THREE SIDES LIVE

This album does not receive the kudos it should for the two now usual reasons. First, Peter Gabriel is gone, and now so is Steve Hackett. For people with the too common belief that Phil Collins killed the band and couldn't do justice to PG led songs ought to have a listen to In The Cage/ Slipperman/Cinema Show/ Afterglow Medley. Stunning! There really is no other way to describe it. The pace is picked up, the band adds muscle to the originals and PC sings it with pure emotion. This version of Afterglow is head and shoulders above the original or the one on Seconds Out.

The first album or sides 1 & 2, contains songs from the last three Genesis albums and they are And Then There Were Three, Duke and Abacab. The set starts with Turn It On Again, which is a very good way to open a concert. I have to say that all of the songs on the first album except Follow You Follow Me benefit greatly from being live as opposed to the studio recordings. The playing gains energy live. The musicianship and production are excellent for the entire set.

Side Three starts with Misunderstanding and it is a serviceable rendition of the song, but I usually skipped thru to the above mentioned In The Cage.

The fourth side is were the confusion kicks in. The American release contained the 3 live sides above (hence the album title) and one side of cuts that did not make Duke / Abacab. That in itself is a bit of a mistake as I could easily find a place for them on those two albums. They may have been out takes, but they certainly pass quality control. Paperlate was a hit, You Might Recall a minor hit and the other three songs all had the Genesis short story songs going for them. There are some who believe these should remain out takes but I'm not one of them. The closing 3 songs are wistfully done, they leave you thinking after the songs are over. The tone and production perfectly fit these songs in an understated way. A great way to slow down after the mighty In the Cage medley. These 5 songs previously had an English release as an EP. Therefore the fourth side outside of the US has 4 vintage Genesis songs from prior tours. The fourth live side is also excellent. This version is what was released worldwide when the CD was remastered. Since there are only pros to both versions, one has to keep both!!

I don't take the 5 star lightly and latter day Genesis is not heavy with prog, but the pure enjoyment that I got over the years with Three Sides Live pushes it to that level. As the Alan Parsons Projects "Sirius" is played before many sporting events across the country, Abacab, Dodo/ Lurker,and In the Cage were played before any event I was playing in or went to. For Genesis fans not enamored with Genesis after the personnel changes and may have jumped ship during this period, they may want to dig out 3 Sides Live again for another spin.