GENESIS LIVE

The only official live recording of the Genesis classic line up is sort of a bittersweet experience. It shows how good the band was live and also, gives the frustration to know they could as well have released a double live one instead of a single LP. If only some of their older material could be included (more songs from Tresspass, for exemple)... It would be a killer CD.

Anyway, it is still a very interesting and convincing document of an era. I don´t really agree that much of the fun was Gabriel´s theatrics, like so many fans (and reviewrs) have stated. In fact I think it is the opposite: they distract the listener from the subtleties and richness of the music. When I hear this CD and compare itto the live bootleg video recorded a little latter (Live in Shepperton, 1973), that is very clear. No wonder the other members of Genesis were sometimes pissed with all the exposure Gabriel was getting from fans and press with his little personal show.

So in the end this CD proves the band could live very well without the visuals aid (although I must say they helped a lot to bring the concept one step further and gave a tremendous boost to the music in terms of all around perfomance). I´m only sorry it is so short of songs. If it is a double CD I´d gladly give it 5 stars. As it is 4 stars is more fitting. Not really a classic, but an excellent addtion to any prog music collection.