A TRICK OF THE TAIL

After four years, I am re-writing and re-rating A Trick of The Tail. I gave it 4 stars at that time just because this album did not have a piece on epic proportion. But the fact is this is album that does not loose appeal at all goes to prove that it is actually a masterpiece. This is also I think the biggest prog album with Collins in the vocals (off course Wind and Wuthering is also brilliant). Firstly the songs of this album are more or less very tight, except for Squonk-- which I believe could have been tighter. The recording is very crisp and you can hear all the instruments all the time. Dance on a volcano is simply a masterpiece-- demonstrating absolute musicianship where Genesis proves to be a master of rhythm. Excellent guitar, excellent drum, bass, keyboard and excellent vocals. You'll never get tired of it and in fact, the more you hear it, the more you appreciate it. Entangled is yet another brilliant piece with a little shorcoming-- its lyrics. Entangled sounds like a sentimental song during the vocals part-- although this is a satirical piece on psychological treatment. Yet its an outstanding song with a mellotron led ending that can never be forgotten. Squonk opens very nicely and the tune is very catchy. But I would say they could cut the length to make it more appealing. Mad Man Moon is an adventurous piece based on complex piano work and tends to grow on you. Brilliant lyrics of self discovery in pursuit of wealth and fortune. Robbery, Assault and Battery is another satire-- well played and very interesting. Ripples is yet another brilliant piece with straight forward lyrics and intriguingly structured. The finishing is as brilliant as Ripples-- but this time its Steve's amazing guitar moaning. A trick of the tale is rather the most simple composition in this album with yet another satirical and nice lyrics about how people react to something they are not used to, or new or different. By all means this is a very nice song-- though it has lower replay value. Los Endos is the instrumental grand finale of the album that borrows from the other songs of this album- Dance on a volcano and Squonk. Heavy percussion and loads of guitar, bass and keyboard works. Its not the finest Genesis instrumental, but its good.