Review:

A Trick of the Tail was the first studio album by progressive rock band Genesis following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. It was released in February 1976.

Post-Gabriel Genesis:

After Peter Gabriel left Genesis, the remaining members held auditions for a permanent lead singer. Initially Phil Collins did not wish to take over from Gabriel, instead teaching the potential lead singers the songs. When the auditions failed to produce a suitable vocalist, Collins reluctantly went in the studio to sing "Squonk" and the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.

Recording:

The album was recorded and mixed at Trident Studios in October / November 1975. It also marked the first album that the band would co-produce with David Hentschel. They would work with David for the next four years.

Videos:

Three videos were shot for the album. The first was for the album's title cut which depicted the band playing to the track and a very miniature Phil Collins hopping around on a piano and a guitar (Collins later revealed this clip was the most embarrassing video of his career). The second was for Ripples which was a performance clip. The last was "Robbery, Assault and Battery" which depicted Phil as a bank robber who kills an elderly man (played by Mike Rutherford) after holding him up and then pursued by cops (played by Banks, Hackett and Rutherford).

Chart performance:

A Trick of the Tail reached #3 in the UK and #31 in the US. Additionally, the album was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA in March of 1990. Also according to Tony Banks in the essay that comes with The Genesis Platinum Collection, the album doubled the band's previous albums sales. This success proved crucial for Genesis whom were $400,000 in debt by the time Peter Gabriel left so it was good news financially as well as artistically.

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Added by Vergil x Dante 2 years ago on 7 May 2007 04:28