Nursery Cryme: Remastered [Original recording remastered]

How did this random situation occur? 3 chaps from Charterhouse Public School, a child actor and the ubiquitous quiet bearded one, get together and write and record a record of breathtaking imagery, originality and structure? I happened over this album by liberating it from a friend's record collection, it had such an affect on me and still does to this day. I can't think of another album (even from the Gabrielesque period of Genesis) that is like this. It sounds like one would imagine a rock band would had it been armed with electric instrumentation at the turn of the last century.

Ok, so the cover is very Victorian in style, the logo for Genesis for the period being taken from a cocoa tin from the period, but I think this has been produced to compliment the recordings and not the other way round. The first track `The Musical Box' was played right up to Gabriel leaving and was still occasionally played as a medley right up to the band's demise. The subject matter could be described as weird at best and is all the better for it. A dark and delicious seam of humour lay at the heart of Genesis from this period and it is apparent in spades on this album, from a child removing their peer's head with a croquet mallet and a man eating plant to a man who cut's off his own toes and serves them in a restaurant; if this sort of thing offends, stay away.

Nursery Cryme can also be acoustic and delicate (For Absence Friends, Collins and Hackett's first penned effort), loud and aggressive with big fat chords (The Return of the Giant Hogweed) or deal with myth and legend (The Fountain of Salmacis), it's range is wonderful, as is the use of the Mellotron they bought off King Crimson - an early string, flute and brass reproducing keyboard one once described as a `sampler in a drinks cabinet', it's icy and eerie sounds really add to this album. Also of not is Steve Hackett's wonderful guitar work, jumping effortlessly from nimble and deft picking to loud and dazzling, he is a very much under-rated played in this day and age. Mike Rutherford also does some wonderful re-tuned 12 string work, and starts his career with bass pedals played by one's feet and giving a warm rich tone (check out 'Seven Stones' for a good example of this). The real star on this album is Tony Banks, who really was the engine-room for Genesis throughout their career, seemingly effortlessly writing chordal progressions that as so his. Collins provides crisp and intelligent drumming (no brainless tub-thumping here) and Gabriel's slightly rasping vocals and wonderfully strange lyrics make for giving the album a strongly defined feel and flavour.

I return to this on album a regular basis and find it a wonderful and diverting piece of music. Those who write this sort of thing off as pretentious (a label given by ignorant journalists in the late 70s) are clearly missing some fantastic writing and very original music, and in an age where originality is mostly either totally missing, or an excuse for poor material. If you are unfamiliar with this record, I strongly suggest you snap up a copy.

When remastering came along in the 90s, I assumed that vaunted technical improvements were cut and dried - a remastered version surely had to be better than the old out-dated technology version. So I lost no time in acquiring the new, supposedly improved editions, and dispensing with the old ones. Then along came the Genesis 2008 remasters.

By now I'm starting to wonder if remastering is all it's cracked up to be. Is it really improved audio or just a marketing ploy? I was initially excited by the release of the Genesis box sets, especially the 1970-75 one, as this is my favourite Genesis era. However, having become increasingly aware of criticism of the sound achieved through modern remastering techniques: too compressed, undynamic, too loud, too wearing on the ears, too bright, too EQ'd etc I was reluctant to part with the cash for what would after all be my 4th round of Genesis album purchasing (original vinyl, original CD release, 1994 Definitive editions, 2008 remastered editions). Just listing that makes me feel like a sucker!

But curiosity has got the better of me, so I've gone and got a couple of the new releases - Selling England By The Pound and Nursery Cryme - so I can hear for myself whether it's a worthwhile improvement. Have the golden-eared audiophiles got a point, or are they just being grumpy old fusspots? I no longer have the original CD releases of the Genesis albums for comparison, but I still have the remastered so-called `Definitive' editions, so I can listen to these and the latest versions side by side, back to back, back to front, and draw my own conclusion. Now, I do appreciate good quality sound reproduction, but I'm not an overly analytical high-end audiophile. For example, rather than dwelling on the chocolately overtones and cheeky aftertwang, I'd be more likely to be thinking `hmm, sounds good/OK/rubbish.'

So I did my experiment, playing both versions of both albums on my nothing special car stereo while driving along, and also on 2 different and pretty decent home systems. Cloth ears may come into it, but at least my findings can't be blamed on the stereo.

The verdict? Whether due to the remixing or remastering, the sound of the 2008 version is indeed different, seeming louder, brighter and clearer. I perceive more separation between the instruments and between the instruments and vocals. The latter are occasionally more prominent than on the older version. On the downside, the brightness and loudness combine to give the impression of a harsher, perhaps more tinny sound. On the upside, the sense of spaciousness and clarity present the music in a more modern-sounding way, and may add to the appreciation of some musical subtleties.

So it comes down to a matter of taste, and perhaps, habituation. Overall, I'm not so enthused by the new sound to want to rush out and replace all my `definitive' versions with the newer ones, but would have no hesitation to acquire the new versions if coming to the music for the first time.

NB The 4-star rating I give here is for the new sound, not for the quality of the music itself. No collection of classic 70s music or English progressive rock would be complete without these essential 5-star albums.

I have always considered this album a much more mature sound moving on from Trespass. On release back in 1971 it was a very progressive/innovative piece of work. I still have the original vinyl, which is not brilliant in production/ engineering quality for an album of this era. I gave up on the new UK vinyl re-mastered box set due to poor pressing quality but I now have the USA Atlantic/Rhino set, which I am happy with. The Nursery Cryme re-mastered vinyl is in my view better than my original (clearer, more detail and the bass/percussion is a lot more pronounced in the mix).

I find the re-mastered CD stereo mixes are much better than the previously released `Definitive Re-master' CD. It is much clearer; with the sound fuller, pushing out of the speakers a much more improved sonic mix. The re-mastered CD is overall better in cost/performance balance vs the re-master vinyl being much cheaper in price. The vinyl to date is only available in a very expensive box set. However, in my view the re-mastered vinyl gives the best sound quality.

The album was made to give a very Victorian feel in the music, lyric composition and the illustrations on the front and insert cover. The addition of the new band members also gave it a very different song and musical composition vs Trespass. In my view it contains three all time classic Genesis songs (Musical Box, The Return of the Giant Hogweed and Fountain of Salmacis). The Fountain of Salmaics for me like `The Knife' on Trespass is the song on the album that gets the best sonic face-lift on both CD and vinyl re-mastered formats vs earlier releases. The mellotron and bass introduction is much more intense and gives a massive flow of music through the speakers. Percussion and bass is also throughout the track much more detailed in the mix.

The other tracks on the album: For Absent Friends (Phil Collins first solo vocal outing), Steven Stones, Harold the Barrel and Harlequin I think are fine songs. However, overall I do not think this album has the same level of consistency compared to the next three studio albums.

In conclusion, I recommend this mastered CD it is good quality and is an improvement on the previously released Definitive Re-master CD. The Nursery Cryme album was an important part of the development of the Genesis sound and contains three classic tracks, which for many years were part of their live shows.