Genesis Album: “Turn It on Again: The Hits”

For those of you contemplating whether to purchase the 2-disc Turn It on Again: Tour Edition or the 3-disc Platinum Collection, these are what songs are exclusive to each:

Turn It On Again:

Tell Me Why

No Reply At All

Man On The Corner

Pigeons

Inside And Out

Happy The Man

Congo

Platinum Collection:

Home By the Sea

Second Home By the Sea

Calling All Stations

Behind the Lines

Undertow

In That Quiet Earth

Ripples

Los Endos

Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Firth of Fifth

Cinema Show

Supper's Ready

Musical Box

In my opinion, the Platinum Collection is the better deal, and is the one that I bought.

After having just seen Genesis for the last World Tour, I couldn't resist buying this CD and I was not disappointed. It is a nice compilation of the songs that they did in concert although it is not a "live" version of the concert. But as far as I can remember, they did all these songs at the concert...

So, if you want to have a good selection of Genesis hits (and some songs that never made it to the Top of the Charts...) this two-disc collection is a good choice. You get a really nice selection of songs... well worth having in your collection of Genesis CD's...

I know what I like... and I like this set!!!!

This is a Great Audiophilest Remaster Collection! I just picked up this cd for two reasons because i love the old Genesis & because i just bought these new Cerwin Vega speakers & this is a great cd to break the speakers in with.

Great Reamaster sound on these disks plus great songs. There are lots of little things going on in Genesis recordings that are great with good speakers. Songs like Turn it on Again, No son of mine, Abacab, No repley at all, paperlate They have these drum effects & little sounds & horn sections that are great to hear on a Audiophile type system. And dont forget about all of the other hits on here as well that are just too many to list. This collection even digs into the peter gabriel day's but the only song of his days with the band that i think should of been on here and is not is THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY. But i do have a remastered version of that album as well. Very good remastered sound & if your going to get a collection of Genesis this one will have the best sound & why buy the single disk version when you can get the two disk Tour Edition with more music.

I have always liked the music of Genesis, as I grew up hearing their 80's and 90's songs often on the radio. However, I knew the band had a history of making great music from the late 60's through the 70's as well - music that is really not played that much on even the best `classic rock' stations.

Wanting to have a collection that included most of the songs I grew up with, starting specifically with `Misunderstanding', I've also really wanted to hear some of the earlier music, going back to the Peter Gabriel days and the first few albums with Phil Collins on lead vocals. Of the half-dozen or so `best of' CDs and box sets out on the market, this collection of songs is by far the best for those wanting both eras, and without having to pay a lot for a large box-set. Also, it gives a great sampling of their earlier music focusing on generally at least one song from each album, as well as rare EPs and singles.

There are some similarities with previous collections:

- Generally, it follows a reverse chronology as some of the other collections have, playing the more recent songs first on disc one, and then venturing to some tunes not commonly played on radio from disc two. Disc one highlights the albums `We Can't Dance', `Invisible Touch', `Genesis', and `Abacab'; disc two also highlights more songs from `Abacab', and songs from these other albums: `Duke', `And Then There Were Three', `Wind and Wuthering' `A Trick of the Tail', `The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway', `Selling England by the Pound', and `Trespass'. To make it even more interesting, the first and last song on each of the discs is somewhat out of sync with the whole reverse chronology. Initially, I was only really interested in the better-known songs on disc one but after a few listens of disc two, I've found I like those songs now just as much, and now I actually go out of my way to listen to these hidden gems.

- It is somewhat of a condensed version of "Platinum Collection", with a simpler two-disc collection rather than three, yet offering some great tracks here not offered on "Platinum"; `No Reply at All', `Man on the Corner', `Duchess', `Pigeons', `Inside and Out', `Happy the Man', and `Congo'. This collection really expands upon the `Turn It on Again: The Hits', which is a one-disc compilation of only the very most popular songs and almost nothing from the earlier years.

- Each song has been carefully re-mastered, just like most of the other `best of' collections. The listeners opinions of the remastering seem to be divided; they either really like it or detest it. Those who really like the new remastering state that it sounds more balanced and are able to hear instrumentation that was buried in the mix on original offerings of the songs. Those who do not enjoy the remastering state that the producers have betrayed the original integrity of the mix (for example, bringing too much focus on the vocals in the foreground.) While I see both points of view here, I have to be on the side of those who enjoy the remastering; the sounds seem very warm, crisp, clear, and balanced. The fantastic sound quality really draws the listener in, even if they are not initially interested in some of the tunes offered here; you almost feel as if you're in the studio with them. Also great is that there is exceptionally little tape-hiss here, making this remastering job top notch!

In summary, this is a great 2-disk collection for a number of reasons:

- it covers most of the key songs people have known and loved from the band over the years while showcasing some lesser-known songs at the same time

- the sound quality is phenomenal, due to the re-mastering (perhaps sounding the way Genesis really intended the songs to be heard)

- you really get your money's worth because it gives people a chance to hear earlier tracks by the band that unfortunately do not get enough airplay, if at all

- the track layout progresses backwards in time, leaving the most familiar tracks to disc one while giving an excellent introspective view of what made Genesis a band of legend in the first place

- it is somewhat of a condensed version of "Platinum Collection", with a simpler two disc collection rather than three, yet offering some great tracks here not offered on "Platinum"; `No Reply at All', `Man on the Corner', `Duchess', `Pigeons', `Inside and Out', `Happy the Man', and `Congo', all great songs that make this collection that much more special

- it gives a great sampling of their earlier music focusing on at least a song from almost each album, Eps, singles

If you've been looking for a great best-of collection for Genesis, look no further; this is it!

I've been a Genesis fan since I first heard "Mama" way back when. I retroactively collected the entire discography, and fell in love with the progressive rock era Genesis, and was a fan through high school and college. Eventually, I branched out into enough other music that Genesis took a back seat. I recently started reviving these old interests (along with Rush and They Might Be Giants -- two other teenage favorites), and saw this album while looking around for current information online.

I actually bought it because I thought it was a live album of their recent tour. That was my mistake, but I'm still not clear as to why it's called "Tour Edition." So if you're suffering the same misconception, let me clear it up with the statement that this is a greatest hits package.

That being said, I sure do enjoy having an album in rotation that "summarizes" Genesis without dedicating 12 hours or more to the entire catalog.

I found the song selection somewhat peculiar, as well as the sequencing. The sequence is such that songs are presented newest first, with the exception being that the first song is from

, an album squarely in the middle of their discogrpahy, and the last song if from

, their most recent studio album (the one without Phil Collins, which to be honest I was never interested in for that reason). I get that you'd want to start things off with the album's namesake song, but why end with the most recent song in an otherwise reversed chronology? I don't get it. It feels really out of place, as the regression through time has a nice pace to it, then after you get to the one song from the earliest album (interestingly, the other album without Collins), you jump some 30 years in songwriting, production technique, and style to "Congo."

The song selection itself is generally good, and for the most part probably represents what I would pick if I were putting together my own 2.5 hour playlist of Genesis songs, although i'd go lighter on the newer hits and heavier on the older "art pieces." It's weird to me, though, that of the 34 songs on the collection, 4 of then (Paperlate, Pigeons, Inside And Out, and Happy The Man) are B-Sides...not exactly hits, that I know of. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have some rarer material in my collection, I'd just love to have sat in on the meeting where they decided which songs get on this release.

All in all, I enjoy having this album as it's a good summary. I suspect if someone were interested in Genesis but didn't know where to start, this would also serve as a good introduction.