Genesis’ Career-Spanning 1999 Compilation, Turn It On Again: The Hits, Makes Its Vinyl Debut With Two Different 2LP Options on May 3

All I need is a cinema show — that, and the radio. Okay, so I slightly butchered the opening lyrics to “Turn It On Again” there, but if you’re a Genesis acolyte and you know (what I like), then you know what I mean.

The reason for the above line adjustment is that Genesis is set to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their October 1999 compilation by way of two separate vinyl editions via Atlantic/Rhino on May 3, 2024 — marking the 18-song career-spanning collection’s vinyl debut. (It will also be available anew on CD, for you must-have-all-formats collectors out there.)

Turn It On Again: The Hits will be offered in two different standard-weight vinyl options: 1) a 2LP black vinyl set available here, and 2) a 2LP “Invisible Touch” clear vinyl edition available exclusively here.

The SRP for the black vinyl edition is $34.99, while the clear vinyl pre-order is a penny less at $34.98 (as of this posting, at least).

The 18 tracks on Turn It On Again: The Hits span the balance of Genesis’ studio-recording career throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. (The full tracklisting follows after the end of this story.) I personally, exclusively confirmed the following LP stats directly with Team Rhino. The source material used was the same 16-bit/44.1kHz Nick Davis mixes that were initially used to create the original 1999 CD version, the lacquers were cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, and the vinyl is being pressed at both Optimal Media, Germany, and Precision Record Pressing, Canada.

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Now, I’m sure our AAA purists may indeed balk at the digital entreaty here, but Genesis completists (like myself) will still want to obtain and spin this new collection nonetheless. Besides, we can certainly compare what we’ll be hearing on Turn It On Again: The Hits with any of the original LPs from which the majority of the tracklist has been culled, not to mention any of the more analog-centric, individual Genesis vinyl re-releases from recent years.

As for me, my primary listening interest here will be centered on the final track on Side D, “The Carpet Crawlers 1999,” which was then-exclusive to the 1999 CD set, and itself is now making its own vinyl debut. It’s a re-recording of a key track that originally appeared as Track 4 on Side 2 of the band’s sprawling November 1974 2LP set The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and it features the classic five-man Genesis lineup — original vocalist Peter Gabriel, guitarist Steve Hackett, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, and drummer/vocalist Phil Collins, a collective that hadn’t recorded together in decades.

This fresh version of “Carpet Crawlers” features Gabriel and Collins trading off the lead vocals — with Collins taking over circa the “Kryptonite” line — whereas, on the original, Gabriel handles the leads and Collins can be heard more prominently on the backing vocals, especially on the repeated phrase, “got to get in to get out.” Check out the official videoclip of the 1999 version above for a refresher of the updated version — or as a fresh new take, if you’re not yet familiar with this one.

In terms of the core Turn It On Again: The Hits visual elements, Rhino confirms the artwork remains “loyal” to the original release, with the lettering of the band name Genesis having been compiled individually from various album covers throughout the band’s career.

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If you want to figure out which albums the band-name logo comes from on your own, skip this paragraph. Otherwise, here’s how the seven letter choices breakdown. The G is from March 1978’s . . .And Then There Were Three..., and the first E is from the second E on November 1991’s We Can't Dance (the first E on that album’s cover was actually reversed). The N is from the lone post-Collins album, September 1997’s Calling All Stations (albeit with a different color scheme that was reverted to on the 2007 reissue). The second E is from the aforementioned The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The first S is from March 1980’s Duke. The I is from October 1983’s Genesis. Finally, the second S is from June 1986’s Invisible Touch.

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Meanwhile, the three-man silhouette of the latter-era troika of Banks, Rutherford, and Collins at the bottom of the cover is the same one taken from the classic early ’90s video for “I Can’t Dance.” (The song itself appears as Track 5 on Side A.)

And now that you know all you need to know and are no longer in the land of nomenclature confusion, you can order either or both LP versions.

Music Direct Buy It Now

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GENESIS
TURN IT ON AGAIN: THE HITS

2LP (Atlantic/Rhino)

Side A
1. Turn It On Again
2. Invisible Touch
3. Mama
4. Land Of Confusion
5. I Can’t Dance

Side B
1. Follow You Follow Me
2. Hold On My Heart
3. Abacab
4. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

Side C
1. No Son Of Mine
2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
3. In Too Deep
4. Congo

Side D
1. Jesus He Knows Me
2. That’s All
3. Misunderstanding
4. Throwing It All Away
5. The Carpet Crawlers 1999

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COMMENTS
HiFiMark's picture

to see how this sells. I have been a hardcore Genesis fan since the early 70's (not so much the later pop stuff, but the later long form songs are mostly good IMO).

However, I just don't get the appeal of this for anyone other than committed completists and perhaps a new vinyl fan wanting an overview of the band. Especially for something essentially mastered from a CD unless I am misunderstanding the article...

Mike Mettler's picture
Totally fair points, Mark. It's probably intended more for the "Genesis vinyl newbie crowd" that doesn't have any of their catalog on vinyl and wants to start mainly with the hits. The 4LP 2021 final tour tie-in collection The Last Domino? is a little more pricey and hard(ish) to find, so this "new" one also makes sense from the 25th anniversary hook, plus "The Carpet Crawlers 1999" cache of it all.

For us completists, it would have been more interesting to see what they could do with 2014's R-Kive 3CD collection (still not on vinyl), or even 1998's Archive 1967-75 and/or 2000's Archive #2 1976-1992 in some sort of box set form -- but who knows what the Genesis-on-vinyl future may bring. . .

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