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Genesis: A Trick of the Tail (1976)  
Reviewer: sydburnz | See all reviews by sydburnz
Section: Reviews | Category: Music | Area: Kansas | Topic: Music
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Genesis: "A Trick of the Tail" (1976)
Phil Collins -- drums, vocals
Steve Hackett -- guitar
Tony Banks -- organ, synth
Mike Rutherford -- bass
You would think a group that loses such a productive member (Peter Gabriel) would in turn roll over and call it quits, or at least have a tough time creating a good reputation for themselves. Peter Gabriel was what made them famous, but the rest of the band was the backbone. They were indeed writing most of the material, but it was Gabriel who brought it forth to their fans by dressing in outlandish costumes. The sad thing was that mostly everyone thought Gabriel was the creative force behind the band. So, the rest of the band had to create an album which overshadowed everything they did previously with Gabriel. And they pulled it off! It was their best selling album to date. After the success of this album, people changed their thoughts about Peter Gabriel. When they once thought that Peter was the creative force who contributing everything, they began to reconsider that Gabriel contributed nothing, mostly riding on the coattails of the rest of the group. A Trick of the Tail is their most beautifully crafted album, I must say.
The album starts off with "Dance on a Volcano", a track that showcases Genesis's uncanny knack of musicianship. Phil Collins's vocals are much more natural than Gabriel's. But that could always get an artist in trouble. In later efforts, Collins seemed to concentrate more on sappy love songs than works of art. His drumming was phenominal! And never is it more apparent than on this track.
The next tune on the album is a very melodic tune called "Entangled". A beautifully crafted piece with amazing lyrics. I just love the line "as I count backwards your eyes become heavier still". It makes you feel like you are in a quack doctor's office, lying down on the comfy couch. This tune makes you feel as if you are having an out-of-body experience. If you have a pulse, you must like this song in some way or another. And if that wasnt enough, Tony Banks provides the track with a synthesizer workout. Very hypnotic indeed.
"Squonk" follows with amazing drumming by Collins. The guy can make these drum fills that can make you wonder how in the world did he make that sound so easy. "Mad Man Moon" starts out as a nice ballad with heart-breaking vocals by Collins, but then there is this break within the track that drags it down. Tony Banks's cheesy synthesizer interlude just ruins a good tune. Mad Man Moon also sounds like it could have been written by Gabriel, probably due to the fact that Collin's sounds more like Gabriel than Gabriel himself did. "Robbery, Assault and Battery" is a nice rocker. The lyrics are rather trite, but other than that amazing musicanship.
If you thought "Entangled" would be the most aesthetically pleasing song ever written by Genesis, they throw "Ripples" into the mix. Again, heart-breaking vocals by Collins and exquisite piano playing by Banks. There is a synthesizer and guitar interlude within "Ripples", but it is in much better taste than "Mad Man Moon". Steve Hackett provides eerie, swooping guitar notes within this interlude.
The title track, "A Trick of the Tail" is definitely under par. I would have to say it is the worst song on the album. Good thing they didn't finish out the album with this unpleasing tune. Genesis did though, close out the album with "Los Endos" which is an instrumental track that contains the melodies found within the other songs on the album. You can hear "Dance on a Volcano", "Squonk", "Robbery, Assault, and Battery" in different arrangements within this track. I just love the way they mixed in the songs to provide an "overture" so to speak.
If it was just for Entangled and Ripples alone, the album would be magnificent. These two precious ballads make the album what it is. There are a couple horrible moments like "A Trick of the Tail" and the synthesizer interlude within "Mad Man Moon". Too bad Tony Banks had to mess around with the synthesizers so much. It was the 70's though, everyone messed around with synthesizers, expecially the progressive rockers. I still say this is Genesis's best album right behind Foxtrot, of course. I would give the album a healthy 9 out of 10.
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Visitor Comments about Genesis: A Trick of the Tail (1976)
Posted by Lemongait on 2005-06-13 02:58:10
My Score:
Comment: I disagree with many points of this review.
What I agree with, to start with, is the brilliance of this album. It almost seems like a storybook to me, filled with little fairy tails that I, through many many listenings, have never grown tired of. It''s what got me into Genesis, and I regard it as their second best effort, after Selling England.
My first argument is the statement that Gabriel was riding on the coat tails of the rest of the band. It''s recognized that he did a massive amount of the writing while he was involved (Lamb Lies Down being almost completely his creation), and let''s not forget that in addition to his great vocal and lyrical (and costume) contributions, he also played incredible flute (perhaps not Ian Anderson calibre, but all the same). The musical complexity of Genesis'' music dropped significantly after he left, though A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering kept going strong. It was Hackett''s departure that killed the band.
What I think really makes this album great is Banks'' keyboards. This isn''t to say that the rest of the band wasn''t in top form, but that''s what really does it for me. And while it''s not the high point of the album, I couldn''t disagree more with what the reviewer said about the synth solo in Mad Man Moon.
I consider Robbery, Assault and Battery as the worst track on here. It''s not bad, per se, but it''s just a silly track whose music doesn''t withstand multiple listenings. And, while it''s not nearly the best one, the title track is a wonderful (admittedly more poppy) song which is really just a lot of fun. Musically, it''s not as complex as Robbery, but the thing is, it doesn''t try to be, so it doesn''t fail, in my opinion.
All in all, a fabulous album. Definitely in my top ten.
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Posted by Mary Mondragon on 2004-10-16 12:56:14
My Score:
Comment: Did Afternoon delight come out in Summer of 1974?
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Posted by Albert Laserdiamond Jr. on 2003-11-07 17:18:19
My Score: 
Comment: This album is my favorite. I think the keyboard solo on ''Robbery Assault and Battery'' is incredible and of course Squonk is a full out display of bass pedal mayhem! I sometimes play ''Ripples'' when im constipated. Phil Collins grew a beard, Mike Rutherford lost 10 more pounds, Tony''s hair got even bigger, and Hackett looked more like David Cassidy than David Cassidy. Groovy album for that lame ass year of 1976 that gave us hits like ''Afternoon Delight'' and ''Silly Love Songs''.
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Posted by sydburnz on 2002-02-10 22:29:30
My Score:
Comment: Rat, I got that comment from Vh1''s "Behind the Music". They said Peter went from a person who everybody thought he was the main contributing force within the band, to a person who was just riding the coattails of the others. This was only during 1976, though. Once Peter started to establish himself as a solo act, did people''s thoughts change.
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Posted by Pressed_Rat on 2002-02-10 15:38:29
My Score:
Comment:
I don''t agree with what you said about people thinking that Peter contributed nothing to the band. Where did you read this?? That is so not true. Peter was the major creatvie force in the band in the early years. He gave the music a special charm. Besides, ''Trick of the Tail'' is really the only REALLY good album that Genesis did without Peter. They had their moments after this, but pretty much everything started to go downhill after ''Trick of the Tail.'' I can''t think of anyone who would think that Peter contributed nothing to the band except fans of the ''Invisible Touch'' era of Genesis, and Phil Collins worshippers.
Overall, ''Trick of the Tail'' is a great album. Musically it''s one of my favorites. I really like every song on this album except ''Robbery Assult and Battery.'' This song is just plain horrible. You can tell that Phill is trying to sound like Pete, but it''s just not working. This track is way too poppy and upbeat (in a bad way). It sounds like the stuff that Genesis would be playing just a few years from then. Kudos to the instrumental break, but that''s about it.
The best songs on this album are ''Dance On A Volcano,'' ''Entangled,'' ''Squonk'' and ''Ripples.'' I like ''Mad Man Moon'' a lot too, until Banks had to come in and ruin everything.
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