| Better than I expected (review from amazon.com) |
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I mainly bought this album to fill out my Collins-era Genesis collection and 80s playlist on my iPod (and mostly for "Just A Job To Do", as I had many of the songs from "Turn It On Again: The Hits). I was in for a few pleasant surprises.
First, "Home By the Sea" is a great song that seems to get overlooked. "Second Home By the Sea" is good too, and the two songs are neatly separated before the electronic drum solo which opens the latter track.
Second, the version of "Mama" is not the radio version (as on the hits CD): it's longer and is a bit more interesting. While I will admit it is one of the strangest Genesis songs ever, I actually gave it a second chance due to the album version and the interviews on the DVD.
Overall, the album mastering is fine. It's loud enough without losing dynamics (although this album had pretty flat dynamics to begin with.) The mix is good: Collins's vocals are clear but not overwhelming, and the sound is full. The "surround sound" mixes, however, are awful. Watch the DVD content using a regular 2-channel stereo. The 5.1 mix is stupid, and sounds like the annoying artificial stereo experiments of the 1960s. Why would you place the drums and other instruments behind the listener? Just because it's "surround" doesn't mean it should be taken literally. A better approach would be to have the sound mostly in front (left, right, center), and use the rear speakers in the mix to simulate reverb in a small room.
Despite not having a concept or theme, as with other Genesis albums, it's a good collection of songs. Yes, it's more pop-oriented, and feels mostly like a collection of singles, but it's still good. It hangs together better than the following two albums: "Invisible Touch" and "We Can't Dance".
It's really the last album that has this sort of great Genesis sound to it also. Musically, it fits with the last three albums. I wonder if some of the material was written for earlier albums. For instance, spy thriller "Just A Job To Do" would fit in perfectly with the "Abacab" album's play on reality, while (thematically) "Mama" would suit "Duke" (the wanting at a distance what you can't have theme is similar to "Turn It On Again" or even "Behind the Lines").
"Silver Rainbow" is caught in the middle. It's not great, but it's not bad. It's a subtle and mysterious song (probably) about the loss of one's virginity. It doesn't stand out, but is far from forgettable.
The weakest songs on the album are "Illegal Alien" and "It's Gonna Get Better". The latter is somewhat vapid lyrically and neutral musically. It also seems odd, considering the anger in "Land of Confusion" in the next album "Invisible Touch". It also seems odd, considering the content of "Illegal Alien." No way would "Illegal Alien" be made now (and they did a music video of it with the band dressed as Mexicans!) This song is incredibly catchy, though, so it'll be in your head all day, even though you probably won't remember the words.
Overall, the album is more than filler and a decent showing by the band. It's worth it to get the DVD content as well.
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| Worst remasters I've ever, and it's remixed too. (review from amazon.com) |
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(Note: This goes for ALL 2007 Genesis remasters, not just Duke. I only use examples from Duke because they showcase the horrors of these remasters the most from iTunes previews. iTunes also has both the 94' and the 07' remasters available, so you can use those for comparison for all of the Genesis remasters.)
I've spent the past 15 minutes listening to these remasters for Genesis through iTunes previews, and they are hands down THE WORST remasters I've ever heard. Even worse then the infamous Raw Power remaster done by Iggy Pop. They didn't just remaster them too. They also remixed and re-recorded everything, and now it's not even the same LP/CD I bought all of those years back. I have a feeling Phil Collins had a big part in the remastering process, because his parts are re-recorded/remixed the most.
To start, the drums are all new. They didn't even try to make it sound like the original drum line. Honestly, what kind of an idiot thought that would sound better? There's also an embarrassing emphasis on the base drum now, which totally kills the snare drums while at the same time being killed by the worst dynamic compression I've ever heard. They also revrebed the hell out of the drums on tracks like Man of Our Times, Duke's End, and probably others in which the drum line isn't included on the iTunes preview. The guitar is also cranked up, and it also sounds like the vocals are also re-recorded on some tracks, most notably Guide Vocal. I can't confirm that though, because it could also be cause by this remaster being SOOOOO bright.
Seriously, these are the brightest records I've ever heard. There's virtually no bass and little midrange except for the bass drum, and that just... Ugh. Most remasters actually just turn the bass up, but that's nothing compared to records remaster brightly. These and the Yes remasters are victims of that. If you've heard the Yes remasters though, they are nothing compared to how bright this is. It's like someone took you're TV, changed the contrast to 95%, and turned the brightness up to 90%.
They lame dynamic compression doesn't help either. There is so much distortion found on some tracks that you can't hear anything but the drums for a second. Most compression on remasters is done smoothly, so they don't create the level of distortion found on these remasters (though compression still creates some distortion no matter how smooth it is). Did they do this with Audacity's lame default compressor? It sounds just like it, but only the person who used it didn't know exactly how to use it. Behind The Lines, Turn It On Again, and Duke's End are perfect examples from the previews.
Just... wow. Compression levels will never reach this level, I can at least just tell you that. There's way just too much distortion going on for it to happen, but the fact that not that many people can tell the difference between the 94' remaster and this just floors me. It's so blatant and sloppy, that I have no respect for the team behind these remasters.
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| Great SACD to an already great album (review from amazon.com) |
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The SACd version is fantastic. Great sound quality with the vocal placed so it's not getting drowned out, very strong.
Every song sounds great when cranked up and my ears don't hurt for it.
This is what I love best about multichannel SACD discs.
The bass and drums are crisp, every instrument is clear.
Worth getting. I bought the SACD set and have the earlier set.
I will have to listen and review them al I think. This truly is the best way to go.
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| Great CD, DVD falls short (review from amazon.com) |
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| The self-titled Genesis "shapes" album is full of great songs, and remains one of my favorites from the band. The anthem to older prostitutes, Mama, is eerie and captivating in its style, and still sounds fresh 25 years after it came out. That's All is a bouncing pop masterpiece, and Just A Job To Do is one of my favorite songs, along with the ode to a haunted house, Home By The Sea. While the album is a classic, the DVD kind of falls short of my expectations. I really like the Genesis reissue series with the extra DVDs because most of them give you a nice amount of good footage and info, especially on the standard Reissue Interviews sections. The main feature on the shapes DVD is a 1983 tour rehersal, which while cool to witness, is filmed from a stationary out-of-focus camera far away from the stage. The MTV videos and tour programs are of little to no interest to me.
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| Taking It All Too Lard (review from amazon.com) |
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Not since Then There Were Three did the 3-man version of Genesis sound so confident, full of ideas, on the cutting edge. A lot of people accuse this album of being a sellout, but that isn't so. Every song is a marvel of creativity and tasteful playing, the omnipresent synthesisers carefully chosen for each song rather than the standard mess-o-keyboards that a lot of bands fell into during the 80s. There is more poppish music than before, but even the blatantly commercial "That's All" and "Taking It All Too Hard" benefit from good songwriting and plain catchiness. "Mama" and in particular "Home By The Sea" show where the group's strengths still were, swirly, atmospheric, classical, and dense with echoes. Listen to the simple electric drum start up for Mama, building up to the thundering, gated drum kit sound at the end, and you'll realize "In The Air Tonight" was just a warmup. "Home By The Sea" is one of their best studio jams, with a good mix of electric and acoustic drums, symphonic keyboards, understated guitar parts by Rutherford, and some fine vocals from Phil, recalling the older style of music from Genesis. "Illegal Alien" is meant to be funny, it certainly isn't a work of music or philosophic art. Think of it as their equivalent of 'Industrial Disease'. A lot of people whine about its supposed racism, but no matter what they had said in that song, SOMEONE would have been hurt I guess. And how come LEGAL aliens don't get a song? I'm sure their lives are not all peaches and cream too. But I digress.. Just a Job and Silver Rainbow are good songs, not quite as strong as the other stuff, but each with their own interesting twists. Gonna Get Better is one song I just don't have any use for, it's just wispy and tuneless, but the beautiful keyboard sounds redeem it somewhat.
The reissue of this has really improved the sound, I must say. For someone who has listened to this album a lot since the early 80s, it has never sounded so good. Lots of details that were missed before are noticeable in the mix. If only the Moody Blues would reissue Long Distance Voyager now!
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