Genesis (Shapes) - SACD-Hybrid/DVD (2007)

SACD / CD tracks:

Mama
That's All
Home By The Sea
Second Home By The Sea
Illegal Alien
Taking It All Too Hard
Just A Job To Do
Silver Rainbow
It's Gonna Get Better

DVD content:

Full album in Dolby Digital 5.1 (audio-only)
Full album in dts Surround (audio-only)
Mama (video)
That's All (video)
Illegal Alien (video)
Reissues Interview 2007
Mama-Tour: Rehearsal video
Tour programme 1982 - photo gallery
Mama tour programme 1983/84 - photo gallery
Six-Of-The-Best 1982 concert programme - photo gallery

Technical data:
The music videos are available in stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts sound (as on the Video Show DVD). All other content is in Dolby Digital 2.0. No subtitles are available.

Album review

Go here to read a full review of the album.

The new mixes
New mixes are a risky business. As a fan one has come to know and love the mixes of a record and is likely to frown if things sound different. SACD offer more space for music data, but the question remains whether you want that and whether it is worth it? Even Mike Rutherford was initially against new mixes of Genesis and Invisible Touch, the two albums Hugh Padgham produced. The Mechanic felt that these albums already had the perfect mix. In the end they let Nick Davis sit down at the mixing desk, and he provided a fine piece of work. The new mixes of the Genesis album are of course less flashy than the new mixes of older albums.

The biggest surprises are hidden in the 5.1 mix. The surround effects are good for the album, and Davis does not use overly big effects in the rear speakers. Though these are rarely silent they usually blend in with the overall sound. The main instruments and Phil’s voice are always placed in the front, while harmonies and backing vocals are in the rear. Mama has a couple of clever effects; Collins’ mean laugh comes out of all every speaker so that you are surrounded by it. A couple of synthesizer notes one has never noticed before waft through the room just before the instrumental part of Home By The Sea. The Simmons drums sound quite harmless, though, they had much more oomph on the Definitive Edition Remasters. This means that the song builds up its steam a bit more slowly which offers a different dramatic effect.

Illegal Alien benefits most from the remixes. It sound more harmonic, fresher, with more cheek. The distribution of the sound of It’s Gonna Get Better onto different speakers on the other hand does not work. Collins sounds like a foreign body at times, and when he switches to his head-voice you just want to turn it off. The overall impression is good, though. The 5.1 mix adds more to the album than it takes away.

DVD bonus content
The Mama remasters edition has a lot to offer: The obligatory videos in dts sound. The reissue interviews in which Banks, Collins and Rutherford talk about the Mama album for some 17 minutes. There is nothing much new in there but it is fun to hear the blokes talk about less famous songs.
The best bit of the bonus material is definitely the video of the rehearsals for the Mama tour. Though recorded with only one camera it still gives us a glimpse at a show with rarities such as Dodo, Who Dunnit and Eleventh Earl Of Mar. A real treat for the fans.

by Simon Rosenberg
translated by Martin Klinkhardt