WISE AFTER THE EVENT

I have bought this album just after The Geese and the Ghost, but unfortunately the vinyl was out of shape so I had to return it to the shop and they didn't have another copy, so I took more than 15 years before listening to it on a CD re-edition.

The impression that I initially had on my outshaped vinyl was of a good album still very Genesis-like as its predecessor and more or less I wasn't wrong, but there's more than just Genesis like stuff.

"We're All As We Lie" could be put as bonus track on Selling England By The Pound, but the high pitch 12 strings guitar adds a folk touch to the song.

"Birdsong" starts acoustic in the vein of The Geese and The Ghost but the arrangement is very interesting as bass, keyboard and drums alternate to the acoustic parts. It's properly symphonic prog and a song of a kind on which Phil Collins' voice wouldn't have sounded bad.

"Moonshooter" is too pop and mellow for my tastes. It's a slow sweet song still very acoustic and not too different from Anthony's standard songs, but I find it quite boring. I don't want to say that is bad, only that I don't like it.

"Wise After The Event" was geometrically close to the centre of the vinyl so it was the only track that I have listened on my first approach to the album. It has open chords and a complex structure, like a "short suite". Another Genesis song out of Genesis.

"Pulling Faces" is more rock in the Genesis mean of the word, but it's only a moment. "Regrets" follows it with just piano vocals and a bit of keyboards. I think that the presence of Rupert Hine in the lineup is evident on this song as it sounds similar to Camel of the Breathless period at least before the symphonic orchestral part of this song.

"Greenhouse" brings us back again to the original Genesis mood while "Paperchase" is more specifically an Anthony Phillips song of a kind that will be easy to find on the Private Parts and Pieces series.

"Now What" continues on this line. Genesis fans will surely not be disappointed, I'm not a great fan so I find it a bit boring, but again, it's question of personal tastes only. Each song in this album is good, it's the entire album that I find too long, or too full of similar songs.

In this sense is evident that "Squirrel" is a CD edition bonus track. I'm not sure that the lineup is the same of the rest of the album. Also the song itself is darker than the others, closer to my tastes but misplaced.

My opinion is that the excellent lineup has been a little wasted. This album doesn't differ too much from others that don't feature Giles, Perry, Mel Collins or Rupert Hine. However it's a good album and I can understand why it's rated quite high on PA. A Genesis fan will find here the music and the atmospheres that he/she likes and it's all very well played thanks also to the impressive lineup.

I can't give it more than 3 stars, but I can't say that it's not good.