Japanese Version featuring a LP Style Slipcase for Initial Pressing.
CD Reviews
This is a fabulous album!
Distant Voyageur | Io | 10/28/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I can't believe no one liked bought this amazing album. This is by far Genesis' best CD that they had made in many years and it's a massive injustice at what this album had recieved when released.
I was instantly excited when I heard about their newest release and instantly ran out and baught it and have not regretted it one bit! This is worth the money. The music is a lot darker and far less accessible than the lightweight material that they made with Phil Collins when he was their lead singer. I must say that Ray Wilson did such a great job on this album and it's really stupid that Rutherford and Banks fired him after the 'failure' of this album. My favorites are the title track, "Small Talk", "Small Talk", and "One Man's Fool". I could care less about "It's Not About Us" and "If That's What You Need" because they don't rank up with the rest of the songs on here. Still those aren't bad either, just not as good as the rest. This is a highly recommended album."
CAS is astounding!
Elisa Maza | A deep patch of sucking quicksand | 09/19/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This 1997 effort with Genesis without their former lead singer Phil Collins is a vastly underrated album and is in fact, one of my favorite albums of theirs and is a highly recommended album.
This release is far away from the easily accessible pop of what Genesis did between 1981 through the end of 1992 yet is a distance away from the progressive style that defined Genesis' pre-1978 albums. In ways, this album is totally different from any of their other albums and stands out on it's own. Ray Wilson made such a great successor to Phil Collins and I'm very mad at Banks and Rutherford for deciding to throw in the towel following this albums success. One commercial dud is completely normal for most bands. Buy this CD Today! And someone please get a bullhorn and tell this PC and PG heads to cut it out with their whining!"
...genesis evolved.
asiadragn82 | NJ, USA | 12/06/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I left the remnants of the Phil Collin's era due to it's poppish taste of rendering it's own original material. Gone are the days when Peter Gabriel was at it's helm of progressive music, defining rock in it's eccentric form and until this day I am his avid fan. Ray Wilson had made me want to buy again a Genesis album after many years of refusing to look at them either. This is the Genesis I was hoping it would evolved into."
Underated Indeed
L. Stillwater | Florida | 04/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First of all, I am a Genesis fan as a listener and a musician. This album comes in the top 5 Genesis album in my list. I can see how some hardcore 70's Genesis fans might not like Phil Collins because of his influence that eradicated some of the artistic musical complexity that Genesis might have been associated on albums like "Selling England By The Pound" etc. That were some of the differences between Tony Banks(keyboardist)who wanted long epic songs and Phil who wanted to go in a pop format. Genesis went pop in the 80's and their's nothing wrong with that because it brought some good songs to the public, and it's Phil that should be thanked of the great success of Genesis. Most people will know songs like "Land Of Confusion" but how many people know "Squonk"? Which comes now to the Ray Wilson era. This is a whole new progressed Genesis. "Calling All Stations" the opening track of this album is very uniquely written. The chord changes never repeat themselves. The whole album has a darker tone then any of their previous albums. I thought that was a good move, cause that was more in tune with what was going on in the 90's. Ray Wilson's voice is a bit more raspidy which took me a while to get used to after listening for their first performance in Cape Canaveral, but after listening to the album a couple of times. It fits! We all have been under that Phil Collins banner for such a long time that we forget that Peter Gabriel's voice also had that dark rasp to it. Ray Wilson was a good choice. Songs like "Ship wrecked" is a beautiful song. Ray Wilson sings with emotions that fits with this darker Genesis. Some songs are a bit strange song writing wise. You can see that some of these songs were written by Tony Banks before Ray even got there. It did well in Europe and in other places and even won some awards in other countries. It's just that some people are stuck in their ways and I guess that is all right. Which Van Halen was better... Dave, Sammy, or Cherone? It's three diiferent bands, and that is the case with "Calling All Stations." I know that Ray Wilson had a 3 record contract with Genesis, but unfortunately I do not think that Rutherford or Banks had the patience. They let go of Wilson cause this album was not big in the U.S. They should have given Wilson some time. This would have morphed in to something new. I would have wished to hear how they would have progressed in the second album with Wilson. Bottom line is "Calling All Station" is a legitimate Genesis album."
It grows with time
E. Canoura | florida | 11/18/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album has Tony Banks written all over it and unlike Phil Collin and Mike Rutherford (Mike and the Mechanics)Tony has never had much success with his solo career, yet I like his compositions none the less and thats pretty much the way I feel about this album. Neverment to be a pop album it did pretty much what it was ment to do, cover for what must have been a difficult transition. Perhaps a better producer could have helped. The album does have a sticky quality to it and when listening without comparisen it's quit nice."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1