We now come to the second Genesis box set in the band's box set trilogy, "1983-1998," which covers (mostly) the "commercial peak" period for Genesis: hit singles, MTV, etc. Four albums---"Genesis," "Invisible Touch," "We Can't Dance," and the sorely-overlooked "Calling All Stations"---each one remastered & remixed by Nick Davis, with each album containing a bonus DVD of video goodies such as music videos, interviews, concert footage, etc. And this box set also includes an exclusive bonus disc & DVD of rare tracks and footage, as well as a 48-page book, with liner notes by the band's longtime music video director, Jim Yukich. Regarding the albums themselves, I rate "Genesis" and "We Can't Dance" a perfect five stars, while I give "Invisible Touch" and "Calling All Stations" a solid four stars. As for the sound quality, the albums all sound amazing, but the two that benefit the most in the new & improved sound quality are "Genesis" and "Invisible Touch." Nick Davis' magic mixingboard work especially comes to life on these two albums, the sound quality on both SO strong now, with the band's instruments having more power, and Phil Collins' vocals are more up front. "Invisible Touch" is a WHOLE NEW ALBUM, which is terrific since this is the album that Genesis have been unfairly judged by ever since it was released in 1986. To anyone who hates "Invisible Touch," I say listen to this new version. The sound has been totally opened up on this album in particular, and if you couldn't hear the excellent work that Phil, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford did on it before, I have a feeling you will definitely hear it now. "We Can't Dance" and "Calling All Stations" both sound great too, but, being the last of the Genesis albums, there really wasn't much Nick Davis could do with them, apart from making them sound a *little bit* sharper than before. The video extras are terrific, including rare tour rehearsal footage of Genesis from 1983, the band's "Unplugged" performance at a private dinner party in 2000 (only on the box set exclusive DVD!), and the classic music videos including "Mama," "Land Of Confusion," and the phenomenal but rarely-seen clip for "Congo," with it's stunning apocalyptic look and water effects (the band are REALLY getting soaked in this clip, but it's powerful stuff). So, what makes me give "1983-1998" four stars instead of five? Well, some missing tracks. There's no *full-length* versions of "Mama" and "It's Gonna Get Better," which run longer than the album versions and were released together way back when on a 12-inch single. In fact, Davis momentarily tricked me into thinking that the full "Mama" was going to be on the new disc, as he re-edited the song to drop in a few seconds of the full-length "Mama," only to stick on the original fade-out at the very end (thanks a lot, Nick.). Also, most of the rare tracks from "Calling All Stations" are missing---"Papa He Said," "Banjo Man," "Phret," "7/8," and the never-commercially released "Nowhere Else To Turn." BIG ommissions, all of them. Also, the concert footage of Genesis at Knebworth (only on the exclusive box set DVD) chops out, and I mean *chops out* the "Second Home By The Sea" segment, which is inexcusable. Finally, as much as I enjoyed most of Jim Yukich's liner notes, he seems to have a problem with the band's "Calling All Stations" lead singer Ray Wilson, whom Yukich says has a "limited range" and whose voice lacks "personality." That's rubbish, Jim. Ray Wilson is an excellent singer! If he wasn't, I don't think Mike & Tony would've chosen him. Still, when all is said and done, "1983-1998" has many more positives than negatives. The albums all sound incredible, the video goodies are awesome, and the packaging is very handsome. For the diehard Genesis fan, "1983-1998," like the 1st box set, "1976-1982," is an absolute must-buy. Now, bring on the Peter Gabriel era with box set #3!

Wow. In just an overdone, cliched word, wow. Stunning.

I'm not even going to get into an argument regarding the sound quality. Either you're going to dig the in-your-face sound or you're not. Personally, I dig it. It's nice to have the quieter moments upgraded a bit so that you are not turning it up to hear them only to have your ears rudely blown out by the loud sections. I think it's a much better balance overall.

Having said that, be forewarned that the first two albums here, Genesis and Invisible Touch, are not the same albums sonically. Hugh Padgham was a major force in the eighties, steering bands like Genesis and The Police to a very slick radio-friendly sound. It certainly helped them compete with the eighties sound at the time, but there were sacrifices made to the arrangements to get them there. For those addicted to Hugh's production work, stick with the original CD releases. They don't sound horrible, and maintain the context in which the albums were originally released.

However, if you want to hear some revelations, snag this up.

First off, both Genesis and Invisible Touch are now missing Hugh's almost Phil Spectorish wall of sound. The heavy heavy reverb has been toned down a lot, allowing for a greater clarity of sound and much more delicacy than I thought existed in the material. Some will argue that this deprives the music of some of the power, but I don't think so. I would compare the new mixes to the Naked versions of The Beatles' Let It Be. Hugh was great at providing all sorts of tricks in the studio, but again, at the expense of the original sound. Here, Nick has remixed the tracks with what sounds to me to be a more faithful rendition of the Genesis sound. Some songs will sound different, and I'll admit that Hugh's bag of tricks really worked for Silver Rainbow amongst others, but I can't help but feel that the new mixes are more honest to the original concepts. The ONLY quibble I have is that the harmonic keyboard part at the end of The Brazilian seems to have been mixed out, which part used to send chills down my spine everytime it came up. No idea why it was done that way.

And, in fact, there are sections where Tony Banks' keyboards seem to have been mixed way down from the originals. Interesting, since Tony was the only member to be hands on in the studio during the remixes. This does have the added touch of increasing the presence of the other instruments, and makes them sound more balanced in terms of musical interplay. I was a bit put off the first few listens, as I'm a keyboard man myself and consider Tony Banks to be one of the few real rock keyboard gods, and miss hearing them mixed as powerfully as they were. But the end result is that the albums sound way more like real Genesis instead of being tinkered to compete with other MTV fare at the time.

Genesis was the album that broke them through to the other side, but certainly isn't representive to me as a definitive Genesis album. The entire first side, Mama, That's All and Home By The Sea are about as good as they gave during the last phase of their career, and it still stuns. The second side contains some real throwaways like Taking It All Too Hard and Just A Job To Do; they're fun, but there's no depth to them. And Illegal Alien still rubs me the wrong way. Part attempt to be sympathetic, whilst at the same time making fun of Mexicans in an offensive manner, just doesn't work for me. But the same can not be said for Silver Rainbow, one of the more inspired songs from this era, and woefully underappreciated both musically and lyrically, and It's Gonna Get Better is just a beautiful song and a perfect closer. The long version is not included here, one of the very few drawbacks to the set.

Invisible Touch is an even odder album, part slick pop arrangements and stunning musical suites. The title track, Anything She Does, In Too Deep and Throwing It All Away are the more disposable pieces, not much depth and seem to have been written with track charting in mind (although the band still denies this approach). But the difference between these four tracks and the rest of the album cannot be overstated. Tonight Tonight Tonight is a powerful track defining the mentality of an addict, which I did not get until hearing it in the context of a really bad breakup for me. It's one of the best things they did, and it's a shame that a full live version of this track is still not forthcoming (Phil singing the middle section live must be heard to be believed, it's so powerful). Land Of Confusion is a wonderfully jaunty "protest" song written by Mike. Domino is where they cut loose with ten minutes of progressive song writing and some truly bizarre lyrics. And The Brazilian is one of the best instrumentals done of all time by anyone. Perfect in its concept and execution, and another great album closer.

We Can't Dance, oddly, sounds a lot more present to me than the original release. I still hate Hold On My Heart, but there are gems on the album that were difficult to notice because of the generic bland original mix. The new mix has a lot more pop to it without interfering with the arrangements themselves. It just sounds more THERE than it has before. Most of the hits were placed near the beginning of the album (I Can't Dance, No Son Of Mine, Jesus He Knows Me), and they are what they are, they're okay. But they're no patch on Driving The Last Spike, Dreaming While You Sleep, The Way Of The World, Living Forever and the (again) perfect album closer Fading Lights. Again, there's a huge difference in attitude between these and other such dreck like Hold On My Heart. Since I Lost You is sincere, but is just bland, and Tell Me Why just doesn't work. But since the album was way overlong to begin with, you can remove the tracks that don't work and you still have a standard-length album that is filled with nothing but great stuff.

Calling All Stations was, and still is, woefully underappreciated. Ray Wilson did an admirable job coming in and interpreting the material already written, and while Nir Zidkyahu isn't Phil, his drumming is impressive and works really well with Tony's sense of syncopation in a lot of the same ways Phil's did. I will always ache at the thought of a second album done with these guys; no doubt it would have been a far more integrated sound than what we get here, but the album is still very very good; I like it far better than We Can't Dance. The sound went back to epic riffs and thought-provoking lyrics instead of Dance's bland keyboard wash and Phil's constant obsession with romantic lyrics (i.e. the next hit). Calling All Stations, Congo, Alien Afternoon, Not About Us, The Dividing Line, There Must Be Some Other Way and One Man's Fool are all superb pieces, and if you're going to focus on Phil's absence, you are doing so at the expense of enjoying one of the better Genesis albums. Take it for what it's worth, and it IS worth quite a lot.

The B-Sides disc is not complete, another flaw, but honestly, the B-sides not included from the Calling All Stations album are not anywhere as good as the rest of this stuff (with the possible exception of Papa He Said). On The Shoreline is a ripper, and this and Hearts On Fire could easily have replaced some of the sappier unnecessary tracks on We Can't Dance. Do The Neurotic is the real leftover gem from Invisible Touch (Tony said that this was sacrificed in favor of The Brazilian, but I would have loved to have had both on the album). I'd Rather Be You and Feeding The Fire are also both strong songs that could have provided a stronger impression than In Too Deep and Throwing It All Away (which sound more like solo Phil than Genesis). And finally, you get three tracks leftover from Calling All Stations that just reiterate how strong the last studio sessions were.

The extras are a kick in the pants; the interviews are great insights into the albums and the musicians' state of mind in retrospect, as is the lengthy in-the-studio reveal for We Can't Dance, done at the time the album was being produced. The added concert footage is not complete, but very good nonetheless. The 5.1 remixes are also done reverentially and with great skill, and help open up the sound if you've got the time and focus to just immerse yourself in hearing the albums this way.

Nice job all around. And, as time goes by, I find myself more drawn towards the new interpretations of Genesis and Invisible Touch than the originals. It does take some getting used to, but it's worth it to hear them play the albums as a band.

As usual a complete CD/DVD set pretends to be something it isn't. It isn't complete! I know this because I collected every CD I could find with yet another track not on the album or another single, even of the same name.

In this case, there are at least 2 songs missing, "Phret" and "7/8". They were 2 instrumental tracks found on the Shipwrecked CD No.2 and are both worth having. There are also live acoustic tracks not found on this set as well. No Son of Mine, Lovers Leap (from Suppers Ready), and Turn it on Again were released on Shipwrecked No.1 and are not found here anywhere.

Nowhere here does it mention the longer version of It's Gonna Get Better which includes a whole other verse. That's on the Mama CD which has 3 tracks on the 5 inch CD and 2 tracks on the 3 inch CD. On the 5 inch CD it has a longer version of Mama as well.

Papa He Said and Banjo Man are studio tracks released on Congo CD No.1. The Dividing Line has a live version from Cape Canaveral of Turn it On Again (same recording actually as on Shipwrecked No.1) when they announced the new line-up with Ray Wilson and the new tour to follow, (which never did).

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (live) can be found on Not About Us No.2 with Ray Wilson singing lead. I think they didn't want to over do Ray Wilson's lead vocals on this set. Personally, I think he sounded very much more like Gabriel than Collins did. This same CD also covers live Follow You Follow Me and Not About Us. You won't find these tracks anywhere near this set or the Genesis Archives set. They do however, place the studio recordings of Anything Now, Sign Your Life Away and Run Out Of Time from the Not About Us CD No.1 on this set.

I am not complaining as they did a great job cleaning up tracks on the first set released. The DVDs are a nice addition as are the corresponding videos (which are already on the Genesis Collection of videos). Having the rare video stuff though is great fun. The 5.1 mixes are oustanding, so I expect this new set to match the first set's exquisite sound quality. My complaint is how they say it's complete but it isn't really complete.

Then again, why am I complaining? I already have these tracks! It's really more of a warning to those who are thinking they are getting everything buying these sets. You virtually are getting everything, but you aren't actually getting everything. Maybe some would say, you are getting everything that matters? I just would like completeness for completeness' sake.

Overall though, this set is a great collection of music and it won't disappoint! Really, it won't. The essential tracks are here anyway and only a couple rare tracks are missing. And they aren't the most amazing things you ever heard or anything, they are just a few more tracks recorded by Genesis in some form or another.

Now, we all can buy this set and get ready for their next set which carries remixes of their first set of albums with lead singer Peter Gabriel. That certainly won't disappoint, unless they forget a few tracks there as well. The disappointment will be limited though just as it is here.

The second CD+DVD Genesis box set-released just after

-"1983-1998" chronicles the time when the power trio, fronted by Phil Collins, became the biggest bands of the 80's and early 90's thanks to the self-titled 1983 album,1986's "Invisible Touch" and 1991's "We Can't Dance" which were powered by a endless supply of hits like "That's All","Mama","Land Of Confusion","In Too Deep","Throwing It All Away","Invisible Touch","Tonight,Tonight,Tonight","No Son Of Mine","I Can't Dance","Hold On My Heart" and "Jesus He Knows Me",as well as the stylish videos that accompanied those with heavy rotation on MTV.It also features the album after Phil briefly split from the group and singer Ray Wilson joined for,the commercially unsuccessful 1997 effort "Calling All Stations".Like

,all these albums have been remixed and remastered( by Grammy-winning engineer Nick Davis) for CD,SACD(not included here),DVD Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1,and they sound amazing-punchy,bassy,crystal-clear,much better than their older,sonically aging counterparts.And like that box,their DVDs contains music videos(in 5.1 sound),rare concert footage,doctumentaries,tour program stills galleries and informative,insightful 2007 interviews with the band,as well as a colorful 48-page booklet containing a CD+DVD of rare bonus tracks,B-sides and live performances not found anywhere else.For any Genesis fan,this is a no-brainer.

Anyone who's considering buying this box set is already familiar with the music, so no need to comment on that. More likely, they're looking into bonus material or hearing the albums in 5.1. Both do not disappoint. Bonus material is generous and the 5.1 mixes are great. And the packaging is very nice as well.