Genesis Album: “Platinum Collection”

Genesis are my favorite band in the whole universe, so naturally I'm thrilled to see my boys finally get a 3-CD retrospective set. "The Platinum Collection" greatly honors the band by choosing a vast array of songs from almost all of their studio albums, from 1997's "Calling All Stations" all the way back to 1970's "Trespass." I also appreciate that the tracks progress *backwards* in time, starting with the Phil Collins era and ending with the Peter Gabriel era (although Ray Wilson is still allowed a cameo track from his brief 1997 sojourn as the group's frontman). Not only that, but many of the tracks have been remixed by Genesis producer Nick Davis, who worked with the band on their albums "We Can't Dance" and "Calling All Stations." To Davis' credit, he really does strengthen the sound of the songs, and you can hear notes played that you couldn't hear before. Also, some of the vocals, both lead and background, also sound much clearer than ever before (such as on "Illegal Alien," "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway," and "Counting Out Time"). Davis' impressive remix work on "The Platinum Collection" also serves as an excellent sneak preview to the upcoming re-release of the band's catalog, remixed and remastered, now scheduled for 2007. I'd love to give "The Platinum Collection" a perfect 5-star rating, but I can't quite do it for two reasons. One, there's the remix of "Misunderstanding." Sounds great for the most part, but for some reason, Nick Davis removed a brief guitar part that Mike Rutherford plays towards the end of the song. Why? What was wrong with it? It's not like Rutherford was playing any bum notes. I don't get it. Also, nothing from the band's 1969 debut, "From Genesis To Revelation," is featured. I realise this is most likely because Atlantic/Rhino Records don't own the rights to the first Genesis album, but still, *something* should've been included from it, like "In The Beginning," "The Serpent," and the very first Genesis single, "The Silent Sun." It's a very regrettable omission. But other than those two criticisms, I am still very satisfied with this 3-CD set. "The Platinum Collection" is, for the most part, a marvelous retrospective & history lesson about my favorite band.

Platinum Collection, released in 2005, presents an opportunity for old Genesis fans to connect with new fans and vice versa. With the exception of Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, Genesis at the close of the 20th Century was not the same band that began the late sixties charting a course intent on setting themselves apart from the rest of a big crowd. In a class of progressive, art-rock bands that included Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson and Yes, Genesis was certainly influenced by the success of power-bands like the Who and Led Zeppelin. Soon, the Genesis experience became its fans waiting in anticipation of another new album and then trekking to the nearest rock palace (such as the Spectrum in Philadelphia) for their outstanding live shows that melded theatre, story telling and complex instrumental orchestration.

When Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, some would say that it was the beginning of the end for Genesis; it was soon to be the end for many fans. After "searching" for a new lead singer, Phil Collins came out from behind the drum set and became the frontman. Genesis, anchored by Banks and Rutherford plus other fine musicians such as the outstanding guitarist Steve Hackett, went on for 22 years to become a popular, mainstream rock band while Peter Gabriel enjoyed a successful solo career. Along the way, the band was joined on tour by Bill Bruford (formerly of Yes) on drums, Chester Thompson on drums and Daryl Stuermer on guitar. At its end Genesis finished without Phil Collins, and, on their final studio album released in 1997, Banks and Rutherford attempted to return to their progressive rock roots with Calling All Stations and found listeners lacking an appreciation for the dynamics of their "new" sound and lineup.

Platinum Collection is nothing less than the best of the best songs that Genesis fashioned over a little more than three decades of existence. With forty songs spanning almost four hours, the collection does what most compilations set out to do by allowing listeners with an incomplete experience in Genesis fandom to connect the dots between the present and the past.

The songs are arranged across three discs from the most recent output to the oldest except that "Calling All Stations" from the album of the same name finishes Disc 1 rather than leading off. In its efficiency, Platinum Collection becomes a great value for the listener who wants simply to appreciate Genesis for the creativity that embodied their best musical efforts. More than a history lesson, Disc 3 contains the earliest work of the band and besides Gabriel's lead vocals demonstrates the keyboard mastery of Tony Banks, a genius on synthesizers and the Mellotron MkII and M400 that generated a huge orchestral sound from an electronic keyboard.

Here's hoping your experience goes Platinum!

If you're a fan of the band, you need this.

If you have just about everything the band's commercially released, you need this.

If you've heard all this stuff before and know it inside and out, backwards and forwards, you...STILL...NEED...this.

Why, you may ask? Well, the tracks that Genesis engineer Nick Davis remixed for THE PLATINUM COLLECTION will make longtime fans of the band sit up and take notice like they were hearing them for the first time, guaranteed. It's a worthwhile addition to any music collection...even one filled full with other Genesis titles.

You can't have it all in 3 discs, but by Gabriel, they sure did try to get almost everything in! The first disc covers the later Phil Collins era, which is fine considering that the band's catalog has only seen a proper remastering up to ABACAB. If you like the hits from that period, you're in good shape with Disc 1. Hey, you also get to hear just one track from the much-maligned CALLING ALL STATIONS album - in this case, the title track, which is confusing since "Congo" and "Shipwrecked" were the released singles. The weight of the burden carrying the Genesis name on past Collin's departure was too great for the band, but it's not because his replacement, Ray Wilson, wasn't up to the task, and you can hear for yourself on this track. Those curious past this point can check out THE VIDEO SHOW, the awesome new DVD compilation of the band's video ouput, to experience the aforementioned singles from CAS (in 5.1 surround, no less!).

Disc 2 gets the listener into the transitional period where Mr. Collins had just taken the lead vocal chores after original frontman Peter Gabriel departed. Hearing the remixed "Misunderstanding" for the first time took me by surprise, since it was from the first Genesis album I bought, DUKE, and had heard that song many times before. If you're like me and this was your entry point to Genesis music, Disc 2 will astound you for many too many reasons.

And then there's Disc 3 - the fabled Gabriel era. Amazing, brilliant stuff that never wears thin on this listener, from the title track to THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY all the way through to THE KNIFE. Two wishes I had with this disc is that they could have included "Watcher Of The Skies" and something off of FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION in the track listing, but understand perfectly that you have to save some gems for album explorations. There are plenty of good reasons left off these 3 discs to do that very thing, dear reader. Hopefully, this 3-disc experience will just whet the appetite.

So order yourself a copy of THE PLATINUM COLLECTION, along with a copy of THE VIDEO SHOW, and "take a little trip back..."

Economic value: 5 Stars; Compilation: 4 Stars; Packaging: 3 Stars

Now that Genesis has decided to do the (take your pick: dreaded/hoped for) reunion tour this year, starting in Europe shortly, coming to the US later this year, it's time to revisit the only compilation that spans the entire Genesis studio catalogue.

"Genesis Platinum Edition" (3 CDs; 40 tracks; 235 min.) tracks the band's history in reverse chronological order, with one exception: the title track of 1997's "Calling All Stations", which is stuck at the end of CD1 and sounds totally out of place--for many reasons. But for that song, this covers Genesis 1971-1991, and it's amazing what these guys put out in 20 years, and how the band evolved. This compilation is a decent attempt to cover it all. CD1 (16 tracks, 78 min.) covers the band's most successfull years, and many of these tracks are also found on the "Turn It On Again - The Hits" compilation. Am I the only one to think that the songs from 1986's "Invisible Touch" album have aged very poorly? It makes me cringe to listen to them. (Note: "Tonight Tonight Tonight" comes in an edited, short version here.) CD2 (15 tracks, 77 min.) tracks the intermediary years and I was surprised how good these songs resonate still. Check out for example "Abacab" (in the full album version, thankfully), and "In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow", but shamefully "One for the Vine" is missing, one of the band's best tracks ever (and perhaps the best song Tony Banks ever penned). CD3 (9 tracks, 80 min.) covers the Peter Gabriel years (1971-1975), and while I did not mind (and at times greatly enjoyed) Genesis' evolution to a mainstream successful band, this era is still the most compelling for me. Check out "The Cinema Show" and "Supper's Ready" (both here in full length) if you're not familiar with them, you'll be blown away, I promise you.

There is no arguing with the economic value of this compilation: 4 hours of music for $20, you can't beat that. The packaging is a different story: skimpy liner notes, and the booklet is misprinted with pages out of order... I have seen Genesis in concert only once, in Brussels on the 1977 tour for "Wind & Wuthering" and I remember it as if it was yesterday. Unforgettable. While I know that this year's reunion tour is probably a money-grabbing thing, I nevertheless do plan on seeing them when they come to Columbus in September, for nostalgic reasons if nothing else.

This collection is an excellent overview to the works of one of rock's most gifted bands. There's something in this three-disc set for everyone, given the fact that the music on this collection morphs slowly from pop-rock to prog-rock. It actually goes backwards in time with the exception of Calling All Stations (1997)at the end of disc one, beginning with songs from the 1991 album We Can't Dance to The Knife from the Trespass album made in 1970.

The new mixes of some of the songs are way better than the 1994 ones. They sound way more dynamic and full. I'm a little upset that Supper's Ready didn't get the same treatment, and I would've picked out different song choices in some places. Squonk should have been where Trick of the Tail is (a new mix of that would sound incredible), and No Reply All and Man on the Corner were both sadly overlooked. The one thing I won't complain about is the fact that there are no songs from the debut album. The album sounds very bland compared to the rest of the band's work.

The slipshod packaging is another thing that upset me once I got this collection. I think a digipak would've been much more presentable. There's a stupid misplacing of pages in the booklet that takes much away to one's interest in the liner notes.

Despite the flaws, this is still the way to go if one wishes to be introduced to Genesis. It's much better than the 1999 CD, which features only the hits (and one remake). This collection is not all hits, some actually are, others are magnificent pieces of music from a band who was about nothing but the music. I recommend this to anyone. Let's hope that 5.1 albums are finished and released soon, and also for another tour!