For the Genesis Beginner -

There have been several Genesis compilations released to date: (1) "Turn it On Again - The Hits" is essentially Disc 1 of this 3 disc set, culling most tracks from their hit albums "We Can't Dance" and "Invisible Touch". If you mainly are interested in Genesis for these tunes (ie, Land of Confusion, In Too Deep, Thowing it all Away, No Son of Mine, etc) you can save $10 by simply buying the one-disc set; (2) "Genesis Archive 1967-1975" is mainly live material from early Genesis' magnum opus "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" - for hardcores only; (3) "Genesis Archive 1975-1993" is mainly B-sides and random live cuts from this era of Genesis - also for hardcores only.

THIS compilation is BY FAR the best accumulation of Genesis songs across their entire career, released to date. Disc 1 covers the Phil Collins pop machine years; Disc 2 covers some of their pop years, moving more into their "introspective" period in the early years of Collins as front-man; Disc 3 covers the progressive rock era Peter Gabriel-fronted Genesis from the early '70's.

I would suggest that a "casual" fan of the band buy this set in order to give the tunes on Disc 3 a shot, among other reasons. For those of you who may have NO idea what to expect, and have never listened to other bands like King Crimson or Yes in their early years - these songs are more musically intricate, and generally of greater length, than their pop songs. They are less about hooks and catchy riffs, and more about telling a story, or creating a particular mood. They are more challenging, and less accessible. However, if you're looking for something different, look no further.

For Genesis Hardcore Rabid Fans -

I will not argue over song selection. This is the best anyone could have done over 3 discs. Personally speaking, the collection would have been perfected for me with the exclusion of "Illegal Alien," "Your Own Special Way," and "Calling All Stations" (the latter I like, though it just seems out of context here); and the addition of "Dance on a Volcano" and "One for the Vine." Otherwise, perfect.

Despite what others have noted, I do not detect a significant overall improvement in sound on Discs 1 and 2 over the "definitive edition" remasters released years ago. If there are improvements on certain songs, the effect is minimal, or even innocuous to the quality of the song (ie, sometimes I think they change things just for sake of changing).

However, I believe it's worth shelling out the $20 to buy this album for the improvement on Disc 3. There is a discernable sonic improvement on these cuts, especially for "Cinema Show" and "The Knife" (especially for those of us here in America where the definitive edition remaster of Trespass never made it to this side of the Atlantic!). I should caveat that statement, however, by adding that evidently "Supper's Ready" is not among those tracks newly remastered. It's the same version from the definitive edition remaster of Foxtrot; therefore, if you buy this compilation solely for a new and improved version of this cut, please do not.

Other comments for all -

I'll just add that a cool companion piece to this compilation is the newly released DVD with the same cover, and all of the videos (aptly titled "Cinema Show" - although ironically there was no video released for that particular cut). It is also worth picking up - and incidentally includes certain tracks excluded from the CD's, such as "No Reply at all" and "Man on the Corner" from the Abacab album.

THE BAND: Mike Rutherford (guitars & bass), Tony Banks (keyboards & synth bass), Phil Collins (vocals, drums & percussion), Peter Gabriel - through 1974 (vocals, flute), Steve Hackett - through 1977 (guitars).

THE DISC(S): (2005) 3 discs containing 40 songs clocking in at approximately 234 minutes (Discs 1, 2 & 3 contain 77, 76, 79 minutes respectively). An 18-page booklet is included with a brief summary from band members; as well as song titles and writing credits, what songs came from which albums, pictures of the album covers, and thank you's. Digitally remastered sound. Label - Atlantic/Rhino.

COMMENTS: In my opinion, there's no one album, per say, that defines Genesis. This "Platinum Collection" is the single most comprehensive collection to date from the band. The 18 track "Turn It On Again: The Hits" (1999) is now obsolete as 16 of those 18 songs are here on the "Platinum Collection". The 2 songs missing are "Congo" and "I Know What I Like" - no issue from me with these being omitted. Genesis had two eras; the Peter Gabriel progressive/abstract era; and the Phil Collins rock/pop era. Gabriel left in 1975 after their magnum opus "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" - a great 2-disc set with some wonderful songs. Phil Collins stepped in on vocals and the band never looked back. The chronology of this set goes backward - disc 1 is their most recent stuff, and disc 3 is their oldest material. The radio listening public is probably most familiar with disc 1 and most of disc 2 (the songs on disc 3 rarely made it to the airwaves). The staple hits are here; "Invisible Touch", "Tonight Tonight Tonight", "Land Of Confusion", "In Too Deep", "That's All", "Home By The Sea", "Misunderstanding", "Abacab", etc. As well as some fan favorite gems (some of which were smaller hits); "Turn It On Again", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Behind The Lines", "Keep It Dark", "Throwing It All Away", "Many Too Many", "Afterglow", and others. As well as some early prog essentials on disc 3; the 22-minute "Supper's Ready", the two 10-minute songs "Music Box" and "The Cinema Show". This 3 disc set follows Genesis from 1971 through 1997. All the albums are represented with "Invisible Touch" (1986) and "Genesis" (1983) being best represented with 5 songs from each; followed by "Duke" (1980) with 4; and "Wind & Wuthering" (1977), "A Trick Of The Tail (1976), "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" (1974), "...And Then There Were Three" (1978), "Selling England By The Pound" (1973) each with 3 songs. There are 5 other albums represented with 1-2 songs from each. With any greatest hits package, there will be some hits and misses. For me, this is just dead on accurate with the exception of: I would have liked to have seen "Illegal Alien" and "Mama" omitted; and a few missing songs added... like the big hit "No Reply At All" or "Man On The Corner" (from Abacab), "Please Don't Ask" or "Duke's Travel/End" (from Duke), or "The Fountains Of Salmicis" (from Nursey Cryme), or my favorite instrumental "Fly On The Windshield" (from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway). Again, these are minor details in the scheme of things. Overall this is a great compilation and worthy to be in fans library young and old... and especially those new to the band that don't want to fork out the cash for 10-15 albums. This is a great 3-disc set.

A collection of Genesis tracks that includes material from their whole career (not counting that first album 'From Genesis to Revelation') on three CD's for under $20 is definitely worth getting - especially that many of the tracks have been re-mixed and sonically improved over the 'remaster series' from the mid-90s. I especially like how, unlike most compilations, best-of's and box sets, where they typically sequence the material in chronological order or randomly, 'Platinum Collection' is strictly reverse chronological order, starting with tracks from 'We Can't Dance' from 1991, going backwards in time album by album -- till by the end of the third disc you're back to 1970 (OK they put the one track from 'Calling All Stations' from 1997 at the end of disc 1 - it would've made a very odd Genesis compilation opener so I guess that's the best place they could stick that one). So when I was listening to 'PC' when I first got it, as the tracks played one after the other, I kept thinking 'it's gonna get better' (lifting a sentiment that is a track from the 'Genesis' album not on 'PC', which, like 'Dance on a Volcano', 'Man on the Corner', 'No Reply at All' and 'Burning Rope' would've made better choices then some of the tracks from those albums, but 'PC' tracks are what they are, and that's alright) ... as the set flowed from the 'radio friendly' era of the early 90s to the 80's ... then to the late to mid-70s of the early Phil Collins period which remains my overall favorite period of Genesis (post Peter Gabriel, pre-hits, essentially the albums 'A Trick of the Tail' and 'Wind & Wuthering', two amazing albums from 1976, and of course the live album 'Seconds Out', arguably their best live album), then to the early '70's era that of course features Peter Gabriel in all Genesis' prog-rock best (disc 3 could be sold alone to the Gabriel-era fans who have no use for 'Abacab' or 'Invisible Touch'). It is truly an interesting musical and sonic ride to hear all of 'PC' start to finish. I admit that upon release of the 'Genesis' and 'Invisible Touch' albums, I wasn't crazy about them and was among the fans who cried 'sell out' and 'lame '80's pop' (never mind that Phil Collins as a solo act was bigger than the group during those years), but years later, I grew to like those tight, tasty, well-written songs and realized they were as musically rich as anything they've done, except that they were made for the millions, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Genesis is as class act and 'up there' a band as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones (and, although maybe not as overall 'prog' as heavyweights Yes, ELP and King Crimson in terms of keeping the 7/8 to 5/16 time signature flame alive past 1977, overall have been the most listenable of the prog lot). So if you have little to no Genesis albums and can't decide if you're a 'Peter' fan, a 'Phil' fan or maybe a little of both, get 'Platinum Collection' and you'll be happy with the set.

One side note: did anyone notice the flaws in the booklet? The text on p. 8 (the one with the 'Abacab' cover) does not flow with the next page (pic of 'W&W') ... you have to flip to p. 11 (cover of 'Duke' to contine the story, and then have to flip back and forth again to read the whole thing in order. On the inside back cover credits for CD I, there's a reference to "One Man's Fool (edit) being the exception to the Phil/Tony/Mike lineup of all other CD I tracks. It is "Calling All Stations" that they meant, not the track that closes the one album with Ray Wilson as lead singer. For CD II, the lineup exception tracks are quoted as "Wind & Wuthering" and "A Trick of the Tail"; obviously, someone meant to point out 'except for tracks from the albums W&W and ATOTT'.

Look, I'm probably among the biggest Genesis fans a person will ever meet. I own all of the albums, both of the Archive boxed sets, all of the concert videos and documentaries (official and unofficial) and countless bootlegs and concerts (including a few from the 'Calling All Stations' Tour with Ray Wilson). I love every nuance of this band. I have since I was an infant (and that statement is true), and I will forever. These guys are just too freaking good.

Something that always bothered me was that for the longest time Genesis really didn't have an adequate collection. Sure, the 'Archive 1' and 'Archive 2' box sets were great for die-hard fans like me, but really, a casual fan is not going to shell out the $30+ for those box sets, so those were really intended for us hardcore fans anyway. I always thought 'Turn it on Again - The Hits' was lacking in content (although that remake of 'The Carpet Crawlers' was just phenomenal, but that's another review) and it was too lacking in content. When Rhino announced the release of 'The Platinum Collection' back in 2004 I immediately started grinning like an idiot. Finally, this band was going to get the collection they deserved -- one that spanned ALL eras of the group, including a track from the unfairly maligned Ray Wilson-fronted album 'Calling All Stations.'

When I looked at the track listing, I was immediately drawn to it. I owned the albums, so really, there was no need (or so I thought) to buy this collection for me, but what better way to get a newcomer hooked on Genesis than to present the different phases of this group on three separate discs. The track listing was ideal, and it truly was the perfect "jumping off" point for that new fan curious about this legendary group.

But then I examined further. Sure enough, most of these songs were newly remixed by Nick Davis and were given a fresh outlook. As a collector, I immediately bought it upon hearing of this. My feelings were mixed about the remixes, and thus this is one of the reasons why I am docking a star. Some songs, like 'The Knife,' 'Illegal Alien,' 'Follow You Follow Me' and 'Ripples' do benefit from this remix. Especially on 'Follow You Follow Me.' Davis has put some aspects of the song up front and center that had previously been muddled in the mix, and it gives the song a whole new life.

Other songs just don't work with the remix. 'Misunderstanding,' 'Turn it On Again,' and 'Abacab' especially bother me. Part of the reason is that 'Duke' and 'Abacab' were the albums that got me hooked on Genesis, and both are ingrained into my head. Every nuance of those recordings. So, to hear a new drum mix and to hear more reverb just sounded strange on my ears. Nearly a decade after this collection came out, I'm still not used to these remixes. They still don't sound quite right on this pair of ears. But that's just me...

The packaging is stellar. The liner notes are great, and the album cover? Well, it doesn't get any cooler. It's simple, but combines the best aspects of Genesis' best album covers and puts it together. That, to me, is really cool.

Now, to the stuff that everyone cares about: the music.

Disc one covers the mainstream years, 1983-1998. During this time, MTV rose out of nowhere (this is the pre-'Jersey Shore' days for those of you don't know -- yes, MTV actually played music videos once upon a time), and Genesis became video superstars. On this disc, the hits -- the reason most casual music listeners recognize Genesis (honestly) -- are present. You'll get 'Mama,' 'That's All,' 'In Too Deep,' the #1 hit 'Invisible Touch,' 'Throwing it All Away,' 'I Can't Dance,' 'Hold on My Heart,' and all of the other big hits from the band's hitmaking days. The real treat for me was the addition of 'Calling All Stations,' the title track from the 1997 album of the same name. Now, Phil Collins was not present on this one (he had left the group in 1995) and was replaced by Stiltskin frontman Ray Wilson. Wilson does an admirable job singing on this one, and his raspy voice gives this track a keen edge. Very cool to see this one present here.

Disc two covers the transition years, 1975-1982. This is when frontman Peter Gabriel had left the group and was replaced by the band's drummer, Phil Collins as a vocalist. The recordings contained on this disc are arguably Genesis at their best. 'Turn it on Again,' 'Misunderstanding,' 'Behind the Lines,' 'Undertow,' 'Your Own Special Way,' 'Ripples,' 'Abacab,' 'Afterglow,' and 'Follow You Follow Me' are all present on disc two. The five albums released during this time ('A Trick of the Tail,' 'Wind & Wuthering,' '...And Then There Were Three...,' 'Duke,' and 'Abacab') are perhaps my favorite Genesis recordings and as a result are among my favorite recordings ever made.

Disc three covers the band's early years, 1970-1975. The Peter Gabriel years. Here, you get the epic 'Supper's Ready,' the minor hit 'I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe),' the classic tale of battle 'The Knife' and the great jam of 'The Musical Box,' featuring keyboardist Tony Banks on 12-string guitar. This is perhaps the most critically acclaimed era of Genesis music -- it was complex, gritty, and yet, at the same time, beautiful. I am convinced that Gabriel possesses one of the finest voices of all-time, and it shines on all of the cuts featured here.

There are some flaws. Nothing from 1969's 'From Genesis to Revelation,' the group's debut (although I suspect this has something to do with the record companies not being able to reach an agreement, as the masters to that album are owned by a very different company than Warner), and there are songs here that I would have like to have seen. 'Get 'Em out By Friday,' 'Anything She Does,' 'Fading Lights,' 'All in a Mouse's Night,' 'Snowblind,' 'Scenes from a Night's Dream,' 'Man of Our Times,' etc. But those are all deep cuts anyway, and most everyone who buys this will acquire those songs anyway when they purchase the albums.

Overall, this is a great place to get your feet wet with Genesis' music. If you buy this as your first Genesis disc, I can almost guarantee you it won't be your last Genesis disc. This will only barely satisfy your appetite. You'll want more almost as soon as you get done playing disc 3. But, honestly, I cannot think of a better place to start your Genesis collection than 'The Platinum Collection.' If you are a die-hard fan who doesn't want to shell out the money for the relatively new remix/remasters, than you'll want to get this for the remixes. This is a solid four star disc easily.

Recommended for the new Genesis fan and I'll even go a step further and recommend it to a casual Genesis fan.

Having been a Genesis fan since the early day's - Trespass and Nursery Cryme. I must say this is a good introduction to a band who have stood the test of time and come through with a comprehensive collection of songs spaning the group's 30 year career. Be a Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins fan this is a must have for the collection.