GENESIS LIVE

Genesis' first live disc released in 1973 during their progressive heyday. We forget how truly innovative these early live shows must have been at the time. How mind- blowing and mysterious it must have been seeing 5 scruffy looking English guys - one flailing around in character with various masks and facepaint on; the other members all sitting down; with this thunderous, almost biblical-sounding music and at the next moment soft and gentle classical influenced textures. The album sports 5 early Genesis classics. From the familiar mellotron opening of "Watcher of the Skies" and closing with a stunning version of "The Knife". This is probably the heaviest Genesis on record; warts and all ("that was an unaccompanied bass pedal solo from Michael Rutherford). Tho the production is kind of weak and the versions not as polished as the studio versions, this is still a killer performance. I only wished they would have made a double album and included "Suppers Ready" from this era. Not a masterpiece but a must-have for any serious Genesis fan.