Finding The Best Sounding Genesis (Part 1), Album By Album...

It's easy for you! Just go to your local used cd shop and pick up the old 1980's Virgin/Charisma titles with the cropped covers. Those are the best ones out there!

 

The original Invisible Touch was not a target disc. It was a black triangle in Japan. Unless of course you are referring to the "Made in Japan" for the USA, but that still was not a target disc.

As much as I love Steve Hoffman's work, his From Genesis to Revelation was not the best by far. There a 2-CD set on Edsel Records from the UK that's pretty good - but I do not think its the same as Steve's version. I also liked the two Teichiku Records pressings from Japan. Steve himself even commented that it was not his best work.

Dave

 

I tend to prefer the "later pressed" Pre "Definitive Edition" Virgin/Charisma CD's for almost every Genesis album, except for Duke(original Atlantic CD). This is probably because I haven't heard a "later" V/C of this title yet. Just my 2 cents.

 

There seems to be some "controversy" surrounding Duke. I have V/C of Duke made in West Germany which I think sounds great. Some commented awhile back there are other V/C copies NOT made W.G. that sound better. Then there are those that say the Atlantic US is the best. Which is it?

 

I think the original Atlantic sounds much better than the WG Charisma CD.More balanced tonally, and has the correct channels. I believe this may have been remastered silently(Barry?) in the U.K along with a few others. I will tell you for certain that ATTWT was redone for the Nimbus and other later pressings for V/C.

 

There's the rub - the multis have wiped out all my local used CD shops. I was looking today to see what there is and all I get are SACD combos at £22 each!

 

I have the AATWT Nimbus pressing which I have not had a chance to listen to with complete focus yet. Are there later pressings on the V/C after the WG of Duke? Anyone?

 

From Genesis to Revelation

OK, I've heard and analyzed a bunch of FGTR CDs. Here's how they stack up, as nearly as I can figure it out (I am slightly revising what I previously said about some of these discs):

- DCC (1990) - Not from the master tapes. Steve wishes it didn't exist.

- Rock Machine (1992) - Released as Where the Sour Turns to Sweet. The EQ is similar to the DCC but with a slight bass boost. Waveform comparisons show that the two go out of synch by a very small amount. I first thought that this might have been made from an analog safety of the DCC; however, Steve says they didn't make such a thing. Here's a quote from a PM from Steve in reply to my question:

Which still doesn't rule out that Jonjo Music Ltd. (Jonathan King's company) might have sent Rock Machine some kind of knock-off of the DCC mastering. Who knows.

The phase is inverted in both channels compared to the DCC.

- Disky (1996) - Synchs perfectly with the Rock Machine CD, but the bass has been reduced. This sounds most similar to the DCC (in fact, I cannot tell them apart reliably). Like the Rock Machine CD, the phase is inverted compared to the DCC.

- Edsel (2005) - Synchs perfectly with the Rock Machine and Disky CDs, but smiley-face EQ has been applied.

The phase has been corrected (assuming that of the DCC is correct).

- Revvolution (2006) - Released as The Genesis of Genesis. Identical to the Edsel CD.



Of most interest here, I think, is that all of these CDs synch perfectly except the DCC. Jonjo may have started sending out the same digital source to different labels at some point after the DCC was released.

Interestingly, none of the later reissues seem to be compressed in any way.

I am waiting on two more reissues -- one from before and one from after the DCC. Depending on what I find out about them, I might post samples here. But so far, there's not much call for that.

 

I'm sure they exist. having a hard time locating one, though...along with the later Abacab, which Jeff has and confirmed that one to be different(and better, to him) than the others pressings.

 

Great work. There are others, too, of course. One that also sounds very nice and similar to the DCC (and has a cooler cover) is ROCK MACHINE (MACD 4):

 

Yes, nice work, thanks! (even though I'm not crazy about this album)

 

Yes, unfortunately it's all part of their insane remixing campaign. They are erasing history.

Anyway, you can find them all probably on Amazon (US) and Amazon UK, or half.com. Just check the used ones and ask the seller for details. On half.com all they have listed are the DE's and the new crap. But sometimes people sell their pre-DE stuff under that listing. I'm not sure how international shipping works on half.com, it may not. But if you have to, you could ask the seller to up the price to include the shipping extra.

Eventually you'll score some sweet Genesis for probably not much $$

I'd look for the Atco Trick of the Tail first. It's easy to identify and it's fantastic. Good luck!

 

My copy was made by EMI Swindon, so is likely later than the West German and Nimbus discs (though could be a clone, of course). Here are the details:

Genesis - Duke - Virgin/Charisma - CBRCD 101/0777 7 86397 2 5
Matrix = 786397 2 . 2 :1:18EMI SWINDON

EAC levels: 74.2% - 97.9% - 45.8% - 91.5% - 95.4% - 97.6% - 95.9% - 82.6% - 94.3% - 77.9% - 88.0% - 81.5%

I may be in the minority, but I prefer this version to my US Atlantic copy.

 

But Paul is based in the UK so he can look for the even better Nimbus V/C version.

 

Indeed it has been remastered. The older WG Virgin/Charisma CD with the blue face had many peaks at 100%. I have to find this one, along with ABACAB!

 

My WG V/C just has black type and no blue face.

 

I'd like to know the figures and matrix of that one.

 

It is Duke w/catalogue number CBRCD 101 Made in W. Germany on Virgin Records. It reads on the inside ring SONOPRESS C-7569/CBRCD101 A. My ABACAB has a blue face and is CBRCD 102 with matrix number 800044 2 01.

 

I'd bet that the Duke is the newer mastering, and the ABACAB is the physical clone of the early '80's Atlantic Target CD.

 

From Genesis to Revelation

This is a follow-up to my continuing FGTR shootout. I just got the 2004 Teichiku reissue. It synchs perfectly with all the other reissues I've analyzed except the DCC. The bass and treble have been boosted (but not as much as the Edsel). The phase is inverted compared to the DCC.

This is the only FGTR reissue I've heard that's been subjected to compression. Lots of clipping. Yuck. (No wonder the people at the official Genesis site liked it. )

The packaging is nice, though. I think I'll keep it for that.

Awaiting one more reissue (the first CD release on London), and that's enough FGTR for a lifetime.

(And a shout-out to Mark F. — your instincts about this one were totally spot-on!)

 

I synched the Disky to the Teichiku and level-matched the two, then inverted the phase on one of them. What's left is mostly the clipping distortion on the Teichiku. Here's a 30-second sample:

http://homepage.mac.com/raulregalado/.Public/FGTR.wav

 

And by a similar process as the above, here is the EQ boost on the Edsel compared to the Disky:

http://homepage.mac.com/raulregalado/.Public/fgtr2.wav

 

I don't think there's anything different about the V/C Trick, it's the same mastering. Jeff had said it was slightly lower in volume that's all, and given that the Atco doesn't clip, I'd go for the Atco.

 

Can't listen to these now, but it looks like the dcc/disky is still the only way to go?

 

I was reserving further comments until after I heard the London CD, but yeah. The Disky is arguably the better buy because it has that alternate demo version of "Image Blown Out" (1% fast). The Rock Machine CD is OK too if you don't mind a slight bass boost.

Everything else I've heard is just crazy EQing. The Teichiku, with its awful clipping distortion, is an outright "must avoid".