This past year has proved to be a banner year for the nostalgic British Rock group. With a surprising 2007 reunion tour, Phil Collins and his partners in crime Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks have proven even with time, they still have the strength to perform great songs together. That has proven well with Rhino records re-releasing the entire Genesis catalog from top to bottom, and a remarkable set of reintroductions of what made the classic sound still survive today. With Phil's solo success on the rise in the 80's, so did a new commercially successful sound proved to bring the hardship of what innovative music really was like to so many folds, and that can be said with this self-titled re-release.

The 2007 re-release of Genesis, the self-titled album of Genesis, proved the songs had more hype, and the continuing vibe Genesis was feeling. After the success of Abacab, and Phil's solo albums Face Value & Hello, I Must Be Going, the songs delivered with a bit more rhythm, as was with he stamina of the album. The songs have all been remastered on this new edition of the album in 5.1 surround, which gives the songs a new life and a better sound than before. The album includes the classics That's All, the deep and haunting Mama which still sounds edgey today, as well as guilty pleasures like the upbeat Illegal Alien and the deep storytelling Home By The Sea, and the instrumental Second Home By The Sea. The DVD also brings out well to die hard fans, by including the classic videos Mama, Illegal Alien, and many others. It also includes a behind the scenes look at their hyped 1983 Mama tour, which includes behind the scenes performances of cult classsics like The Carpet Crawlers and Eleventh Earl Of War.

All in all, while the self-titled album Genesis didn't have the complete commercial success of their other albums like Invisible Touch or Duke, it still has a distinctive vibe of its own that makes it worth while. It is a great buy for die hard fans, and a great sampler for anyone who has yet to feel the 80's brought to great pop music. I really think this is a good listen to, that's all.

Album Cover: B

Songs: B-

Price: B-

Remastering: B

DVD Extras: B

Overall: B 1/2-

I don't understand how these remixes are getting such good reviews. Nick Davis used to do such amazing recordings. What happened? When did he become such a fan of over EQing everything? Can't everyone hear how overly EQ'd these mixes are? They simply aren't enjoyable to listen to. They're harsh and thin with a boomy low end and hollowed out midrange and clearly have inferior musical balances than the originals. I guess it's a case where people buy into believing remastered always means better even without volume matched comparisons. Remember, louder doesn't mean better.

I can take about ten minutes of these discs before my ears just start ringing and I have to shut it off. They've lost a lot of the punch and power the original mixes had. The sound of the SSL console EQ Nick used has a distinct tone. They will ring when overused. You can hear it all over this set. It should be annoying even to those whose ears haven't been trained. There's a lot of poorly chosen EQ that adds a nasal quality to the instruments. The cymbals are harsh and Phil's vocals are nasally and sound like a they're coming through a megaphone. Things sound small and jammed together.

I won't even go into detail about how much better Hugh Padgham's mixes are. Hugh is obviously a better engineer as he made Genesis sound powerful and important. Nick Davis has made them sound like a small transistor radio, albeit a very loud transistor radio.

And what's with all the compression? These heavy mixes are ridiculously inappropriate for this beautiful, emotionally dynamic music. These songs used to have dynamics, loud and soft orchestrations that built the music. Now everything is LOUD! The LOUD! parts are LOUD! and the soft parts are LOUD! That's not detail you're hearing, it's just compression.

It makes me sick to my stomach that these loud, overly EQd, overly compressed remixes are going to replace the dynamic, fuller and more artful original mixes.

Welcome to the MP3 generation where sound quality just doesn't matter as long as it's loud. I guess I should get a cheap stereo that makes everything sound bad. That way these Genesis remixes won't upset me so much.

Genesis... the George Lucas of the music world. ICK!

Genesis' self-titled 1983 album has been reissued in a wonderful CD/DVD format that really gives you proof that the band did have a sense of humor, especially when it came to their videos. Their songs on this great album ranged from humorous fooling around ("Illegal Alien") to pure menace ("Mama", "Home By The Sea", "Just A Job To Do") to tales of romantic discord ("That's All", "Taking It All To Hard") to songs of hope that are helping me look good for a number of pretty actresses ("Silver Rainbow", "It's Gonna Get Better"). Some critics were deriding the band as easy-listening lightweights by 1983, but I disagree, and have been watching reruns of the sitcom WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU for a template to take these comments like, as they aren't totally true. The music is harmless, yet never boring. This is a package you must own if you enjoy progressive pop-rock.

Wow this is what SACD is all about, this was one of my absolute favorites from my youth. And hearing it in this quality just blew me totally away. It was my first SACD even though I've had dvd-audio disk for years. This really is something special. If you're a fan and can play SACD disks you 100% for sure should buy this ASAP.

Genesis being Genesis 1983 release and their 12th studio album had hits such as "Mama", "That's all", "Illegal Alien" and "Taking It All Too Hard". The second cd is a dvd with a live show from the time, some music videos and we get to see a tour rehearsal. The booklet has a blurred photograph with strange and odd shapes on it. The lyrics are easy to read but we do not get a list of whom plays what and that is a shame. 4/5.