A Trick Of The Tail (Remastered)by Genesis

After the departure of Peter Gabriel, the four remaining members of Genesis set about establishing what the band would become. The first order of business was finding a new lead singer; after hundreds of auditions, they were unsure whether they would find anyone who would be a good fit. Eventually, their own drummer Phil Collins somewhat reluctantly stepped out to take the role. He had done backing vocals for the band many times before, even taking the lead the song “More Fool Me”, and voice had the range to handle any of their material. So the question was to what direction would the band now take, and the answer was “A Trick Of The Tail”.

Genesis had always leaned heavily on progressive rock, meaning their songs featured both thematic and musical exploration. The last Gabriel album was “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”, a two-record concept album that earned high praise in the prog rock world; topping it would be an impossible task. So the band, now consisting of Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks and guitarists Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, came back with some material that still had one foot solidly in progressive rock, but with a toe towards more popular musical trends. Interestingly enough, this marked the first Genesis album to individually credit the band members who wrote each song; previously, the writing had been attributed to the entire band.

One of the strongest tracks from the album is “Squonk”, a song based on the legend of a creature who would turn into a puddle of tears when captured. In true Genesis fashion, the song featured a number of musical changes, and a lyrical basis in the fantastic. The song does not have any long instrumental portions, but it’s driving rhythm made it popular with fans, and got it some radio airplay.

This marked the first album for which the band produced promotional videos for some of their songs. The first was the title track, written by Banks. The band plays around a piano, while a miniature Collins jumps around on some instruments. The song, about a creature from a “city of gold” is captured and abused by humans before escaping and returning to it’s home, did garner some interest. It features a catchy, bouncy rhythm and is very melodic compared to songs from previous albums.

Also getting the video treatment was “Robbery, Assault and Battery”, which features all band members playing a role in the song’s story, about a criminal who robs and kills an old man. This one feels more like a folk song than a prog song, due to it’s subject matter, musical structure and livelier beat. Like several songs on this album, there is no particularly long musical segment that had been the trademark of the band to this point. The third song to get a video, “Ripples”, does lean more on instrumentals than much of the album. The video is simply of a performance, and the song feature Hackett’s lush guitars combining with Banks’ atmospheric keyboards to make a beautiful, softer song. This was played throughout the 2007 reunion tour.

Though much of the album gets away from long instrumental sections, two songs embrace them. The opening song, “Dance on a Volcano”, is a classic Genesis tune, in that it features several dramatic changes in structure and tone. The closing track, “Los Endos”, is an instrumental piece that became a concert standard for many of their tours, including the reunion tour. It’s am epic piece that brings in some musical themes from other pieces in the album, most notably “Dance on a Volcano”, making it a nice bookend for the album.

“A Trick of the Tail” marked a new direction for the band. While it was still very much prog-based, it started working towards shorter songs, with less emphasis on long instrumental sections. The formula works for most of the album, which has a very cohesive feel. This is still a band trying to find their identity, but the journey is largely an enjoyable one.

Following the departure of Peter Gabriel in 1975 the future of Genesis seemed in doubt. Questions of replacing such a charismatic lead singer were naturally difficult to answer. Against all odds, Phil Collins stepped down from the drumstool to take the position with incredible confidence and talent. The resulting album A Trick Of The Tail was the remarkable result. After selling more copies than any other previous Genesis album, A Trick Of The Tail proved to be an accomplished album for a new era in the bands history. Blending loud and aggressive tracks such as Squonk and Los Endos with the softer ballards like Ripples and Entangled, the album crossed into a whole new area for Genesis and fans alike. There are very few albums that do not contain the odd bad track, but this is one of them. Even the album artwork was inspired. Any questions surrounding Collins ability to both be drummer and singer were soon laid to rest. His vocals, although similar to Gabriels, had their own distinctive style and on the ensuing tour to promote the album, Collins proved himself a more than capable frontman. From the initial bars of Dance On A Volcano, through the emotion of Ripples, the drama of Squonk, and teh finale of Los Endos, the whole album is a complete package of gifted composition and musicianship. Do not pass the album by. It si indded an essential to any serious rock music lover.