Customer Reviews

Genesis for Two Grand Pianos

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Genesis was and is one of the greatest progressive rock and pop bands in the world. There have been many Genesis Tribute albums made over the last several years but there is one that is a true standout above the rest of the rest. Of course, I am speaking of "Genesis For Two Grand Pianos" released on Steve Hackett's Camino Records label.
If you're not careful, the front cover of "Genesis For Two Grand Pianos" can be misleading. The fact that the band name Genesis is printed largely above the smaller printed 'for two grand pianos' gives the impression that this is a genuine Genesis album. No one from the band was involved in the making of this album except for Steve Hackett who contributed some sleeve notes on the back cover.
The music was performed by two Norwegian piano virtuosos, Yngve Guddal and Roger T. Matte. Together, they perform seven remarkable and outstanding arrangements of Genesis classics from the glory days beginning with 1971's "Fountain of Salmacis" and ending with 1981's "Evidence of Autumn". The adaptations for the two pianos are strikingly similar to the original Genesis arrangements especially on 1977's "One For the Vine" which tackles the original almost note for note. 1978's "Down and Out" and 1980's "Dukes Travels" are presented in a rollicking rollercoaster style with all the odd time signatures perfectly in tact. "The Fountain of Salmacis" and "Evidence of Autumn" are presented in arrangements that strip the music of its flash and flair exposing the beautiful melodies that lay within. "Evidence of Autumn" is particularly striking conjuring up images of the title itself. "Can-Utility and The Coastliners" also exposes its beautiful melodies and is presented in a neo-classical style. "Mad Man Moon", like "One For The Vine", presents the piece in a near identical fashion to the Genesis original and also displays just how complex and intricate this music is.
Sure enough, "Genesis For Two Grand Pianos" is a winner in every way imaginable. Guddal and Matte have paid the ultimate tribute to their heroes. This is a must for any Genesis fan. I'm sure that the members of the band, especially Tony Banks, will find this album flattering if they haven't heard it already.

It's hard to imagine how wonderful these albums are (this is the first of two volumes - the second is even better and hopefully there are more to come)

This is an album of piano duets of the music of the 70s progressive rock masters, Genesis. However, it is NOT a `tribute' album. 'Tribute' albums are often Velveeta-smothered cheeseballs, sometimes just plain old elevator music. Other times they're nothing more than limp attempts - with little or imagination - at marketing tools for aspiring prog bands.

But not the music of Guddal and Matte.

First, the music has all the passion of the original music, and then some. You can feel the love that Guddal and Matte have for the music of Genesis, and this passion is deeply infused into these recordings.

The concept of dual pianos is great, creating a synergy with different melody lines, and allowing for great flourishes and nuances. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of the parts.

Further, their arrangements truly reveal the brilliance and composing genius of Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford. The uninitiated would swear they're listening to compositions by giants of classical music such as Gershwin or Debussy.

The song choices are not obvious, but rather interesting and daring. It's so wonderful to see underrated Genesis masterpieces like "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" and "Duke's Travels" receiving such superb renditions. "Down and Out" - another surprising choice - reveals the complexity and passion of this underrated composition.

Bravo to Mssrs. Guddal and Matte. Music lovers of all kinds are fortunate they've applied their considerable virtuosity to the great library of Genesis, and created wonderful, passionate, timeless interpretations of compositions that have stood the test of time.

Here's looking forward to Volume 3, and hopefully a series on the music of the other prog masters, Yes.

In my opinion, it's enough with Steve Hackett's comments about this record: "It seems as if classical hands have firmly grasped the torch originally lit by a rock band who often looked to music's roots in the first place. Genesis' largely keyboard based tunes are cleverly reduced to their constituent parts most effectively to my mind and in some cases have only gained in his unique interpretation."

If you ever wondered why you're so fond of Genesis' music, you only have to listen once to these exquisite arrangements by Yngve Guddal and Roger T. Matte of some of the band's classic tracks. Beautiful songs, outstanding performances. Highly recommended, along with Guddal's and Matte's second collection in this series, "Genesis For Two Grand Pianos, Volume Two." A must for Genesis fans or anyone who enjoys great piano music.

Some of Genesis's best melodies minus the vocals and noisy bits are found on "Genesis for Two Grand Pianos." It reduces the songs to their purest forms. It sounds to me a little like dramatic silent movie scores of the 1920s. I enjoy it and play it often. I like how even the vocal lines are carefully represented by piano parts. I could have sworn I heard even Phil and Peter's personal vocal phrasings recreated in the piano tones.

I've been a long-time Genesis fan, and a classical music lover. The idea of having 2 pianos play these Genesis tunes is an attactive one, and these gentlemen have given it a nice shot. There are only 2 moderate complaints: The cd is a little short on time (they could have done another piece or two), and I wish they hadn't taken some of the rock rhythms so literally (on some of the melodies). To go this far in "classicalizing" Genesis, they could have taken these rock-stylized rhythms out--they sound borderline hokey. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often. On the other hand, they did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of these compositions and covering the parts with four hands. Sometimes even the pianos seem to "rock".
Highly recommend!

Don't be afraid to jump on this one! Unlike previous "symphonic" releases, this album stands up on it's own, and is an outstanding CD. This collection is well played and wonderfully arranged. I've listened to it almost everyday since buying it three weeks ago. A fresh look at some well-worn classic Genesis material.

I think that this album has been a long time coming and I'm really surprised that Tony Banks didn't do it himself earlier. It is certainly a version of many loved Genesis songs that I have been waiting for.The album is dedicated to Tony Banks and I wonder what he would think of it.The album follows the career of Banks from Fountain of Samalcis from Nursery Cryme to Evidence of Autumn from his solo album Still. The piano work is great and the sound is pretty good. The biggest suprises for me were the inclusion of Can-utility and the Coastliners(one of my favourite and most under-rated songs by the band)and Down and Out...the latter having a real Gerwishesque/aggressive sound.All in all a fine addition to any Genesis collection. I would liked to have seen a little more music.....49:00 of music on this disc...however if another is in the works.....great....i would like to here their versions of The Musical Box....Firth of Fifth....The Cinema Show.....The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway..etc. Here's looking forward to a follow-up disc...maybe even get Tony Banks playing along or producing!!!