THE TOKYO TAPES

I bought it last 26th june in Rome, after the concert steve had just finished in the nice tennis venue (Centrale del Tennis). The show was beautiful, it proved that Hackett is even better live than on record. Great selection from his solo work and stunning numbers from the genesis era (when he sent out the first notes of Horizons I found myself with tears in my eyes). The response of the crowd was enthusiastic. Maybe when I listen to TT I have always in my mind what I saw that evening, but I find the performance on this 2 cd set a little bit cold. And the sound full of echo doesn't help much. None of the live versions played in Tokyo seem to be memorable (except maybe for Shadow of the hierophant, which is fantastic in any of the way you can play it). Chester Thompson, particularly, seems to be there for professional duty only, his drumming on I talk to the wind is disappointing, lazy -the version of the original Michael Giles is far, far better, the only only one the suits me well... And yes, there are also some Asia tunes. Steve, we could do very better without! TT could be a good choice for Hackett and Genesis fans, but I would suggest the beginners to start somewhere else.