As part of Atlantic Records’ ongoing 75th anniversary celebration, Analogue Productions has released Nursery Cryme, the latest in its series of Genesis reissues, as a 2-LP 45 RPM set. It’s a landmark in the band’s career and in progressive rock, since it’s the first album to feature Steve Hackett on guitar and Phil Collins on drums and vocals. It’s also filled with fantastic music, including “The Musical Box,” one of the band’s signature songs.
Nursery Cryme was released in 1971 and marked a major musical advancement from the sound of Genesis’s previous album, 1970’s Trespass. Phil Collins’s drumming was superior to that of his predecessor John Mayhew (who was good, but Collins is extraordinary), and his vocals were a significant addition to the band’s overall sound. (And of course, he went on to have a monumental solo career and appeared on many subsequent Genesis albums.) While former guitarist Anthony Phillips was a masterful guitarist in his own right (and continues to release music to this day), Steve Hackett gave the band both a harder, more aggressive edge, particularly in his use of fuzz and distortion, and added the dreamier sounds of his 12-string and nylon-string guitar playing. Please note that Nursery Cryme is from Genesis's earlier, progressive rock-oriented period with Peter Gabriel, and doesn't reflect the bands later, more commercial sound.
The band was rounded out here by Mike Rutherford (bass, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, vocals), Tony Banks (organ, mellotron, electric and acoustic piano, 12-string guitar, vocals), and Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine). Nursery Cryme saw the evolution of many Genesis hallmarks, including songs with fantasy-and mythology-based lyrics; multiple layered 12-string guitars; keyboardist Tony Banks’ use of arpeggios; shifting time signatures and musical sections; and not the least – fantastic instrumental virtuosity and ensemble playing. This is music making at the highest level. And dig that Bizarro World cover.
Genesis promotional photo, 1972. Standing: Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett. Seated: Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks. Photo by Barrie Wentzell.
The Analogue Productions Nursery Cryme is an all-analog was mastered directly from the original master tape by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and pressed on superb-quality 180-gram vinyl by Quality Record Pressings. The cover by Stoughton Printing is done on elegant, textured stock. The original inner sleeve lyrics are reproduced on the fold-out inner covers. The record labels are a reproduction of the original UK pressings, a very cool touch.
The sonic differences are not subtle. This reissue trounces the original US vinyl and Definitive Edition Remaster CD, and beats up the circa-2010 Classic Records reissue. The less said about the remixed 2007 Stereo Mix, the better. As was the case with the Analogue Productions reissue of Selling England By the Pound, I took a look at the dead wax writing of Nursery Cryme to see if it might have been pressed from the same stampers. The numbers aren’t the same.
The original US pressing was OK sonically but not great, with an overall muffled and indistinct character, spatially and dynamically flat, though with some detail. The Analogue Productions reissue, on the other hand, is cause for rejoicing. In “The Musical Box,” details like a background synthesizer in the right channel, and the acoustic piano, can be more easily heard, or heard, period. There’s a modulation effect on the left channel 12-string guitar that is now plain to discern, as are Phil Collins’ “la la la” vocals in the left channel. You can now easily follow the many and varied guitar lines.
The sound is much more dynamic and open, and the body and tonal character of the instruments, whether Gabriel’s flute or the raspy edge of Steve Hackett’s fuzz guitar soloing, is now much more distinct and realistic. Phil Collins’s drums have thwack. The impact of the organ is much more powerful at the end of the song. The soundstaging and imaging are better. This is not only a Genesis classic, but one of the greatest songs in progressive rock history.
Next up is the wistful “For Absent Friends,” and the 12-string that opens the track is just gorgeous. Phil’s vocals never sounded more heartfelt, and the song is more refined overall. Following that is another Genesis classic, “The Return of the Giant Hogweed.” Sounds preposterous on paper, but no one but Genesis could pull off such a crazily brilliant song about an indestructible botanical intent on conquering England, “immune to all our herbicidal battering.” This song has always sounded dynamically flat. Not now! Rutherford’s fuzz bass is intense – it growls. The Hammond organ sound is really rich. Little background parts like the organ on the last verse are now obvious to hear. The ending has incredible weight and power. After hearing these three tracks in a row, the differences in the mixing between them, previously obscured, now becomes obvious.
What would have been the original side two kicks off with “Seven Stones,” a pensive song about life’s inevitability. The dynamics are much nicer in the quiet passages, and the Mellotron sound would make the Moody Blues and King Crimson envious. (Why doesn’t Tony Banks get more recognition? I mean, c’mon, people. Though Yngwie Malmsteen cites Banks as a major influence.) Next comes one of Genesis’s most delightful songs, the blackly-humorous “Harold the Barrel.” Old Harry has had enough of life and is about to jump off a building. Banks’s acoustic piano really drives the song here, and Collins is simply brilliant. Though I’ve always loved the song, I’ve always considered it a bit of a throwaway, but no longer, as it’s now revealed in all its power and glory. Harold says, screw the world!
“Harlequin” proves once again, as if any aficionado needed any proof, that Genesis are the absolute kings of 12-string guitar arpeggios and layering. Phil’s vocals are especially nice here. And then we come to the end with another Genesis epic, “The Fountain of Salmacis,” based on the ancient Greek myth about Hermaphroditus. The band holds nothing back in this eight-minute display of musical and lyrical prowess, though oddly, the vocals are undermixed and wander throughout the sound field and the upper mids come off as harsh in spots. Still…Rutherford’s darting and weaving bass is dizzyingly wonderful here, and Collins’ drums are more powerful than you’ve ever heard them.
There are undiscovered subtleties as well, like the faint reverb that happens in the right channel after Gabriel sings, “nothing will cause us to part” about two-thirds of the way through the song, and the fact that in the middle of the part where the music is creating a sonic maelstrom, you can distinctly hear Gabriel’s flute in the midst of the cacophony.
This is a triumph for Analogue Productions and a cause for celebration for Genesis fans.
I can’t wait until the Foxtrot reissue comes out.
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