A TRICK OF THE TAIL

I'm not sure why, but A Trick of the Tail really failed to captivate me. I listened to it a couple of times and I did not feel compelled to listen to it again. Dance on a Volcano is a good song, as well as Los Endos. Some of the songs are a little boring in my opinion, such as Mad Man Moon and Ripples, which are the longest tracks on the album. The title track doesn't have much substance. Entangled is a decent song, but I'm just not used to hearing Steve strumming his guitar. The only Peter Gabriel-era song I remember Steve strumming on is More Fool Me (not exactly a highlight from Selling England).

Speaking of Steve's guitar work on this album, it seems pretty sparse. Steve's unique style adds so much to Genesis' music, and it makes the first and last track shine more than the others. In my opinion this album is a step backwards for Genesis and I think that it is definitely because of the loss of Gabriel. Also, I think that the next album Wind and Wuthering is much better, and this is due to much more guitar from Hackett. Also, Wind and Wuthering just sounds so much more progressive to me. There are many more tempo changes, changes in dynamics, and powerful instrumental passages. This is not a bad album by any means, but compared to the previous work of the band it is definitely not up to par. So, for me this album is just "good."