and cheaper than drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.

If you are a Peter Gabriel era Genesis fan then this probably is not a compilation for you because for (1) you probably already have all of the Peter Gabriel era music and (2) you might not like the post-Peter Gabriel era music.

I found this to be a very helpful compilation. I did not want to buy all the albums from the Phil Collins period, but at the same time I loved a lot of Genesis songs such as Home By The Sea, Duchess, Mama, and Land Of Confusion. I won't review the songs here (pretty much everyone is familiar with them); instead I'll point out that I did not have to spend $40-50 or more to get the later Genesis albums when the songs I wanted were all right here. While a prog fan should have all the Gabriel albums already, making the third disc of this set superfluous, the first two discs have all the later Genesis that's necessary and therefore this remains a good deal, especially if you can get it used.

The is probably the ultimate Genesis sampler, spanning their entire career (although From Genesis to Revelation is absent altogether). It goes album by album, backwards chronologically, giving a few tracks from each. It also includes the 1982 single "Paperlate" from 3x3, as well as the title track off the Ray Wilson-fronted album Calling All Stations. This is not a "best of" collection (and even if it were, record companies frequently have a slightly skewed notion of the phrase "best of" means). Several of the tracks were remixed by sound engineer and producer Nick Davis. The obvious benefit of this compilation is that third CD; for those unaware of or with limited knowledge of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, that third CD might just be the doorway needed to transport some fans of the popular music to the glory that was Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Conversely, it could also serve the early-Genesis fan by giving him a broad overview of what Genesis was up to after guitarist Steve Hackett left. My biggest complaint regarding this compilation is actually with the booklet, which, although being well-written (giving a brief history of the band), the pages were not assembled in the correct order, making it irritating to read.

GENESIS - THE PLATINUM COLLECTION

Review by ProgKidJoel

This is an absolutley fantastic starting place for a newcomer to GENESIS, or indeed prog - It features many of the tracks which brought one of the 70's headlining prog acts to the front, aswell as a few B-Sides to keep the mix interesting and original.

Many members have complained about the poorness of this compilation - Its not for followers of Genesis, its for newcomers! Its made to compile many of their best and/or most popular tracks to give new listeners a sample of what to expect from a band, and its rarer and rarer that you see a compilation do this so well. Discs 1 and 2 feature tracks from the Phil Collins era of GENESIS, and these are all great tracks which give good samples of what to expect from Phil Collins' GENESIS. The third disc is what most proggers would call Genesis' best tracks from their best formation.

Disc one mostly features the band's radio hits, which although isn't great for a prog fan, is good for a newcomer to the band. Disc Two is composed of the bands proggier hits with Phil Collins, which are nearly all standouts in their own right - This also features a B-Side in PAPERLATE, which is a great pop track. Disc three features what I would call the definitive tracks of GENESIS, with FIRTH OF FIFTH, THE CINEMA SHOW, THE MUSICAL BOX and SUPPER'S READY and THE KNIFE.

All of these tracks are great, and my only dissapointment is the lack of a second disc with Gabriel - 9 tracks with Gabriel VS 31 tracks with Collins doesn't really add up properly. A second disc featuring some more Gabriel tracks (and more than ONE track from FOXTROT) would have been a nice addition to round out this collection, although it stands finely as it is.

Great for a newcomer to Genesis!

Enjoy! -Joel

Genesis Platinum Collection is the undisputed best compilation of this definitive progressive legendary band.

It features the essential classics of the Gabriel era and the best of the Collins era. It would have been better to have more of the Gabriel period but one good thing is that a fan can grab all the Gabriel era CDs and fill in the Collins void with this quite comfortably without having to fork out on the detestable 'Invisible Touch'. 'Abacab' and 'We Can't Dance'. All the singles that assaulted the charts are here along with bonafide Genesis classics.

The quintessential treasures are included in unedited format. "Foxtrot"'s 'Supper's Ready', all 23 minutes of it, are here in all its prog glory. Also the great 'Firth of Fifth' 'I Know What I like...' and 'Cinema Show' from "Selling England By The Pound" are included. There are 3 tracks from "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and 'The Knife' from "Trespass". 'The Musical Box' classic from "Nursery Cryme" also appears in unedited form. CD 3 is definitely the best capturing the Gabriel era beautifully. It is worth getting all these albums anyway so one CD is perhaps sufficient to get a taste of this early brilliant influential prog era.

The rest of the package is full blown Collins tracks but they are primarily very good compositions showing the transformation of the band in its many incarnations. CD 2 features 2 tracks from "Abacab", 4 of the best from "Duke" and 3 from " And Then there Were Three". 3 tracks from "Wind and Wuthering" are included and the three classics from "A Trick of the Tail".

CD 1 is the worst of the lot with 4 tracks from "We Can't Dance", 5 tracks from "Invisible Touch" as if that were necessary, and 5 tracks from the better "Genesis" album. There is a rare track from the EP "3x3" and thankfully only 1 track from the abysmal "calling All Stations".

Overall the packaging is excellent with a booklet with information on the tracks. The track list is as good as it can get without focusing on the early genesis period. It is a rather interesting journey to listen to it in its entirety showing how diverse the band are and how they metamorphosised from prog legends to 80s balladeers. Still as a collection of the best of the three phases of Genesis it is indispensable. My opinion is get this along with all the Gabriel era albums, including the 2 awesome 70s live albums, and you will have a very good Genesis collection without having to pay a small fortune for their prolific album discography. The next best thing is the box set collections, but as a budget experience of the best of all the Genesis albums, this is an excellent compilation.

4 stars for the experience.

This is probably the best one-stop career retrospective yet assembled for Genesis: three packed-to-the brim CDs spanning the band's entire de-evolution from Progressive music pioneers to stadium rock sell-outs. Each disc concentrates on a separate era, oddly enough arranged in reverse chronological order (more about that below). So the first disc begins with selections from the horribly commercial "We Can't Dance" (1991); the second disc continues backwards into the 1970s to the rebirth of "Trick of the Tail"; and the final disc catalogues the classic Peter Gabriel years, wrapping up the entire package (nearly four hours later in real time, but twenty years earlier historically) with "The Knife", their rousing early signature anthem off the 1970 "Trespass" album.

Too bad the actual aesthetic growth of the band didn't follow a similar trajectory.

Collections of this sort typically lean toward a group's more popular hits, so you can expect to hear radio fodder like "Follow You Follow Me" and the early embarrassment of "Your Own Special Way", not to mention all those post-"Abacab" blockbusters that earned the band a fortune while ruining their critical reputation. Listening to Disc One of this set (under duress), it's hard to believe Phil Collins was once an ace session drummer for hire, contributing to albums by cutting edge artists like JOHN CALE and ROBERT FRIPP.

But I digress. The good news here is that the band's best years are well represented, including nearly half of the classic1973 album "Selling England By the Pound", plus the entire, uncut masterpiece of "Supper's Ready", arguably the most influential Prog Rock epic ever written. And the bulk of Disc Two, covering the transitional post-Gabriel era, is at least shaded more toward the twilight Prog epiphanies leading to the "Duke" album.

Collectors won't find any non-album rarities here, unless you count the 1982 single "Paperlate", an "Abacab"-era outtake (ho hum). The anthology seems to be aimed instead at casual fans of the later, superstar pop trio, with the retrograde arrangement of tracks designed perhaps to lure unwary listeners gradually into the more subtle wonders of the band's back catalogue.

But it can also provide a decent stopgap purchase for long-time aficionados who can't afford to replace all their Famous Charisma Label LPs, and who don't mind at least one disc of crappy '80s fluff in their music library.

As a prog fan, you should immediately be disgusted by the thought of buying a 'Best Of' album, as prog songs generally work better within the context of their respective albums. However, as we are here, I might as well give a go of reviewing it.

There are 3 CDs here, on which the tracklist is in reverse chronological order (apart from the title track from 'Calling All Stations' released in 1997, which is at the end of disc 1). Hence the tracks run from No Son Of Mine and I Can't Dance on Disc 1, to The Musical Box and The Knife on Disc 3. The three discs correspond to the three Genesis boxsets that have been released, which are 1983-1998, 1976-1982 and 1970-1975 respectively. Therefore, the Gabriel-era material gets one disc all to itself. The obvious reason that this order has been chosen is that Genesis get less and less commercial as you go further back in time, and the sort of people who would buy a 'Platinum Collection' are the sort who want to hear Jesus He Knows Me, and might never get round to hearing Disc 3 anyway.

With this in mind, it is surprising that the people at Virgin decided to include any Gabriel stuff at all! Maybe some of them were progheads? More likely that there would be the obvious negative reaction from hardcore Genesis fans if they decided not to include any old material at all.

As a compilation, you probably couldn't ask for a better collection of songs to represent the whole of Genesis' 30 year career, from prog to pop, from good to bad. There are songs from each and every album, except for the debut 'From Genesis to Revelation' as Virgin could not secure the rights to that particular album. There is also a non-album track, Paperlate that was released on EP in 1982. One thing I find funny is that the first two poppier discs contain 16 and 15 tracks respectively, but the final prog disc only contains 9 tracks, due to the length of some of the songs. You have to love prog for being so long sometimes.

The selection of tracks is quite good. On the first two CDs, these are usually the bigger hits, which saves you having to root around purchasing loads of CDs you don't want just to hear Turn It On Again or other Genesis hits. With the Gabriel-era disc, they didn't skimp on the prog at all. Whilst they included the poppier Counting Out Time and I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), they include some of the best prog from Genesis, including The Knife, The Musical Box, Firth of Fifth and all 23 minutes of Supper's Ready. A veritable feast of prog, and certainly a risky move for such a commerical release. I actually recieved this compilation one Christmas, before I had heard any Genesis, and after listening to Disc 3, I was very convinced by the band.

This is a compilation album that does very much what it says on the tin. You get loads of Genesis songs, and a good understanding for the group at all points in their history. Along with that, there is some fantastic prog on Disc 3. Personally, I dislike buying compilation albums, but if you're the sort of person that needs a quick dose of Genesis, this album is for you.

Nothing special.

As an early fan of progressive music, I looked out for things like this. I tried to get the big collections that would give the largest scope on the classic bands, so I got In a Word by Yes, Best of by Emerson Lake & Palmer, and this. At the time I had little idea that Collins-era Genesis wasn't prog rock (I know, it's incredible), and I had an odd feeling that this wasn't what the band was all chocked up to be. As I maneuvered my way around the 3 discs of the collection, I eventually got to the third disk, which had fewer, longer tracks and a different singer (again at the time I did not know of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis). I was captivated by this newfound music, and with further research I got the whole scope of Genesis' transition from prog to pop and now look where I am, the owner of all the 70s records and the possessor of a quiet animosity towards post-1981 Genesis. This collection, while overall pretty pointless, did that for me and gave me a large scope of the band's musical imprint.

As a compilation, all the music has already been heard by countless people and has been reviewed by hundreds and hundreds of people, so me reviewing the tracks here as well would be wonderfully arbitrary. What I can say is that this is easily the most inclusive collection the band has released yet, reviewing every studio the band has released excluding the band's debut. The album shows the degeneration of a progressive rock classic in reverse order, either to build suspense for the best part (disc 3 - Peter Gabriel's material) or to appeal to the pop fans and put the good stuff at the end to hope they don't notice. Overall, however, the pop does overshadow the prog, with a solid 31 tracks on discs 1 and 2 (mainly the pop era except the few tracks tributing Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering) to 9 tracks on disc 3 (understandably, seeing as nearly all the songs are 8+ minutes). Sadly none of the standard PA ratings definitions apply here. I'll say this: this is good for someone who wants an all inclusive view of Genesis without getting any of the studio albums preliminarily. 2- stars.

While I have not a copy of this I do have all the material. This is the advantage of the CD era. Imagine this collection as vinyl... (6 LPs or so) Here it's what 10 - 15 dollars for 4 hours of Genesis over their major eras. The collection is intended for the new Genesis listener - unsure where to begin - this will do the trick.

I had one preference it would be to substitute Your Own Special Way (sorry Mike) with One For The Vine with that jaw dropping instrumental.

Genesis undergo several eras. Often the 1980s era onward get a short shift. Perhaps we have to progress our thinking and understand the sophistication develops in the harmonies rather than the standalone solos. They all have considerable value with many fine pieces and most of them referenced in this superb collection. Having said that the experienced Genesis listener will probably find this set redundant but a useful thing to leave around someone's place to put on when required...

It's interesting how it goes from the latest era back through time, undoubtedly annoying anthologist fans who like everything in date order (like Miles Davis' Complete Prestige recordings). Still they did this with Archive 1 which is for the experienced listener.

But like I say, it's for the new comer who may be more familiar with the contents of CD 1 first and hearing how this band built up their fine body of work... and then remember this is only a sampler of a band whose influences range from Romantic Classical, folk, rock and roll, jazz fusion and soul; they give great songs but not forgetting the album experience is what Genesis are really about.

Newcomer, start here. 4 stars.

Experienced listener - get a copy cheap if you like or encourage others to look here... 3 stars.

I enjoy most of Genesis's work from Trespass to Wind & Wuthering - - the Hackett era - - plus a handful of songs after that, mainly on Duke and Abacab. But I'm not an expert. It seems like there's nothing on Platinum Collection that fans won't already have, even recognizing that many of these are remixes that only appear on more recent remastered CDs. So I'm working from the notion that this is clearly not a collection for serious Genesis fans; on the other hand, you have to be a little serious, don't you, to buy a 3-disk set, especially when there's a single-CD album with all of the group's hits?

There doesn't seem to be much point in quibbling over song selection on a set like this. Platinum Collection contains the kinds of songs that also appear on Genesis live albums, so when I picked it up in 2004, I knew most of the songs just from owning Seconds Out and Three Sides Live, and from having listened to the radio since the early 1980s. But I hadn't heard many of the studio versions of the songs on the second two disks, and I eventually bought nearly all of Genesis's studio albums. So in that respect, Platinum Collection served its purpose; it was like a gateway drug that got me into the hard stuff.

It's true, by the way, that the first disk is has the weakest material, and the mixes of only two of its 16 songs differ from the standard CDs. But overall, across the three disks, the material is very good, and the sound is too - - the new mixes vary in subtle ways from the originals, but on the whole they're warmer, which is something sorely needed on many of these songs,especially from the 1970s.

In all, Platinum Collection is a nice overview of Genesis's studio albums, only excluding the band's debut LP. Recommended for any fan of progressive rock who isn't already a Genesis fan or who doesn't already have most of their albums.