SACD Genesis – Genesis

“Mama”, “That’s All”, “Home by the Sea”: the self-titled Genesis album of 1983 as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series. The two parts of the ghost story, “Home by the Sea” and “Second Home by the Sea”, follow one another directly – like all nine tracks of the album in one continuous sequence.

An album built from scratch, together

When Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford returned to their own studio in Surrey in the spring of 1983, they came with a new way of working. Instead of bringing finished songs, they developed the material together: a drum machine would start, someone would play a figure, and the other two would respond. That is why all three share the writing credits – and why the plain title Genesis fits so well: the group’s identity lay in making the music together.

The sessions followed the Three Sides Live tour and a break for solo projects. The converted farm building gave them time to explore ideas, drop them and come back to them. Hugh Padgham worked with the band on recording and production, and studio technology became part of the writing, shaping the songs while they were still taking form. In a 1984 interview, Padgham described mixing the analogue multitracks directly to a Sony 1610 digital system.

From “Mama” to “That’s All”

“Mama” grew out of a drum-machine pattern played by Rutherford. Reverb and a distorted amplifier turned it into the unsettling foundation of the song. Collins’ trademark laugh came from somewhere else entirely: Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message”, which Padgham had brought into the studio. The connection shows how readily Genesis absorbed ideas from outside their own musical world, while Banks’ electronic textures let the arrangement grow around its rhythmic starting point.

“That’s All” takes a completely different route. Banks supplied a straightforward piano riff, the band nodded to the Beatles, and Collins approached the drums with Ringo Starr in mind. The contrast is central to the album: an extended, theatrical opener sits next to a compact pop song, and neither cancels the other out. Together they show a trio chasing accessible melodies while still treating sound, structure and repetition as tools of composition.

A haunted house built from long improvisations

In Banks’ “Home by the Sea”, a burglar finds himself trapped in a house by its ghostly inhabitants. “Second Home by the Sea” carries the story into an instrumental passage assembled from much longer group improvisations: the musicians chose the most promising sections, joined them together and learned the result as a new piece. What began as an open studio exercise became a carefully built two-part composition – best heard as one sequence.

The second half changes scale. “Taking It All Too Hard”, “Just a Job to Do” and “Silver Rainbow” work as individual character pieces, each weighting story, rhythm and melody differently. Even the sleeve has a small domestic origin: designer Bill Smith used shapes from his young son’s toy. An everyday object became a carefully arranged image – much as a simple figure could grow into an elaborate song during the sessions.

The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD

CAPA 043 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the nine tracks of the original album.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series

Also in another edition: Genesis

More SACDs by Genesis: Selling England By The Pound · The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway · A Trick Of The Tail · Abacab

Artist page: All titles by Genesis and Phil Collins

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.