Genesis is one of those bands whose live performances have to be seen rather than just heard. Thanks to a kind reader of the site, I was lucky enough to receive, for the low price of $20, an hour-long tape of a British Public Television broadcast showing some live Genesis cuts, and as such have a good idea of the utter lunacy and entertainment that Gabriel and Co. were able to produce on stage. Whether it’s Gabriel’s costumes or his bouncing around stage or whether it’s him whistling “Jerusalem Boogie” before going into Supper’s Ready (not to mention the stories), he was always able to utterly captivate the audience.
Alas, though, this album presents us with none of that – no stories, only one piece of stage banter, and only a few small pictures in the booklet. And speaking of small … this is a single album, and it didn’t even expand upon remastering. No Supper’s Ready, no Fountain of Salmacis, no … er, Stagnation I guess. Not to mention that they really should have waited a year to release one … but that’s for later.
So why such an absurdly high grade? Well, because (a) the song selection is oobie-doobie and (b) EVERY one of the five tracks on here improves upon its studio predecessor in some way or another. The keyboard sound of Watcher of the Skies, somewhat murky and corny before, suddenly becomes awe-inspiringly majestic, and the build of the song towards the climax is far better defined than before. And then, we get Get ‘Em Out By Friday, whose introduction is nowhere near as clumsy as it might have seemed originally, not to mention that it’s fascinating to hear Peter reinvent his vocalizations in such a clever manner.
But the first two tracks are nothing compared to what happens on the next three. Hackett may have been slightly restrained within the studio, but live was an entirely different matter. He’s suddenly the most important instrumentalist in the band, and he fully takes advantage of this, building his guitar-god resume even more with each successive song. The opening to Return of the Giant Hogweed, for instance, feels much more ‘loose’ and less artificial, for lack of a better way to express it. He even embellishes the main part of the song with little guitar ‘scrapings’ as the weeds rise and seek revenge. And, of course, the main jam is just as interesting as ever.
The Musical Box is up next, and as far as mood and eerieness goes, the first section of the song is even better than it was in the studio, as Gabriel continues to vary his volume and intonations in an unpredictable manner. What makes the song, though, is the middle jam, where Hackett shreds like he never had before, while the manner of feedback employed by all flattens you into the ground (plus, I love that *growl* noise he or Rutherford uses before Steve launches into his solo). His note choices continue to be impeccable, but there’s that extra bit of edge and oomph that makes them that much more impressive. Oh, and needless to say, the ending climax is just as fascinating and exciting as ever, though it really is one of those things that has to be seen to be fully appreciated (Gabriel wearing his old-man mask and thrusting his hips back and forth in a humping motion are some of what come on my video).
But none of this compares to The Knife, which was a great and exciting song before the band had its most notoriously talented instrumentalists. Gabriel is just insane on stage, even using some weird vocal distortion effects in places to freak out the audience, but it’s not just his manic energy that makes this rendition an absolute classic. Somehow, Tony’s opening organ riff seems just that much more menacing and gloomy than before, and Steve … wow. Wow. He’s noisier and faster here than Anthony Phillips could have ever hoped to be, and combined with even more menacing and perfect note choices than on the rest of the record, especially as he makes your heart pump in the seconds before the climax. Which, by the way, is 5 times as intense as it was on Trespass. And the lengthy *baamm* *baamm* *baamm* ending after Gabriel’s “WE HAVE WOOOOONNNNN!!!!” is extended, letting you indulge yourself for that much longer.
Now, granted, if you don’t really like live albums that much, I guess you might not want to get this, since the songs pretty much follow the same form as before. But if you have a good ear for live performances, then you will have an absolute hoot with this. Heck, buy it before Trespass and Cryme.