Phil Collins lp

Depending upon your point of view, Genesis in 1976/1977 was either a band ascending toward its peak commercially, or a group crippled by the departure of a key member, and living on artistic borrowed time. In reality, they were sort of both, and fortunately for the members, their commerciality was more important than their artistic street cred, as their burgeoning record sales and huge audiences on tour during that period attested…

A remastered edition of All Things Must Pass, supervised by Harrison, was released in 2001, just months before his death; it contained bonus tracks, including a partially re-recorded additional version of "My Sweet Lord". It also included a newly colourised version of the originally monochrome cover. Since the original version of the album was concurrently deleted, the remastered edition of All Things Must Pass remained the only commercially-available version of the release until the 2010 release of a newly-remastered version on LP and high-resolution download, and is still the only currently-available version on CD.

In early 1973, Genesis allowed the taping of a couple of live shows for broadcast in America as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour syndicated radio show – most of their current set, drawn from their albums up through 1972's Foxtrot, was represented. A few months later, Tony Stratton-Smith, the head of Charisma Records, to which the group was signed, approached them about allowing him to fill the extended gap between Foxtrot and their next album, Selling England by the Pound, by releasing a live album from this same taped performance.

Without the drumming of Phil Collins, who does appear on some of Brand X's albums, Masques still maintains a snug, jazzy-prog milieu and comes off clean and tight. Each song has a different beat, speed, and tempo with a satisfying assortment of keyboards and percussion instruments to keep the entire album afloat. Resounding xylophone and chimes outline the music on the seven tracks, with "Earth Dance" and "The Poke" coming up a little bit stronger than the rest. Most notably is the superb musical interplay of all the instruments used, and the way in which they enhance and benefit one another.