THREE SIDES LIVE

Suddenly in possession of massive worldwide success, once revered prog rockers return after 5 years with their next live album, Three Sides Live. From 1977 to 1982, the band traversed through a complete and total revamp of their style, converting from the loved symphonic sound to a heavily pop influenced quasi-prog rock sound through hugely successful albums such as Duke and Abacab. This release, which holds the last strings to the band's former sound before the complete departure with albums like Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance. While Sides A and B may consist of the band's more popular and recent material such as Turn it On Again, Abacab, and Me And Sarah Jane, Sides C and D have a slight return and appeasement of those prog rock fans with classic tracks like In the Cage, Fountain of Salmacis and It.

Overall, Genesis is able to retain its legacy of a powerful performance, with Collins being replaced by both Bill Bruford and and Chester Thompson, making for a killer jazzy duo of rhythmic mastery. The performance of Behind the Lines is especially powerful, with the killer instrumental opener featuring the whole band ripping through the speakers with ultimate force and agility, which shows how the band still has it, despite losing two essential members and departing from the beloved classic sound. Although the music may not be the cup of tea for the classic fan, it is still a great performance, making for a good live album overall. The revival of some of the proggier moments in the band's history makes for a nice dynamic on the album and mixes up the atmosphere of the recording spectacularly. Collins, although he is not Gabriel, is still able to put life into the classic recordings. Overall, Three Sides Live is a good live release by the (then) quickly popularizing band. 3 stars.

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