TURN IT ON AGAIN - THE HITS

This album is the evidence. Yes, nothing is impossible. The most artistic and fanstastic musicians are able to make the worst cd. This is not progressive, is the most commercial and ugly pop. The rating bad is too good for it. It's signed by GENESIS, but if not, I'm sure that this cd never would deserve a place at any progressive site. The "pearls" "Mama" and "I Can't Dance" are included, wow!

I have always been a fan of GENESIS, especially the Peter GABRIEL-era. The first GENESIS album I heard were "A Trick Of The Tail" (1976), and the first I bought were "Trespass" (1970). Even if this was my favourite GENESIS period, I never stopped listening to them, and to this date I have bought all their 15 studio albums + the live albums. Although I think that their glorious days have passed I still think that they've always delivered quality albums. This collection of Hits shows just how good composers GENESIS are. 15 of the 18 tracks are played entirely by Tony Banks, Phil Collins & Mike Rutherford. Unfortunately there isn't much represented of the 70's in this Hits-collection. They recorded many classics back in the 70's, but they didn't produce any hits that are for sure. This compilation does however contain a re-recording of "The Carpet Crawlers" from "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" (1974). My favourite tracks are "Follow You, Follow Me", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "The Carpet Crawlers 1999". GENESIS were one of the progressive pioneers in the 70's and without their contribution to the music history, many progressive bands today would've sounded totally different. This is the perfect starter for the explorers of 80's and 90's Genesis. "The Carpet Crawlers 1999" in itself makes this compilation worth buying. Highly recommended!

I am personally a hard core Genesis fan, mostly Gabriel era. I think everybody agrees that after Hackett departure Genesis became one of the most succesfull Pop music Bands (duh!!!) I am not too exited about all their later work, although I respect what they have done, this particular compilation mainly is all Pop Genesis guided by Collins influence, they throw in there only 2 proggressive compositions. In all this album has nothing new and I only spent my money on it to have the new version of The Carpet Crawlers, which by itself I guess worth the sacrifice...You can always skip until the middle (Song 9) and the end (Song 18) anyway or better yet, burn on a CD the new version. I would never advised to download any Genesis material, because I srongly believe that if you are a fan..get it, and if not just do not bother...

Mister Collins and Co. always try to rub in the face of older fans they were commercially successful when Peter and Steve left, but at what cost?

They had to sacrifice quality, greatness, transcendence, in other words art, in order to get their hands on the big bucks.

But what pisses me more is that they throw us two candies (I Know What I Like and Carpet Crawlers 99) as if progressive fans were stupid to believe it's a return to their roots only because this two tracks. In other words they insist with the pop stuff but because they know new fans are not faithful enough to buy this sad compilation (most of them had forgotten the band after CAS), but they try to sell a few more albums to the older and only loyal fans using this two tracks as a fishing hook.

I won't even loose my time describing the 16 "hits" from the post Hackett era, because they are not even worth to worry about, so we have two tracks left.

The first one is "I Know What I Like (In your Wardrobe)", which never was among my favorite tracks, too commercial oriented for my taste, but it's too good to be surrounded by songs like "Invisible Touch" or "Throwing it all Away". Mr. Collins, please leave Gabriel songs where they belong!!!!

The second one is "Carpet Crawlers 99" which IMHO is the worst version of this correct song, has been to softened to fit in this album, not even Peter Gabriel saves this one. I believe the tracks from a conceptual album (like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) must never be taken out of their natural context where they make sense, in this case is just a soft and boring ballad.

If you don't have it, don't buy it. If you were tricked by the two tracks I mentioned, you can give a better use to the CD like a coaster or a small Frisbee.

As a sign of respect for the two tracks from the golden era won't give this album a 0 rating, but doesn't deserve more than one star.

This is a compilation of singles so why do people go on ranting about what it isn't? Some people just want to rant on an on about some Genesis they had in their minds. A Genesis that they thought belonged to them, a Genesis that they thought they controlled with their progessibe rock strings and hoops. What? This is a fine compilation of what people heard on the radio... not the real Genesis that treated us to a three dimensional muiti-coloured pallatte of energy, soul and mind with a listen to the full albums. If you didn't enjoy their singles then you may not enjoy this cd but then again it may provide the listener with a different vantage point that may allow them to appreciate a portion of their body of work that they may have dismessed before.

This compilation contains some of the singles mixes not available on the original album or only available on 45's or cd singles. Very enjoyable to listen to their wide range of writing skills.

I don`t have this album, as it is a collection of hits that I already have in L.P.s or in C.D.s of their original albums. The main interest in this album for the "old fans" is the "Carpet Crawlers 1999 re-recording", a new version of this song which I downloaded as this song was briefly available for downloading in GENESIS`s first official website in late 1999. So, my comment is particularly for this new version, which was produced by Trevor Horn. This version was recorded between 1995 and 1999, by Banks/Rutherford/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett, each one recording their parts at different times and in different studios. Hackett said in interviews (maybe as a joke) that "everybody almost telephoned their parts to the studio". There are rumours about Wilson being invited to sing a verse. The last verse of the song is not sung, as it seems that it was the verse which Wilson was going to sing (it is only a rumour, I think). But the first verse is sung by Gabriel, with Collins in backing vocals and other verse in sung by Collins with Gabriel in backing vocals. It is a good version, not as good as the original version. This is a "modern" version. The producer also employed some additional musicians, like one person who helped with the programming of some keyboards and maybe also of the drum machine. As a whole, this compilation is good mainly for Fans who want to have every GENESIS `s album , or for the Radio listener who only knows their hits.

As a greatest hits CD of the poppier Genesis, this gives a good overview and shows that the band did produce good pop music throughout the eighties. It is a good way to collect great pop/rock songs like Land of confusion and Jesus He knows me. As such, a 3.5 star rating would be in its place, but only from a pop/rock point of view.

For the progrock lover, there is not much of interest here. I know what I like is the only track from the golden age of Genesis (from Trespass upto and including Wind and Wuthering)... The only track of some value is the remake of Carpet crawlers, although it is more of a curio value. The original version is far superior.

I give this rating based on the criterion of the necessity of this album being in any progressive rock fans collection.

Here are my disclaimers: I am a big Gabriel-era Genesis fan, although I enjoy the Collins years (albeit in decending order) and have always loved Phil's drumming. I am also a huge prog-rock fan but have a large collection of music (about 2000 discs) spanning classical to country to funk to prog-rock.

"The Hits" succeeds for the the two reasons I'm guessing it was released: 1. Gather as many sales as possible with the largest possible audience. This would naturally be the "pop/rock" hits, and many people do want a good compliation of a band with many hits. This is a good compilation of Genesis' radio hits. Obviously, the "progressive" side of Genesis was not very present in their hitmaking days. I would label "Turn It On Again", "Follow You, Follow Me", and "The Carpet Crawlers" as the real progressive songs. "Turn It On Again" has an interesting rhythmic structure of 13/4 (6/4 and 7/4). "Follow You" has great interplay between the synths and basses and guitars, along with a almost Bernard Purdie-style funk drum pattern. "The Carpet Crawlers" is a great remake--probably better than the original with the dual vocals, the updated sound, the running keyboard patterns, and the welcome return of the guitar in the mix. I can do without the typical over-percussive drum loops, but that's the way they do things today. A quick mention to "I Know What I Like" which is a nice song, but very straightforward, even though it's Gabriel-era. 2. Bolster the afore-mentioned sales by adding a "bonus" track with the "classic progressive" lineup. They certainly did that, and that track alone is worth buying the album--if you're a Genesis fan.

Based off of the facts, this album is for collectors and fans only in a progressive sense.

This compilation consist only of Genesis biggest hits after Steve Hackett left the band. Mostly disasters, though there are some tracks I really like here too. But originally, this one obviously was designed only to cash in money at Genesis popularity and mostly purchased by people who only remembered Genesis for their 80's phase, and not their glorious 70's phase. It's not that I hate Genesis' 80's works, but this is a souless and sell-out attempt to make an compilation, imo. One good point for progheads here is the "Carpet Crawlers '99" re-recording cut at the end, but even that one isn't really a reason enough to buy this album.

2 stars because of some of the songs I really enjoy here, but otherwise, this one is only for 80's Genesis fans!

Well it does what it says it does: it gives you the hits. If you're a Peter Gabriel era fan, you aren't looking for hits as such, because there's only one (included here, I Know What I Like). For people curious regarding the FM radio powerhouses the band produced in the 80s, this would be a good introduction. But for people who want to get into Prog Genesis, a better place to start would be to acquire Selling England By The Pound or Nursery Cryme: in my opinion, far better value as the music will stay with you and you will enjoy it for years to come, as opposed to the forgettable and embarassing 3 minute hits.

Another compilation, this time of the greatest hits of Genesis. Why does all those classic bands from the 70s realease one compilation every year nowadays? It isn't just the prog bands.

Anyway, this compilation is more for the fans of the pop-era Genesis. Nothing for the prog-fan except of I know what I like (buy SEBTP instead of this if you want that song) and a remix of the Carpet Crawlers which sounds like a merging of the original studio version and some live version with Collins singing. Altough some of the pop-tracks are rather good, for example Turn it on again and Abacab (But the extended version is better) this is nothing of real interest, maybe for that Carpet Crawlers remix.

I think this album is very good. It has exactly what the title says it has, the hits. For those wanting the Peter Gabriel stuff, don't look here. The Peter Gabriel era of Genesis never produced any singles. The had there first hit single in 1978 as far as radio is concerned. I would however have preferred the single version of the songs here and not just some 30 or 40 second chops offs that they did like in the songs mama, No Son Of Mine and Cogo. Also, where is Taking It All Too Hard or Home By The Sea or Never A Time. I would have left off The Peter Gabriel track since this is mainly a Phil Collins era collection. One of the highlights of this disc is The Carpet Crawlers 1999. That song alone makes this compilation a great buy. So all in all this is a great collection, but it could have been tweaked a little.

This compilation offers the hits - that is the most commercial songs - of Genesis. If this compilation was meant to attract new listeners, I think it failed. Most of the songs are from the Genesis pop-rock era. Hardly essential songs to attract people to listen; it's enough to have listened one Peter Gabriel era album, and any interest in purchasing this compilation disappears.

Let's have a look at the hits: all the hit singles from Invisible Touch are here (5 songs!) - Land of Confusion is the only worthy song from those five; two songs from the Duke album - Turn It on Again and Misunderstanding, no objection from me here; Mama and That's All, two of the better songs from the Genesis 1983 album (thank God no Illegal Alien here). The single version of Abacab is terrible IMHO (the 7 minutes album version is much better); they did not forget to put the hit singles from We Can't Dance - both I Can't Dance and Jesus He Knows Me are (a bit) silly and too poppy (for my taste at least), but No Son of Mine and Hold on My Heart are great and enjoyable songs. Now last but not least, the best songs on this compilation are I Know What I Like (it's definitely not the Peter Gabriel era song but it's much more interesting and better than any post1980 hit single IMHO), the new version of The Carpet Crawlers (quite interesting, honours the original version) and (I almost forgot) Follow You, Follow Me, the hit single of Genesis 1978 album (again it's a lot better than any of the 80s hits).

I cannot recommend this compilation to anyone, if you are new to the world of Genesis, don't start with this compilation, get any album from the early days to 1980 Duke. And then you may bother with the rest.

Post Hackett Genesis seemed to hit on a winning pop formula. Perhaps they were just a right band at the right time but its now quite difficult to work out why they became so successful. Like most pop this music cannot be separated from its period. Almost all of these singles are throw away but sold in bucket fulls to teen age girls (mostly I suspect). To be honest i don't really like any post Hackett genesis LP very much and so for the most part this does nothing for me. There are moments, The carpet Crawl is a nice version but not worth buying the set for. Released around the same time as the first box set, but not essential in any way. If you want all the singles in one place it is probably a good collection.

Carpet Crawlers 99' is simply great. Peter Gabriel sounds as good as ever and the whole band is back at least for this one track. I find the remixing tasteful and successful in creating a single feel with Carpet Crawlers. The added gloss and percussion/synth works very well. A must have. If you can't like this song, you either have a heart of stone or ears filled with wax - 99' brings tears to my eyes. As for the rest of the CD... no good! Not that I don't like the songs included but they have all been edited down and are punchless without being surrounded in the proggy bits which genesis has always had - admit it! - even on follies like Abacab. I'm sure most will agree with me that they would much rather listen to Turn It On Again than their wife's or mother's with-the-times collection of true pop "artists." Collins and the crew are pros and they do have a soft spot for us proggers, witness tracks like The Brazilian and Dominoes, Me And Sarah Jane, Cul De Sac, Duke's Travels and Fading Lights. These aren't lures, don't think they need the 70's cult. If you listen to Turn It On Again through say, twelve times, unless you really are the Machine Messiah of prog music, you'll take a liking to the simple good music of Genesis, commercial and populist as it may be. At least fall for the illusionary reunion! Five Stars.

No, I didn't buy this. I found it in my wife's convoluted mess of cassettes and figured that, since it's from one of my favorite bands ever, it deserves my opinionated review. My better half is not a progger by any stretch of the imagination but when it comes to Genesis she knows what she likes and she likes what she knows. In other words, she considers them a superb pop group that created a lot of popular songs and videos that she enjoyed during the 80s. And, with this compilation being called "The Hits," this is exactly what she thought she was purchasing. Good for her. For me, I tend to think of this as Genesis (with a few exceptions) after they became afflicted with the MTV virus.

Wisely they start things off briskly with "Turn It On Again" from the excellent "Duke" album. Almost every tune on that baby was a winner in my book and it launched this catchy song's prog time signature onto car radios all over the world. Next you are treated to the blatantly commercial "Invisible Touch" with its pointless lyrics and then the weird hysterics of the creepy "Mama" but both tracks rank miles above the annoying, noisy "Land of Confusion." It's so grating that it makes their mediocre novelty song "I Can't Dance" a relief to hear. "Follow You, Follow Me" always reminds me of the first time I put ".And Then There Were Three" on my turntable and sadly realized that the glory days of hearing mind-blowing epics from these guys might be coming to an end. (With the exception of "Duke" I was right, unfortunately.)

"Hold On My Heart" is a fine example of the sappy love ballads that became their bread and butter in their latter days and if this is your cup 'o tea then indulge yourself. "Abacab" still packs a punch, however, and this edited version still shows they had some pep in their step as late as 1981. For those poor souls who are amazed to find out that Peter Gabriel used to be their front man (don't laugh, there's a lot of Muggles out there clueless to this fact) you get the wonderful, whimsical "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" to provide a nostalgic oasis along the way. "Throwing It All Away" follows and a number of fans probably thought they were writing this about their legacy but it's just another slick ballad about a failed relationship.

"No Son of Mine" rocks pretty hard and lyrically it boldly takes on a touchy subject that actually has relevance. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" might have sold a lot of beer but it has never slaked my thirst for some good ol' symphonic prog. It's just too 80s VH-1 sounding for me. What's next? Yep, it's another overwrought ballad coming at you as "In Too Deep" rolls through (boy, these guys had some real issues in their home lives, I guess). The rarely-heard "Congo" has their usual high production values but it also makes me glad I didn't shell out any lettuce for that final album. I like "Jesus He Knows Me" a lot because I admire any band that shines a glaring spotlight on the despicable hypocrisy of TV evangelists and this tune does a great job of it. "That's All" is just one of those songs that I have no strong opinion about. It just sorta lays there. (Hey, it could have been worse. They could have included the ridiculous "Illegal Alien.") When I said that "almost" every song on "Duke" was a winner, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" .oops, I mean "Misunderstanding" is the exception. Well, the riff is an absolute rip-off no matter how they may rationalize it. Sly Stone should get a partial writing credit.

If there is a single reason for any Genesis fan to own this album it's for the inclusion of "The Carpet Crawlers 1999." It provides a wistful "what if" moment if there ever was one. No, it's not an improvement over the original by any means but hearing the unmistakable voices of Peter and Phil together again with up-to-date studio techniques in play causes me to wonder just how fantastic a modern rendition of "Nursery Cryme" or even "Foxtrot" might sound. (Okay, call me a heretic!) Alas, this more than decent revised version is still good mainly because it's such a killer tune and it's probably as close as we'll ever come to a genuine reunion.

Why three stars? Well, it certainly isn't for the proggers who already have the original albums that made them legend and most of these songs are seriously deficient in progressive ideals, no doubt. But when taken in light of the schlock that was being slung about during the dismal MTV-plagued years that were the 80s these lads at least maintained a modicum of professionalism and integrity about themselves and it's my belief that they could have done much, much worse.

This compilation does not present a balanced setlist between two era of Genesis: Gabriel as lead singer and Phil Collins as lead singer. Most of the songs are taken from Phil Collins era. Even worse, the era after Steve Hackett left the band. Only two songs that involve Gabriel and Hackett, i.e. "I Know What I like" and "Carpet Crawlers". This CD compilation had been for such a long time at our local C store and I had never had any intention to purchase it until my colleague Genesis fan, Temy, told me that the last track "Carpet Crawler" was re-recorded with Peter Gabriel and Stephen Hackett. So, I did purchase the CD for this one single song! Well, I am really satisfied with this re-recording version of "Carpet Crawlers" because I have now the new version when all of the members were getting old already and the version is very different with the original version from the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". This only last track that makes the purchase of this CD is worthwile - especially the CD was produced locally in my country.

But, I don't recommend newbie to start the journey of progressive music from Genesis from this compilation because it will give wrong impression about the band. They should start from "Selling England By The Pound".

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Having been fortunate enough to see the Collins led Genesis 6 times before they turned commercial, My only regret of course was having missed the Peter Gabriel led version. At the time, I was in my early teens and the closest they came to New York was the Capitol Theatre in NJ. And I consider it a waste of time to go see any Genesis tribute band, because none of the musicians in these bands can close to the passion of the real thing.

The release of Carpet Crawlers 1999, is great but sad reminder of how good Genesis was at full strength, with all five members present. Instead of a greatest hits album, if only they could have gone back and redone the Lamb or the Cinema Show with all five guys in the studio. It would be have been amazing to see what they could have done with modern studio equipment to those tunes. This is kind of hinted at by Hackett on his GENESIS REVISITED cd. I would have prefered to see the classic lineup of Hackett/Rutherford/Collins/Gabriel/Banks do a GENESIS REVISITED cd. But alas, we only have the release of Carpet Crawlers 1999 and I know what I like as tease of what this project could have really been about. If you need more copies of the hits, I guess this is the collection for you, but out of the 18!! tracks on this cd, the only ones that are really essential for Genesis fans are tracks 9 and 18, cause at least you are actually getting the full strength Genesis that is sorely missed in today's musical landscape.

It is with a heavy heart that I admit... this is the only Genesis album I know. I will get round to buying 'Selling England...' et al. but this collection is abbysmal. Only four songs capture my attention. 'I Know What I Like...' for its charming English eccentricity (Which a charming English eccentric like me appreciates), 'Turn it on Again': a killer tune no matter what you say, 'Land of Confusion': Pretty good but not as much as the others, and 'Invisible Touch' which works as a simple pop song, and I have a soft spot for, as it was the first Genesis song I heard. These four tracks out of eighteen cannot make this collection up, and even the 'Carpet Crawlers' track does not interest me.

Yuck. Now, I hate late Genesis, and I realize that this is a complitation of hits, but this just awful. They threw a bunch of hits together for a mild late-Genesis fan, and as a result a progger like me is left in the dust. It's obvious that they tried to make this sort of even between the two eras of Genesis by including two Gabriel-era songs, but two of their more decent, shorter songs is nothing in comparison to 16 god- awful songs. TURN IT OFF AGAIN is my title for this because trust me, this stuff is never playing when I'm around.

Early Genesis is some of the best Symphonic Prog that is out there, but late Genesis leaves something to be desired. After Hackett and Gabriel quit Collins made them sound more like a dance/pop band as evidenced in "Tonight, Tonight". One of the only good things on this album is "I Know What You Like" from "Selling England By The Pound" which is one of the best Genesis albums from the Peter Gabriel era. Exept for this and a few other songs, "Carpet Crawlers" and "Abacab", there isn't much on this album that makes me want to listen to it any more than I have to. Overall about a 1.5.

I'm a fan of all things Genesis. That includes the Peter Gabriel Era, The Tony Banks Era, and the Phil Collins Era. I don't understand the hate for this album. It's title contains the words "The Hits". That means no Supper's Ready, No Musical Box because they were not hits. Favorites, some of the best that Genesis has ever done, yes, but a hit as in chart success, no.

Here Genesis collects some of the most radio friendly songs of the latter years with 2 songs from days long gone by with Peter Gabriel. Actually, Carpet Crawlers is rerecorded with both Gabriel and Collins taking a shot at the lead vocals and some modern percussion added to boot. A minus for this song is that too much of Steve Hacketts guitar was left on the editing floor, but again its a hits album. The rest are either radio / MTV hits with a few rock hits thrown in. This is a pop album and not a prog album, but a good pop album at that. It's a good way to get Genesis hits w/o getting the 10 of so albums that the hits originally came from.

3 stars.

This was the first Genesis album I attained, and I must say, I like it. Though it does disappoint me to find that Peter Gabriel was only featured on two songs, "I Know What I Like" and "The Carpet Crawlers 1999," I really don't blame Genesis for this decision. The album is greatly run on pop songs, but those are the gems that got the band famous. Personally, it wouldn't be a greatest hits album if it didn't contain the greatest hits, right?

Some notable songs I'd like to point out are "Mama," "Follow You Follow Me," and "The Carpet Crawlers 1999." The inclusion of the first song was surprising; the rhythm is based off of a distorted drum loop, heavy synth, and Phil Collins laugh (I can imagine the latter to be a turn off for many listeners, but it does the exact opposite for me). The song builds throughout, leading to a climactic guitar solo at the end. A very different song, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Follow You Follow Me" was a major hit after Steve Hackett's departure from the band in 1977. This was one of the major turning points in the band's music, where they allowed the inclusion of pop in their music. The song contains an echoing, flanging guitar riff, soft vocals by Collins, and an unforgettable keyboard solo that keeps me listening to this song. For Genesis' breakthrough into the pop realm, I'd say it's a dang good hit.

Now, "The Carpet Crawlers 1999" is something very interesting. It's a remake of a song featured on Gabriel's last album with Genesis, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." The compilation version is significantly different; the tempo is slower, and Collins and Gabriel share the lead vocals. Comparing it to the earlier version, personally, I like the remake more. It just seems to flow smoother, and the vocals are extremely well-executed. However, it completely depends on the listener's preference.

I give this album three stars not only because it contains famous songs such as "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," "Invisible Touch," "Land of Confusion," and "Turn It On Again," but because it well represents high points in the Collins era. However, I would not give it a higher rating because it poorly represents the Gabriel era, which, arguably, contains the more progressive hits. If you're looking for Gabriel's hits, this is not the album for you. Though, for those looking for more mainstream music from Genesis, this is a good starting point.

This is a compilation that spans Genesis' career as a singles pop act. This was the first album that I ever bought of Genesis' music hoping for a "best of" containing fantastic progressive rock, without knowing that they had been a singles act for quite some time. Needless to say, I was immediately upset with the music on this collection. Uninspired pop tunes galore.

I did, however, re-wrap this CD and send it to my mother, knowing that she loves '80s pop. She loved it, so my money didn't go to waste entirely. A very bad introduction to Genesis indeed. Definitely stay away from this unless you want the band's poppy tunes.

This compilation may not be every Genesis fans dream come true, but for me, this is basically the soundtrack to my childhood.

Of the two Genesis eras, I have to say I'm more of a Phil Collins guy, and rather enjoy their more commercial material. On display here is pretty much all their biggest hits from that era. Many of these came out when I was no more than four or five years old, and it was through my parents that I was exposed to the greatness that is Genesis. In fact, one of my earliest memories was seeing the classic video for 'I Can't Dance' when I was just a toddler on the kitchen TV.

Songs such as 'Turn It On Again', 'No Son of Mine' and 'Jesus He Knows Me' are some of the earliest songs I can remember from my childhood, and later songs like 'Congo' and 'Carpet Crawlers '99' are welcome additions to this compilation.

This may not appeal to every Genesis fan out there, especially the more prog-diehard fans, but this is a great album for the casual listener. Mixing nicely between rock and pop music, fans of any musical genre will find something to enjoy here, and the great thing about this era of Genesis is that EVERYONE must know at least one song from this track list, proving that there truly is a bit of Genesis in everyone.

Turn it On Again: The Hits is what it is: The Hits. It contains over 78 minutes of music, and even figuring a few seconds between tracks, it accounts for at least 98% of the capacity of a compact disk. (Compare that to Nursery Cryme, at 42:35.)

To me, the question is not whether Turn it On Again: The Hits contains the best of Genesis, but whether it accomplishes its goal of presenting "the hits," and if it does, the quality of those hits.

Genesis had twenty-two Billboard Hot 100 chart entries between 1977 and 1993. Fifteen of these are on Turn it On Again: The Hits, including the band's ten biggest hits. (The following hits are missing from Turn it On Again: The Hits: "Your Own Special Way," #62; "No Reply At All," #29; "Man on the Corner," #40, "Paperlate," #32; "Illegal Alien," #44, "Taking it All Too Hard," #50; and "Never a Time," #21.)

Meanwhile, Turn it On Again: The Hits has three songs that were not hits in the US, but represent the periods before and after the group's hitmaking days: "Congo," "Carpet Crawlers '99," and "I Know What I Like." So overall, this album does a pretty good job of presenting the hits on a single disk.

Now, what of the quality of these songs? About a third of the material ranges from pretty bad (e.g., "Throwing it All Away") to really bad ("Hold On My Heart," "In Too Deep"), and another third ranges from good ("Abacab") to great ("Misunderstanding," "Carpet Crawlers '99"). The remainder are OK, and among these I count "Land of Confusion," "That's All," "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," and "Invisible Touch," none of which makes me switch stations if it comes on the radio.

Turn it On Again: The Hits is a greatest-hits album (whereas the three-disc Platinum Collection seems to be closer to a "best-of"), and while these hits aren't that great, they're not that bad either. The original reason to buy this CD was to get "Carpet Crawlers '99," but that's been available for individual download on itunes and Amazon for years - - which means that this isn't an essential purchase. I would, though, recommend it to anyone, including Gabriel- and Hackett-era Genesis fans interested in an overview of the band's 1980s and 1990s singles.

Ladies and Gentlemen presenting the hits of Genesis with all the prog zapped out of them leaving an empty shell of pop kitsch to grace the music charts and set women's hearts afire. This is quite abysmal with the occasional ray of light with magnificent Turn It On Again with the proggish drum tempo changes and it's followed by the sacharinne sweet sugary syrup of Invisible Touch, and ha ha ha haaaa Mama, Land Of Confusion with nice melody but nothing can save I Can't Dance with that corny tune and meddling dance step.

It gets slightly better with lovely ballads Follow You Follow Me and Hold On My Heart, attracting the female audience to concerts. Abacab (hits edit) is okay and the Gabriel era I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) is a crowd pleaser. No Son Of Mine (hits edit) is definitely a terrific song but I am not keen on Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (single edit), In Too Deep , or Congo (hits edit). Admittedly I'm a fan of Jesus He Knows Me with its catchy hook and lyrics.

This is followed by dreary That's All, Misunderstanding and Throwing It All Away. The version of Carpet Crawlers (1999 Re-recording) is not an improvement and really should stay on Lamb Lies Down on Broadway where it belongs.

So overall it's Genesis for the non prog fan and it is not a pretty picture by any standards. Certainly grab it if you see it in a bargain dollar bin but its a mere decoration for collectors only.

#56 Review

I will start by saying that this album was a hit, it managed to get even 4 platinum in some countries, so from money Genesis perspective, this was a good release, meanwhile i can't imagine me or most of us even daring to buy this thing, unless you have nothing else to buy.

I encourage you to read the titles at the top of this page, in its album description, i will only focus and point out the ones that are different in length and structure to the original album releases:

- Mama (Single Edit): It starts sooner, a lot sooner, the wait for the keyboard is shorter and what the keyboard plays before the singing is also cut a bit (no repetition), the instrumental intermission is also cut short, and it fades out earlier at the guitar solo, making the original 7 minute track into a 5:20 one.

- Abacab (Single Edit): Based on the video version, its a terrible conversion, this doesn't say much, but i have literally done better mixes than this one. This one cuts right before the instrumental at 3:30 and re-starts part of the introduction, making this almost 7 minute track a 4 minute one.

- No Son of Mine (Hits Edit): This one cuts a bit of the introduction... i really don't like this song much, so i don't know what really got cut in here to make this track a minute short, its probably just the introduction and ending getting a bit cut, i'm glad because i really don't like how the track ends.

- Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (Single Edit): This is probably the worst offender, the edit cut is worse than Abacab, it reduces the track to literally half its length, skipping the instrumental section entirely, this is also based on the video version. The cut is extremelly jarring and cheap in comparison to all the others, because its just a fade-in, even the Michelob ad did it better, i can't believe this is a real release, i have literally done better edits than this.

- Congo (Hits Edit): Doesn't say that its an edit (on YT), and despite this song already having a single version, this one is slightly different as it includes the introduction, but still not the solo, what an odd choice really, they could've just added the single version.

- Carpet Crawlers 1999: A new rendition of the classic Genesis song done in studio, with some approval from the band, apparently not Mike nor Tony played anything in this version, yet Phil, Steve and Peter did give new lines, but i can't confirm. Compositions will always be beautyful, no matter the form, but in this case, i'm not a fan, most of the things i like from the original are missing (like the keyboards) and the new sections added don't work for me. The only reason i don't hate this track its because of were it comes, rather than whatever this new version is trying to accomplish.

Even though this album has some changes, they aren't interesting enough to warrant a listen, the edits are mostly bad and unnecessary, and the final track, was released as a single that i already reviewed, and again, it doesn't warrant someone buying this collection, but its a welcome adition. Overall, this official release was apparently pretty popular, and at the time, i can see why but also i can't, during that time it was easy to find bootleg compilations that probably would've featured the same tracks and in complete form, and nowadays its even worse, because of the easy to access music on the internet, having the package could be interesting, but in my case, i feel better by getting the albums separately and the single as well, the only saving grace of this compilation would be the "Hits Edits", but those are a few, are bad and/or not interesting, so this compilation is a no from me, only for hardcore fans that even want the trash edits that Genesis did in a few minutes... i seriously can't stress enough how worse than amateur the edit is in Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, they should've atleast fixed that one for this release.