Nick D'Virgillo re-recording Genesis "The Lamb"

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – 25 August 2008 – Nashville-based recording engineer/producer and a Los Angeles-based performer have teamed up to create a unique twist on a classic Genesis album. This fall, Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard fame and engineer/producer Mark Hornsby are re-recording the Genesis classic: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, in it's entirety. Produced at Java Jive Studio in Nashville, the album features some of Music City’s best musicians, taking the songs in a whole new direction. 
"We wanted to see what would happen if we exposed the songs to a different climate of musicians," says D'Virgilio, "The early Genesis recordings are so musical and very bluesy when you get right down to it. They really lend themselves to some different interpretations. When it came time to figure out what label to work with, I remembered working with Shawn on the Amaran’s Plight release and had been really pleased with how that all worked out and I knew what a big Genesis fan he is, so I’m glad it worked out.". 

Although all of the original elements of the songs are still included such as drums, bass, guitar and piano, the recordings now take on a more "theatrical" vibe. This, coupled with orchestra, rock guitars, and some fantastic horn arrangements, the songs now enter an entirely different place. 

"We had talked about doing something like this for awhile," says Hornsby, "With the recent attention our version of The Colony of Slippermen received, and the re-release of the original album in 5.1, the time seemed right to see what we could come up with. After the first conference call with Shawn, I felt really comfortable about working with him, and we all managed to make it work and realize the fruition of our vision." 

"Genesis is one of my all time favorite bands and I spent many hours reading the lyrics and liner notes for The Lamb. Nick is one of my favorite drummers, and to combine these two elements in what is an amazing re-imaging of The Lamb is a fantastic thing to be part of.", said Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records. 

"A Tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is the ProgRock Records debut release from Rewiring Genesis and can be found at http://www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=104. The album will be released in late September 2008 and is available for immediate pre-sale. The CD is discounted $2 during the pre-sale period. It will be available at your favorite brick and mortar retailer on October 21, 2008.

That would be a real shame since the response to the original stab at this last November was really well received, you can hear the whole track at http://www.progrockrecords.com/audio/175/The%20Colony%20of%20Slipperman.mp3

Personally I enjoy cover tunes, but only when the artist makes a real attempt to do something fresh with it as opposed to doing it exactly as the original, which is what is happening here.  Give it a try, you might be surprised.

do me a favor, before passing judgement on behalf of yourself and everyone on PA without hearing a note, give that link a listen, it will only take a few minutes of your day.  There is something to consider with the Lamb though, the lyrics and music originally were written separately, the band didn't know the story the lyrics were going to tell for the most part, so in this re-imaging, there is the chance to take advantage of advance knowledge of the story and provide a more directed musical interpretation.

I am not a big fan of covers, but I have just listened to " Slippermen" off the link and it is really well done. Now The Lamb is sacred as far as I am concerned but if musicians do credible versions and the rest of the album is as good, could make for some fun listening. Love the sax on Colony too...

Well, you can't really top the original version, but it sounds like you're doing it justice and giving it a run for it's money.

The Lamb is one of my favourite albums of all time, and in my opinion, one of the best albums ever, and I can say that this cover, is incredibly well done, and it gave me the eagerness to hear all the album Nick is re-recording! Though I might admit, in the splippermen cover I miss the tony banks playing in all the music, but even so, its brutally good! Carry on!

NICK D'VIRGILIO RELEASES GENESIS "LAMB" TRIBUTE ON PROGROCK RECORDS

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – 17 September 2008 – Nashville-based recording engineer/producer and a Los Angeles-based performer have teamed up to create a unique twist on a classic Genesis album. This fall, Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard fame and engineer/producer Mark Hornsby are re-recording the Genesis classic: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, in it's entirety.   Produced at Java Jive Studio in Nashville, the album features some of Music City’s best musicians, taking the songs in a whole new direction.

"We wanted to see what would happen if we exposed the songs to a different climate of musicians," says D'Virgilio, "The early Genesis recordings are so musical and very bluesy when you get right down to it.  They really lend themselves to some different interpretations.   When it came time to figure out what label to work with, I remembered working with Shawn on the Amaran’s Plight release and had been really pleased with how that all worked out and I knew what a big Genesis fan he is, so I’m glad it worked out." Nick is no stranger to Genesis as he performed on the prog legends latest release.

Although all of the original elements of the songs are still included such as drums, bass, guitar and piano, the recordings now take on a more "theatrical" vibe. This, coupled with orchestra, rock guitars, and some fantastic horn arrangements, the songs now enter an entirely different place.

"We had talked about doing something like this for awhile," says Hornsby, "With the recent attention our version of The Colony of Slippermen received, and the re-release of the original album in 5.1, the time seemed right to see what we could come up with.   After the first conference call with Shawn, I felt really comfortable about working with him, and we all managed to make it work and realize the fruition of our vision."

"Genesis is one of my all time favorite bands and I spent many hours reading the lyrics and liner notes for The Lamb.  Nick is one of my favorite drummers, and to combine these two elements in what is an amazing re-imaging of The Lamb is a fantastic thing to be part of," said Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records.

"A Tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is the ProgRock Records debut release from Rewiring Genesis and can be found at www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=104 or at your favorite online shop or brick and mortar reseller on November 4, 2008.

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There are some positive reviews of this on Amazon . Any feedback here yet ?

P.S. Sorry if I've missed a thread somewhere else on this .

Talking about "The Lamb" covers, I must confess that I really love the one performed live by Kevin Gilbert, Nick D'Virgilio and other Giraffe members at Progfest'94. I would even say I prefer at least some songs from that performance to the Genesis original, particularly "The Lamia" and "It" stand out for me.

Listening to this now for the first time.  This seems not so much a tribute as simply a very close facsimile of the original.  Which leaves me asking the question - what's the point?  I'd rather listen to the original (or actually the Archives live version)...

I hope this doesn't start a trend of artists simply covering entire albums rather than generating original music.

Mark