Album Review: Genesis – ‘Genesis 1976-1982 [Box Set]’

By Jeff Swindoll Jun 3, 2007, 14:11 GMT

‘Genesis: 1976-1982’ captures the band’s steady evolution from its early days as prog-rock pioneers to the Grammy-winning polished-pop of the group’s multi-platinum hits. The series picks up the Genesis’ story after the departure of founding member Peter Gabriel.

I was channel surfing recently and came across a show on VH1 touting their upcoming 2007 Rock Honors show.  The pre-show was touting their honorees, Ozzy Osbourne, Heart, ZZ Top, and Genesis (they were also going on about the Police’s reunion tour).  It was nice to see some videos of Genesis from the day.  I’m more familiar with their top 40 hits, but I always liked what I heard. 

Several days after the VH1 Honors aired Genesis fans were given a treat in the release of this awesome box set.  I suppose that it should be noted that the set starts in ’76 (the band had been around since the ‘60s with Peter Gabriel in the lead) and doesn’t cover a lot of the earlier stuff.  It seems to coincide more with when Phil Collins joined the band as drummer in the ‘70s.

Collins would not become the lead singer until 1976’s ‘A Trick of the Tail.’  The box set contains the newly remixed albums ‘A Trick of the Tail,’ ‘Wind & Wuthering,’ ‘And Then There were Three,’ ‘Duke,’ and ‘Abacab.’  A real treat is that there’s still another disc full of rarities and B-side releases.  Each album (and the bonus disc) also features a bonus DVD that contains the album in 5.1-surround sound. 

However, the fun doesn’t stop there since it also has music videos, TV show appearances, concerts, and recently recorded interviews with the band (Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks) about each album.  Not to mention the nice packaging. 

This set is a must-have for fans of the band and casual fans alike since it contains a wealth of extras and wonderful music.  The extras make it a “must-have” all on their own, but the wealth of supplements make it well worth the purchase price.  Highly recommended. 

‘Genesis 1976-1982 [Box Set]’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information.