A TRICK OF THE TAIL

I was first exposed to this album back in '77, when I bought it as a cassette from my hometown's fair. It was my first Genesis album and, although the tracks, as they were recorded on the tape, were in essence samples of the actual tracks (what the hell, I didn't know I was going to be ripped off!), nevertheless I was very impressed by their sound.

Bearing in mind that 'A Trick..' was the first album by Genesis that I had heard up until then, I was hooked immediately! Especially on listening to 'Dance on A Volcano' - I thought 'Woah!' What's this?'. I was hooked! The production was top-notch and I wasn't aware that it was the band's first album with Collins singing lead which, compared to other Gabriel-albums I subsequently got to listen to, I couldn't tell apart from Gabriel's voice!

The album is a great showcase of the musicians' skills and their songwriting was becoming more loose and the music itself more 'fusion-y',which makes sense if one considers that Collins had, by then, already started to jam with Brand X.

Speaking in terms of melodies, 'A Trick..' assumed a more snappy approach and Collins' vocals give the album a much less ponderous air lyrics-wise, which would no doubt have been the case, had Gabriel sung them. In my opinion, the lyrics are more bizarre but have a more mundane, happy-go-lucky approach. All of the material on the album is great, my favourites being 'Mad Man Moon', the ballad 'Ripples', 'A Trick of The Tail', 'Assault and Battery' and the aforementioned 'Dance on A Volcano'.

This and the following album 'Wind and Wuthering' were two of a kind, in terms of inspiration, that can safely be considered to be the last two great Genesis albums, before the band , by Collins' admission, decided to 'embrace commercialism' ('Follow You, Follow Me' anybody?).