GENESIS LIVE

This was actually the second Genesis album I ever owned! (after I fell under their magical spell with the release of A Trick of the Tail) It really threw me for a loop--nothing I expected: much harsher and less smooth than ATotT--including the voice of one Peter GABRIEL. But it was interesting, complicated, and, as I found out later, the live version of "Watcher in the Skies" is FAR better than the studio one. The masterful theatric mystique and subtlety of "The Musical Box" was apparent to me immediately, as was the power and message of "The Knife" (my favorite. What a difference Steve HACKETT and Phil COLLINS make for that song!) To hear the Knife in its original form (on Trespass) has ever been a disappointment for me (as was my first hearing of Foxtrot's "Watcher") A forgotten gem of live music. Too bad the live version of "Supper's Ready" as played in this concert never made it to this album!