Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Mama
2. That's All
3. Home By The Sea
4. Second Home By The Sea
5. Illegal Alien
6. Taking It All Too Hard
7. Just A Job To Do
8. Silver Rainbow
9. It's Gonna Get Better
10. Mama
11. That's All
12. Home By The Sea
13. Second Home By The Sea
14. Illegal Alien
15. Taking It All Too Hard
16. Just A Job To Do
17. Silver Rainbow
18. It's Gonna Get Better

Disc 2:

1. Mama
2. That's All
3. Home By The Sea
4. Second Home By The Sea
5. Illegal Alien
6. Taking It All Too Hard
7. Just A Job To Do
8. Silver Rainbow
9. It's Gonna Get Better
10. Mama
11. That's All
12. Home By The Sea
13. Second Home By The Sea
14. Illegal Alien
15. Taking It All Too Hard
16. Just A Job To Do
17. Silver Rainbow
18. It's Gonna Get Better
19. Mama
20. That's All
21. Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea
22. Illegal Alien
23. Genesis Reissues Interview 2007
24. Mama Tour Rehearsal 1983

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31138 in Music
• Released on: 2007-10-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: SACD

Customer Reviews

Nick Davis used to be a great engineer... what happened?
Nick Davis has done amazing work in the past. Actually, ALL of his work up until these Genesis remixes was excellent! Has he lost his touch? Why do these Genesis sets sound so harsh? I wonder what Nick's reasoning for this is? Does he even realize this work is much worse than what he's capable of? He's a world class engineer so why did he make so many newbie mistakes with these Genesis remixes? Too much EQ? Really? That's what interns do when they're learning how to mix.

It's not the compression that makes these remixes bad, it's all the console EQ that was added that makes them sound shrill and hollow. Lots of top and bottom end boosting going on. I know that sound well from my early days of learning how to mix (on this same SSL console I might add). I was trying to make everything as punchy and aggressive as I could and my mixes came out sounding just like these Genesis remixes. When you have that much EQ on EVERYTHING things are going to sound a bit off.

Those SSL EQs have a very distinct sound to them, so do the compressors on the channel strips. Nick Davis just wanted these things to jump out at you and in the process he over-did everything. I think he was simply trying too hard to impress everyone with brute force and not sound quality. If you dig it, good for you. I can heard the EQs ringing and that really bothers me but the lack of good midrange and the shrill top end make my ears shut down.

Worth it for those with SACD
As with the other Genesis remasters my main interest lies with the stereo SACD section so I cannot comment on the 5.1 mixes as I haven't played them yet but from what i've read there's a mixed reception to them. The original CD of this album, although good for the era, lacked the punch it needed to really appreciate the power of the sound. Unfortunately, as expected, the CD layer of this disc takes the sound to the other extreme by squashing the dynamics out of the sound and making the sound akin to scraping fingers down a blackboard. For the life of me I cannot understand why they felt the need to 'modernise' these recordings in such a manner - they've just taking the commercial route by appealing to the low-fi Ipod brigade and this is not the audience to whom these discs will appeal.
But, back to the SACD layer. Although by no means perfect, the sound on this disc is very much improved over the original and the vocals especially are presented with much more clarity. My main criticism is that the sound is slightly harsh, which for an SACD is unusual. The warmth that the SACD format usually brings to the music is not as apparent here. Saying that, it is possible to play this disc in its entirety without feeling that your ears are going to explode.
The music stands up well and the band describing their methods behind the music do help somewhat to understand what they were aiming for. Commercial aspects mix very comfortably with good instrumentals to create an easily digestable sound. If Genesis were intentionally developing a more commerical side to their music then, in my mind, they created this respectfully. And why not. This was the 80s and the times for pompous theatrical self-indulgent dirge were long gone.
A worthwhile disc but the potential to exploit the format has been lost. A shame but in these commerical times, not surprising.

Multichannel mix great. Album good in parts.
This was one of the first Genesis albums I listened to, and it's an odd one. I've always loved tracks 1-4 (Home by the Sea being my favourite), and as these songs have all become live favourites i'm probably not alone. Tracks 5 onwards have always either bored or annoyed me.

However, I have been very impressed by the multichannel mixes of the Genesis albums so far, and I am very impressed by this. My favourite tracks really come alive in 5.1 surround, with good use of the rear speakers and a real sense of extra space. As usual, I lost interest as soon as track 5 started, and i've not yet explored the bonus material.

I've listened to both the SACD 5.1 and DTS 5.1 mixes (can't tell the difference between them with my ears and system, so non SACD owners with a surround system shouldn't feel short changed) and they are really good.

My main priority is the multichannel mix. The other reviews criticising the stereo layers are worth reading, though. There seems to be a recurrent problem with many of the 5.1 releases of classic albums emerging. The CD stereo layer is frequently felt to be inferior to earlier CD releases. Reviewers have said this in reference to several Genesis re releases and other artists too. If it's a definitive stereo version you want, read the other reviews carefully; you may be better off with the 1994 remasters if you can still find them. If you like the album and want to give your surround system a workout, then get this. I've got all of the Genesis re releases so far, and the multichannel mixes of all are good.

Edit: I've been trying to compare the old CD / new CD mix / stereo SACD versions of "That's all" in an attempt to get to the bottom of this issue. I only have an all in one Sony system here, so this isn't audiophile stuff, but the new CD mix does seem more harsh and compressed compared to the old one. The stereo SACD mix, however, is much warmer and clearer than both IMHO. I'm no golden eared HiFi reviewer, though.

Roll on the Gabriel area re releases...