Genesis SACD...

I would like to discuss my findings of some of the newish releases on SACD of early-ish Genesis albums.

To test the water, I bought Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering on SACD a month or so back and to summarise, I am quite disappointed.

The detail contained in these recordings is obviously a lot more than we have ever been used to in the past, but, the overall sound is very annoyingly thin, light, trebly and gutless. It appears to me that the producer of these recordings has opened them up a lot by giving the sound a very bright and thin mix. There is little to no bass weight at all and this is appalling considering the nature of the music. There is a saving grace though.

I am a major fan of Steve Hackett's guitaring and the amount of guitar information contained herein is astonishing. Of all the instrument threads running through these recordings, the guitar has gained the most. You hear things in these mixes that I never even heard on vinyl.

OK, I now have on order: Trespass, Foxtrot, Nursery Chryme and Selling England. I still am a very early Genesis fan and I make no excuses. I also love Tortoise and Ozric Tentacles. Now they would be nice on SACD although doubtful.

 

Genesis on SACD

Hi Haselsh1

I too bought these titles when they came out on SACD and I must say I have found them to be
anything but thin in tone. I agree that they are more open and much more detail is to be heard. My SACD player is a Marantz SA7, which has a slightly warm tonal balance anyway. My amplification is all valve.

The extra features and rare concert footage on some of these discs almost justifies the price of the discs. Trick of the tail is one of my faves. And as the quality of previous cds are poor these are a major step forward. However the vinyl is better if they are early pressings IMHO.

Don't apologise for liking Genesis they are a great band up until the last few albums.

I saw Steve Hackett live a few years ago and he was very good. Played tracks from Spectral Mornings and many of his early albums, the best in my opinion.

I also recently got the first Genesis SACD box set and while not hearing them yet I feel that the extras are not as good on these. I for one don't need the albums offered on DVD as well , unless it was DVD audio and it isn't. As to sound I don't know yet. As Selling England by the Pound, Foxtrot and Lamb lies down on Broadway are classics I hope the standard is as good as the others.

Regards D Louth

 

I am not a great fan of genesis but allways loved "a trick of the tail".I have both old and new cds,lps and the latest sacd.All 3 versions of that album(cd,lp,sacd) have too much bass,even to my tastes (i think of myself as a bit of a bass-heavy type of listener)so,if you are not hearing enough bass,something else is wrong.No,not you hearing but something in your system lol

p.s. why the hell do you apologise for liking genesis? I like Steve Harley and the cockney rebels !

 

It would appear that I'm not going to get my early Genesis SACD's as they have all been removed from Amazon. I have heard a rumour that Peter Gabriel has put a stop to them being issued. I don't know about you but this sounds like Pink Floyd all over again. When will these arrogant idiots grow up...???

 

What ?????????

I find this had to believe as I bought mine in Zavvi about two weeks ago just after they were released. Why would Mr G stop them being on Amazon ? Is there a problem with them ? I will have a look about and see if I can find out why. In the mean time try Zavvi, on the high stret price £90. Not to bad considering HMV were/are charging £115 for the later albums box set. Amazon wasn't that cheap when I looked a while ago.

Hi guys as far as I can see still available and from Amazon uk (still in stock according to their web-site) and other sources including caiman-us. I have bought from them (in the past) and not had a problem. Based in Florida, however I suspect that£2.75 p&p is wishful thinking for a box set sent from the states. However I did get a two box cd set from a company in Japan on Amazon Market place, and that is all it cost.

Regards D Louth

 

I have just checked on Amazon and only the boxed set is available at almost 100 notes. All of the individual SACD's have been removed. I did have on order the first four but I guess I won't see them for a while yet. I do not want the boxed set so I guess I have no choice but to wait. The issue with Peter Gabriel is a rumour but apparently he is really not pleased with these SACD's with the Lamb being the worst.

 

Genesis on SACD

Hi

Sorry for my mistake I thought you would be looking for the box set. The individual discs usually work out to be dearer if bought individually. In the past the best price was £14.99 worst about £23 each. On that basis I bought the box set(I also wanted the bonus disc). On the high street Zavii is the best price. I did not see the discs individually in any shop as had happened before. They may have held these back to sell more box sets. I know that the later and middle period box sets are still kicking about.

If you find out about Mr G's issues and where we can read about it and get more info, let us know please.

Regards D Louth 77

 

haselsh1 Allmost all genesis sacds are available on play.com's site
Also,the boxset is 86 GBP.

 

Many thanks for that information. I still can't understand why Amazon stopped doing them.

 

No problem Haselsh1. I don't know about Amazon.I never bought anything from them.

 

Genesis on tape

Dug out my Nakamichi Cr5 tape deck the other day and put it into my system. As i sit typing this I am listening to a BBC recording of Genesis live in 1978 at Knebworth. I miss the Friday RockShow with Tommy Vance. Such wonderful gems as this used to be aired regularly and I have a big collection of these programmes on good quality chrome/Metal tapes. I know the Beeb have through licensing allowed some of these sessions and concerts to go on to cd but I would love to have a copy of this on CD. Classic Genesis from And then there was three back and with a number of songs from Trick of the Tail, Pure Magic.

Regards D Louth 77

 

I tried a few of the 'new mixes' and found them real 'ear bleeders', evidently remixed for a new generations ears, good only for the dvd extras, IMO.

I really wouldn't worry too much, try and get the original Virgin/Charisma unremastered versions while you still can, "A Trick Of The Tail" for example is wonderful, as is the US Atlantic original of "Duke", the MCA issue of "Trespass" is a keeper too.