GENESIS LIVE

Genesis was meant to be heard live. 1973 was their peak in the Gabriel days. At this time, Genesis was one of the best (if not THE best) prog-rock bands around, and this is one of their greatest live records. All the guys do a great performace together and everyone shines on their respective intruments. Peter Gabriel's flute sounds very interesting, he's voice is one of the best voices in progressive rock. It's really theatrical, soft, agressive and transmits the feelings of the songs very well. Steve Hackett's guitar is mind blowing. His guitar solos on this record are quite unexpected and they sound pretty psychedelic. His solo on "The Knife" is one-of-a-kind. Tony Banks is probably my favourite Genesis member (not as a soloist, but playing with the group). I(as a keyboard guy, myself) really admire his work with Genesis. He uses the organ and mellotron extensively and the synth and eletcric piano from time to time.I think he brings most of the symphonic aspects to the band. Phil Collins plays drums greatly here. Forget about the poppy Phil everyone knows; this one is the rocking Phil that's really inside him! He also does good backup vocals. Mike Rutherford is the bassist, and, belive it or not, he shines! he is one of the coolest bass players. The live set opens with: Watcher of the Skies: Great track, and really great opener for a concert. Tony's mellotron intro is one of the best intros in progrock. Then he plays the organ(amazingly) mostly. Mike does the bass in a very complex way and he really rocks. Steve plays some cool guitar, doing some effects, at times. Phil drums greatly and does nice backing vocals. Peter sings as great as ever.

Get 'em out by Friday: Everyone shines, as always, but more particularily Tony with his organ and mellotron, Steve with his guitar solo and Peter with his vocals, playing different characters, making the story quite interesting. I also like how Peter and Phil's voices get mixed.

The Return of the Giant Hogweed: Excellent drumming, complex guitar work, amazing and high-tempo bass, great organ. The ending minute is simply awsome! All the intruments are played loudly and with incredible power as Peter shouts out "Giant Hogweed lives!"

The Musical box: Mike, Steve and Tony play guitar here and Peter does the lead vocals while Phil does backup. In the middle section there's some great guitar work and electric piano, as well as drums and bass pedals. I saw a video of this one, where , in the final section Peter gets dressed as an old man. Another track that would fit properly in its place is the live version from Rainbow '73 of "Firth of Fifth". That performance is as great as any of this ones. It would really be "at home" on this record.

The Knife: A totally different version from the original. The lyrics have changed, Peter's voice sounds really different and the guitar solo is another thing. Mr.Hackett, instead of playing the exact same thing Anthony Phillips wrote, he comes up with a different thing of his own. It still really rocks. The organ sounds almost the same as the 1970 version. Mike's bass sounds heavier, here and Phil's drums are absolutely different from Mayhew's, and a lot better.

I really recomend you getting this album. It's one of the greatest pieces of live music ever! This would be THE GREATEST live record of all time, if it had "Supper's ready". They thought of including it, but then they maybe thought "Oh, no, let's leave that one out. Otherwise, this would be TOO GREAT for fans to stand it!". 5 stars (no way less than that)! PS: If it had "Supper's Ready", it would have 6 stars!!!!!....but that's not possible.