Genesis

Trick of the Tail

Certanly not the best, but lots of nice stuff. Better live.

Review Score:

(8/10)
'A Trick Of The Tail' was deffinitely a nice start for Phil Collins as vocalist, but he is not yet at his best. That very much sums up the problems as I see it, because the umsic featured here is great.

The song line-up includes several live classics, especially 'Dance On A Volcano / Los Endos'. These songs, along with 'Squonk' and 'Robbery, Assault and Battery' are good, dynamical, uptempo songs with great musical solos, guitar (Dance/Los Endos) as well as keaboard (Robbery). Unfortunately, good as they are, I will at all times prefer the live-versions of 'Seconds Out', which especially features much better vocal performances by Collins. On the other hand, 'Entangled', with it's hypnotizing ending musical section, and 'Ripples', wich is one of the most beautiful works of the group, are at their best in the studio recordings. 'Mad Man Moon', never played live, is also a very beatiful song, both musically and lyrically, and Collins does a great vocal job here. Also, the title track is nice, featuring some of the more easygoing sound they would return to later ('That's All' e.g.) and great lyrics.

All in all, 'A Trick' is a nice album, but I haven't heard it a lot since I got 'Seconds Out', and musically I prefer the '77 release 'Wind And Wuthering'.

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