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A Trick of the Tail is one of my favorite albums. As the first Genesis album to feature Phil Collins on lead vocals, it is definitely one of their more well known albums. But many people do not know that there was a song left off the album called “It's Yourself“ due to the time constraints of the LP. It was released as a single twice (originally with “Ripples“ and then with “Your Own Special Way“). Later on it was released on the Archive 2 box set in 2000, and finally as part of the Extras disc of their 1976-82 Box Set in 2007. To complicate matters, there are different versions of the song. The original version is shorter as a verse was taken out . But some versions have the missing verse, but fade out early. The early fade-out is unfortunate, because without the fade-out you can hear Tony Banks play the first phrase of the song “Mad Man Moon“. I'm almost certain this song was supposed to precede “Mad Man Moon“ on “A Trick of the Tail“. The instrumental section of the song is also reprised in “Los Endos“. Since “Los Endos“ basically serves as a reprise of several themes on the album (and a call back to “Supper's Ready“), I decided to place this song before Mad Man Moon to see how it works within the album. Not too surprisingly, it works wonderfully, and the album is actually improved with its addition. This is how I play the album on my iPod from now on. The version of It's Yourself you hear here is actually a fan edit from the now defunct genesis-music that incorporates the missing verse, but does not fade out at the end so that you can hear how it segways nicely into “Mad Man Moon“. Enjoy.
