ENTANGLED

I didn't know 'Entangled' was a single too. Since both tracks are from the first Gabriel-free album A Trick of the Tail (B-side here is the title track), I'll throw a word or two about them; I don't know if there are differences with album versions. 'Entangled' is actually a very surprising choice for a single as it is a slow and atmospheric song. I have always liked the album's - and seemingly this single's - old-fashioned brown cover art with finely drawn figures relating to tracks. The nurse holding a bill and a lantern (on the back cover, not seen here) is obviously for this one. The song is close to being dull and sleepy, but it has a peculiar dreamy mood (fitting the lyrics) and a great instrumental tail.

'A Trick of the Tail' is also of calmer and simply structured part of the album. What makes it a unique track is its nice arrangement featuring a soft staccato piano (which was nearly replicated on a track by Estonian prog artist Indrek Patte in his album Celebration, 2011). The minus side is the heavy repetition of the chorus, but in the end some decoratively thin synths add to the nostalgic and melancholic mood. The lyrics are story-like, typical for Tony Banks at that time. Does the one who leaves the City of Gold and is put in a cage, have horns and tails then (I'm referring to "they've got no horns and they've got no tail" and the figure on the album cover)? Anyway, a nice little song.

GENESIS's "A Trick of the Tail" album is still one of my favorite albums from the band. I also think that it is their best recorded and mixed album from the seventies. Better recorded and mixed than their previous albums with Peter Gabriel, and even better in that respect than "Duke" (which was recorded in late 1979-early 1980). It was also their first album which was co-produced with David Hentschel, who worked with the band until 1980 in their "Duke" album.

"A Trick of the Tail" (1976) was also their album on which drummer Phil Collins became the lead singer of the band after Peter Gabiel left the band in 1975. The music became more accessible, and many fans didn't like that. I have to say that I prefer the albums the band released between 1976 and 1980, with their 1976-1977 period being their best period, in my opinion.

Both tracks of this single were taken from the "A Trick of the Tail" album. This single was released in France, a thing that I didn't know until today.

"Entangled", composed by Steve Hackett and Tony Banks, is a very good song with 12- string acoustic guitars (played by Hackett, Banks and Mike Rutherford) plus a very good final part with a mellotron and a synthesiser solo played by Banks. The song was played in concert by the band during their 1976 tour to promote the album, with Hackett introducing the song to the audience, saying that the lyrics were inspired by a painting by Kim Poor (who later became his wife for more than 25 years) and that they described "the perils that you might encounter on a psychiatric couch" (more or less as I remember now). The band released a live version of this song from 1976 in their "Archives 1976-92" Box Set in the year 2000.

"Entangled" was also released as a single in the U.S. with "Ripples" in the Side "B".

The B-side, "A Trick of the Tail", the title track of the album, is a song composed by Tony Banks, with lyrics about an alien who comes to the earth. It is a simple song with piano, guitar, bass, drums, and lead and backing vocals. This song was released as the "A" Side of another single in the U.K. (with "Ripples" on the Side "B"), but was used as the "B" Side of this single in France.

The "A Trick of the Tail" album was released in 2-February-1976 (forty years ago).