New Revelations: Genesis’ Debut Gets New Remix, Expansion from Cherry Red
From Genesis to Revelation, the debut album from prog-rock legends Genesis, is no stranger to reissues due to its complicated ownership history. But this year, on the eve of the group’s 60th anniversary, Cherry Red’s Esoteric label will prepare the most expansive editions of the album ever pressed – versions approved by the group’s original founding members, including original vocalist Peter Gabriel and longtime members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford.
Available as a 4CD/Blu-ray box set or smaller 2CD and 2LP offerings, the centerpiece of all sets is a set of new remixes of the original album and four non-LP sides and outtakes by Stephen W. Tayler. (Those stereo mixes, including an unreleased early version of later album cut “Visions of Angels,” make up the entirety of the double vinyl and half of the 2CD set, with the other half featuring a remaster of the original stereo album.) The box set adds further bonus material: the album, four single sides and an outtake in their original mono mixes, and a disc of demos, mostly taken from 1998’s Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set except for four released for the first time. The tracks upgraded in stereo by Tayler will also be available on a box set-exclusive Blu-ray in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound; that disc also includes video footage of Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford reuniting at AIR Studios in London earlier this year to hear and approve playbacks of the mixes. The deluxe set is rounded out with a 68-page booklet with new liner notes by Jon Dann, featuring new commentary from Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford and original guitarist Anthony Phillips.
The set offers a clear look at Genesis before even their ascendance as one of England’s most celebrated progressive rock bands, to say nothing of their incredible transition to pop/rock juggernauts in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, guitarist Anthony Phillips, bassist Mike Rutherford and drummer Chris Stewart were all teenage students at the Charterhouse school in Surrey who’d played in various bands on campus before joining forces as a quintet. The group got quite serious after their first homemade demo, and linked up with a school alumnus named Jonathan King, who’d recently scored a Top 5 hit with the novelty single “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon.” King, eager to transition into music moguldom, guided the group in studio, advising them away from complex arrangements and lengthy songs in favor of more straightforward psych-pop/folk; he also dubbed the group Genesis in a nod to his burgeoning career on the other side of the boards. Debut single “The Silent Sun,” written as an homage to the early sound of the Bee Gees, earned some airplay in England in 1967, but it and follow-up single “A Winter’s Tale” – the first to be cut with new drummer John Silver – did not chart.
The next year, toward the end of the group’s contract with King, Genesis spent three days in the studio cutting together material that became From Genesis to Revelation, a loose, conceptual work saddled with ornate orchestral arrangements that some members felt threatened to box out their sound entirely. Despite a commitment from major label Decca to release the album, popular legend suggests that confused record stores stocked the album alongside Christian and religious records – and the LP reportedly sold around 650 copies (yes, only three digits). Genesis and King would part ways, and the band even put themselves on hold to finish up studies at Charterhouse. They returned in 1970 – allowing themselves to embrace more esoteric, lengthy arrangements – on the album Trespass, cut with new drummer John Mayhew. Phillips’ increasing stage fright led him to depart the group after completing the album; a year later, Nursery Cryme introduced the first classic line-up of the group: Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, new guitarist Steve Hackett and a drummer named Phil Collins.
In the years since, From Genesis to Revelation has had an odd place in the group’s discography. King, who later founded UK Records and became a successful TV producer until his career essentially ended in 2001 after serving jail time for sexual abuse of underage boys, has long owned the rights to the album, and reissued it in various forms alongside the group’s non-album singles. (The band themselves unearthed outtakes and early material from Phillips’ family when assembling the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, their biggest acknowledgement of that early era until now.) With King seemingly out of the picture, the surviving members have finally put their seal of approval on From Genesis to Revelation, making it once again the true official starting point for an incredible, acclaimed career.
All formats of the album will be out from Esoteric and Cherry Red on October 9 and can be pre-ordered below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
From Genesis to Revelation (Deluxe Edition) (Esoteric ECLEC52952 (U.K.), 2026)
4CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
* previously unreleased
CD 1/LP 1-2: New stereo mixes by Stephen W. Tayler
- Where the Sour Turns to Sweet
- In the Beginning
- Fireside Song
- The Serpent
- Am I Very Wrong?
- In the Wilderness
- The Conqueror
- In Hiding
- One Day
- Window
- In Limbo
- Silent Sun
- A Place to Call My Own
- A Winter’s Tale
- One Eyed Hound
- Image Blown Out
- Visions of Angels *
CD 2: Mono mixes
- Where the Sour Turns to Sweet
- In the Beginning
- Fireside Song
- The Serpent
- Am I Very Wrong?
- In the Wilderness
- The Conqueror
- In Hiding
- One Day
- Window
- In Limbo
- Silent Sun
- A Place to Call My Own
- Build Me a Mountain (Rough Mix)
- A Winter’s Tale
- One Eyed Hound
- That’s Me
- The Silent Sun (Single Mix)
CD 3 (CD 2 of 2CD set): Stereo mix (same as Tracks 1-13 on first two discs)
CD 4: Demos
- Patricia (1967 demo)
- Try a Little Sadness (1967 demo)
- She is Beautiful (1967 demo)
- One Day (1968 demo)
- The Magic of Time (1968 demo)
- Hey! (1968 demo)
- Sea Bee (1968 demo)
- The Mystery of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse (1968 demo)
- Hidden in the World of Dawn (1968 demo)
- Hair on the Arms and Legs (1968 demo)
- Epic (A Place to Call My Own) (August 1968 demo) *
- Am I Very Wrong? (August 1968 demo) *
- In Limbo (August 1968 demo) *
- The Conqueror (August 1968 demo) *
Blu-ray (same track list as CD 1)
- Stephen W. Tayler mixes in 96 kHz/24-bit Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround and stereo
- Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel and Mike Rutherford in conversation at AIR Studios, London – 4/14/2026
Original mixes of Disc 1, Tracks 1-13 released as Decca SKL 4990 (U.K.), 1970
Original mixes of Disc 1, Tracks 14-15 released as Decca U.K. single F 12775, 1968
Original mix of Disc 1, Track 16 released on Disky U.K. CD reissue, 1996
Disc 2, Tracks 1-13 released as Decca KL 4990 (U.K.), 1970
Disc 2, Track 14 and Disc 4, Tracks 1-10 released on Genesis Archive 1967-75 – Virgin 72438 42221 2 3 (U.K.)/Atlantic 82858-2 (U.S.), 1998
Disc 2, Tracks 15-16 released as Decca U.K. single F 12775, 1968
Disc 2, Tracks 17-18 released as Decca U.K. single F 12735, 1968
Disc 3 released as Decca SKL 4990 (U.K.), 1970
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Thank you God for still have people which think CD is CD and vinyl is vinyl and DO NOT PUT THEM on the same package. I’m tired of buying boxes featuring LP which means nothing to me. Back in time there was complaning about noises when listening to old LPs and now that we have digital format people prefer to go back. Is there any sense on it? Yes, humanity get never satisfied… 🙄😕🫤