Music Reviews

After such an impressive comeback - in both content and sound - Abacab can't help but be a bit of a comedown. "Scaled down," says Collins in describing the album's aesthetic. He's right, of course - but even in surround, the title track seems much more trebly than similar parts of Duke. Crisp drums, though, and I like how Davis leans the guitar lick to the front and the keyboard's response to the back.

Leaning the horns and handclaps of "No Reply at All" to the back, however, does them no favors. They were thin to start with, and now - relegated to the rear of a surround mix - they seem even thinner. Elsewhere, "Keep It Dark" doesn't use the surround channels to full advantage, tapping them mostly for accents and highlights in the verses - although the little percussion breaks are cool. As for what Collins calls "our punk track," the mix gives "Who Dunnit?" some flair, but not enough to help it transcend its essential datedness.

By now, fans of high-resolution surround sound might be saying: This is all well and good, but if England gets to hear the mixes on SACD, why do we Yanks have to make do with DVD-Video?

Why indeed?! - especially since Rhino used DVD-Audio for both its Talking Heads and Doors boxes. Well, the DVD-Video-only precedent was set with its Bjork box. And I don't need to tell you what's happening to high resolution across the board in this country anyway - do I?

That said, I must admit that listening to these surround mixes, I never missed not having them on either DVD-Audio or SACD. The sound quality itself of these discs is that good. So if you want the import - which, instead of six CDs, has six hybrid SACDs for the stereo and surround mixes - go right ahead and buy it. But be warned that its six DVDs (for just the visual bonuses) won't play in this country!

One more sound issue needs to be addressed, though. In his liner notes, Watts writes: "Because of its greater compression ratio, allowing more data, DTS is considered superior to Dolby and produces a deeper, more spacious, and cleaner sound." Well, even if he had gotten this "right" - that would be lower compression ratio, buddy - it would still be a nonsensical generalization. In fact, it reads more like DTS P.R. than anything else.

That said, the DTS 96/24 track on Trick and Wind is sharper, deeper, and better balanced than the Dolby Digital. For the other albums, however, it's basically a draw.

So ... was the three-year wait in the no-surround rain worth it? Overall, absolutely. Only trouble is, if Genesis: 1976-1982 is breakfast, now we have to wait for Rhino to serve it up again for lunch with "Mama" and friends. And by the time of the third boxed set, we'll no doubt be more than ready for "Supper" with Lamb.

Get out!

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