Product Description

As the subtitle suggests 'Turn It On Again' is a collectionof the most popular singles by the prog rock act turned synth-pop trio. The album covers the period from 1974's 'I KnowWhat I Like (In Your Wardrobe)' to 1997's 'Congo'. Sixteen of the eighteen tracks featured here were UK Top 30 hits.

Track Listing

1. Turn it on again
2. Invisible touch
3. Mama
4. Land of confusion
5. I can't dance
6. Follow you follow me
7. Hold on my heart
8. ABACAB
9. I know what I like (In your wardrobe)
10. No son of mine
11. Tonight tonight tonight
12. In too deep
13. Congo
14. Jesus he knows me
15. That's all
16. Misunderstanding
17. Throwing it all away
18. The carpet crawlers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4626 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

From Amazon.com
The sound of Phil Collins's distinctive voice set against a pulsing synthesizer and pounding electro/acoustic percussion became one of the most characteristic and ubiquitous sounds of 1980s (and early '90s) rock. And if Collins's solo work during that period seemed occasionally indistinguishable from that of his band, it was only evidence of the remarkable transformation that Genesis had undergone from its late '60s art-school roots. Indeed, the idea of an eventual Greatest Hits package would have been laughable then. But as the original quintet turned quartet (with the departure of vocalist Peter Gabriel) and then trio (when guitarist Steve Hackett left), the spotlight focused with increasing intensity on Collins and his pop and R&B sense. Though it overlooks a few contenders ("No Reply at All" and "Taking It All Too Hard") in service of balance (and the inclusion of late-model Genesis frontman Ray Wilson), this is a good sampler of one of rock's most consistent (if predictable) hit-makers. Gabriel and Hackett also return for one new track, reuniting the original quintet for a richly textured update of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 's "The Carpet Crawlers." --Jerry McCulley

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.

How to insult your listeners
In response to one of the previous reviewers who seems to think that compressed music is fine I would say good luck to you and nice that you can enjoy this CD. However, i'm obviously not in the minority when it comes to the compression issue as you only have to read the reviews of all the other recent Genesis remasters to see how deeply irritated people feel by this. Compression does not give music a modern sound. It gives it an unrealistic, fatiguing sound which is difficult and unrewarding to listen to. Not everyone feels the need to jump on the bandwagon and listen to music on an I-pod - some people still actually appreciate a natural and realistic sound that does the music justice and therefore listen on a 'proper' stereo.
Genesis have always appealed to a more mature audience who appreciate the intricacy of their music and this reissue just insults the very people it should be appealing to. It follows the stereotypical route of appealing to those people who really don't care about music but just want to cram as much on to their naff little MP3 players so they can impress their mates.
Compressed might sound brighter but it sure doesn't sound better, especially when listened to over long periods.
And to end this, most people who DO have issues with compression do so because they spend a lot of money on equipment and expect to be able to get the best out of it. But then the I-pod generation only cares about quantity. Quality is irrelevant.

Squashed As Flat As A Roadside Hedgehog
I have to echo many of the previous comments about these recordings being incredibly compressed and over EQ'd in the higher frequencies.
I am all in favour of remixing old vintage tracks to give them a fresh and modern sparkle, and to correct flaws in the original mixes. But sadly, with these recordings, that has not been achieved.

Where there is undeniably a gain in clarity, there is also a truely massive loss in dynamics, warmth and realism. At times (for example on 'That's All') Collins's drums sound really nasty and harsh - a complete contrast from the sound on the original album's mix. This is hardly 'progress'.

Many of us have spent our hard earned money on a decent sound system so we can enjoy our beloved music in as pristine quality as possible. Sadly, with these productions, even nice systems just sound like cheap midi 'hi-fi's!

If you think that 'newer' automatically means 'better', then you will think these recordings now sound better. Ditto if you think 'louder' means 'better'. Otherwise, stick to your flawed-but-ultimately-nicer 1994 masters (which really were an improvement over the originals).