Genesis - 1976 [1988] "A Trick Of The Tail"

A Trick of the Tail is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released in February 1976 on Charisma Records and was the first album to feature drummer Phil Collins as lead vocalist following the departure of Peter Gabriel. It was a critical and commercial success in the UK and U.S., reaching No. 3 and No. 31 respectively.

Following Gabriel's decision to leave the band, the remaining members wanted to carry on and show they could still write and record successful material. The group wrote and rehearsed new songs during mid-1975, and listened to around 400 audition tapes for a replacement frontman. They entered Trident Studios in October with producer David Hentschel to record the album without a definitive idea of who was going to perform lead vocals. Eventually, Collins was persuaded to sing "Squonk", and the performance was so strong, he sang lead on the rest of album.

Upon release, critics were impressed by the improved sound quality and the group's ability to survive the loss of Gabriel without sacrificing the quality of the music. The group went out on tour with Collins as frontman and Bill Bruford as an additional drummer, and the resulting performances in the US raised Genesis' profile there. The album has been reissued on CD several times, including a deluxe package with bonus tracks in 2007.

Founding member and lead singer Peter Gabriel decided to leave Genesis in late 1974, midway through the tour for the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The other members hoped he would reconsider, as they were still in debt and felt his departure could destroy the band's future, but ultimately accepted that he would leave. The remaining members felt they still wanted to collaborate musically, and show journalists and critics they were primarily a song writing team that could still produce good music. Keyboardist Tony Banks had been close to Gabriel personally, and did not want the band to split up on top of seeing less of one of his best friends. He had written a number of songs for a possible solo project before deciding they should be used on the new Genesis album.

Following the end of the tour, guitarist Steve Hackett recorded a solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte with guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford and drummer Phil Collins, feeling unsure that Genesis would survive. He reconvened with the remaining group members in July 1975. Banks and Rutherford were particularly keen to write and record new material so that critics and fans would accept Gabriel's departure. The group began rehearsals in a basement studio in Acton, and quickly wrote material they were happy with, but had not yet found a replacement lead singer. They placed an anonymous advertisement in the music paper Melody Maker for "a singer for a Genesis-type group", which received around 400 replies. Some applicants sent photographs of themselves in costume and wearing masks, as Gabriel had done on stage. A few weeks into rehearsals, Melody Maker managed to find out about Gabriel leaving the band, and their story made the front page of the 16 August issue, where journalist Chris Welch declared Genesis dead. The group spoke to the music papers to deny they were splitting up and explaining they had an album finished and waiting to be recorded.

Genesis  entered Trident Studios to record A Trick of the Tail, which was released in February 1976, without having promoted Collins to singer. That left producer David Hentschel without any real sense of direction for the project. It was only after Collins took a shot at singing "Squonk" that something clicked.

"That first few days writing, we coulda gone over and coulda gone under," Genesis co-founder Mike Rutherford once told Washington Life. "But the first day of writing with myself, Phil and [fellow co-founder] Tony [Banks] actually, it took off."
This new alchemy, borne in a moment of deep confusion, would ultimately take Genesis far afield of the band's original progressive-rock roots, something hinted on The Trick of the Tail with the soaring ballad "Ripples." They quickly left behind the more ominous narratives, if not yet all of the complexity, that had dominated The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, 1975's Gabriel finale.

"The Lamb was a hard album to make," Rutherford admitted in a talk with Innerviews. "The whole concept of The Lamb was darker, longer, and it was a real uphill battle to finish. That’s why A Trick of the Tail was easier to make. It was lighter, Phil was singing, and we had a whole new scenario with a breath of fresh air."
Listen to Genesis Perform 'Dance on a Volcano'

Genesis opens with the band-written "Dance on a Volcano," a moment of collaborative euphoria that speaks volumes about their new-found confidence. From there, Banks' "Robbery, Assault and Battery" and the title track hinted at the humor that surrounded some of Genesis' earliest work together. "Squonk" builds off a thunderous Led Zeppelin-esque cadence, while "Mad Mad Moon" brings in classical themes. The loosely swinging "Los Endos" closes things out, recalling elements of both "Dance on a Volcano" and "Squonk."

Collins, however, wasn't the only emerging new voice. Guitarist Steve Hackett took a more central role with the delicately conveyed epic "Entangled," having just released 1975's Voyage of the Acolyte, his solo debut. "I was really edging away from the group at that point," Hackett told Dave Negrin. "I was getting tired of bringing ideas into the group, which I felt they weren't going to do. If the ideas were more radical, they weren't necessarily going to do them. I felt that the band was heading towards an area that was becoming very safe." Indeed, they were – and Hackett would leave the band after one more album. But for now, Genesis had not only weathered Gabriel's departure, they had also achieved a new momentum. A Trick of the Tail matched their best-ever U.K. chart finish at No. 3, and found Genesis in the U.S. Top 40 for the very first time – a place in which they would soon become very comfortable.

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Track Listing:

1. Dance on a Volcano (5:53)
2. Entangled (6:28)
3. Squonk (6:27)
4. Mad Man Moon (7:35)
5. Robbery, Assault & Battery (6:15)
6. Ripples (8:03)
7. A Trick of the Tail (4:34)
8. Los Endos (5:46)

Total Time: 51:06

Personnel:

- Phil Collins / lead & backing vocals, drums, percussion
- Steve Hackett / electric & 12-string guitars
- Tony Banks / pianos, synthesizers, organ, Mellotron, 12-string guitar, backing vocals
- Mike Rutherford / bass, bass pedals, 12-string guitar