Customer Reviews

Genesis Live [Definitive Edition Remaster]

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I wish I had gone to see Genesis perform in the 70s. Being about 20 years younger than these guys, though, I was unaware for a while that the "Games Without Frontiers" guy used to perform in the same band as the "Follow You, Follow Me" guys. So when I went to the record store and saw this album cover, it kind of blew my mind. They were such an interesting band -- visually, lyrically, musically. As brilliant as they are in the studio, they often perform their songs even better live. "The Musical Box" is a real highlight here; it sounds like there are dueling lead guitars in the middle, but actually it's Steve Hackett on guitar dueling with Tony Banks on a clavinet; you also get to hear Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins sing in a call & response manner -- the sort of thing that's been missing since Pete's departure; and let's not forget Mike Rutherford's unacompanied bass pedal solo (though don't we hear him tuning his cello there?). One thing that made them so interesting to listen to is that they went to great lenghts to get a variety of tones and it worked out really beautifully. You hear both Mike and Steve using 6-string electric and 12-string accoustic guitars. Mike would also use a double-neck instrument that allowed him to instantly switch between electric bass and electric 12-string guitar while supplementing his sound with bass pedals. Tony was already using several different keyboard instruments, and he would also play a bit of 12-string guitar. Phil had his drum kit, but he also had a set of bells. Pete not only had the same unique, beautiful, powerful voice he does today, but you also hear him playing wonderful flute lines as well as suplementary bits of percussion. [If you are lucky enough to see footage from this period, you will see that Pete was as much an actor & dancer as a musician when Genesis performed live.] The other thing that makes them so interesting to listen to is the way the songs are written. There is so much dramatic contrast, both from song to song, and within individual songs. One passage or song can be really mellow and pretty, while the next can be hard as nails. Either way, the rhythms, melodies, and harmonies were almost always worth many listenings.

1973's "Genesis Live" is the only live album in the Genesis catalog from the Peter Gabriel era, documenting the band on tour for their 1972 album, "Foxtrot." It's a brilliant but much-too-brief live Genesis set, leaving the listener hungry for more. Still, what the album does contain on it is classic live Genesis, with Gabriel, Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford & Steve Hackett rocking through their prog classics "Watcher Of The Skies," "Get 'Em Out By Friday," "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed," "The Musical Box," and the grand finale, "The Knife," with great relish. Also featuring the occasional bit of song introductions from Gabriel, "Genesis Live" also gives glimpses into what a grand showman Gabriel was as the group's flamboyant frontman.But with just five tracks on it (albeit long tracks), "Genesis Live" is still too darn short. It was originally planned as a double live album that also would've included the band's magnum opus, "Supper's Ready," at the album's conclusion, but was trimmed at the last minute in order to make the album more affordable. Thankfully, the problem has been corrected somewhat, as there's now more live Gabriel-era stuff to be found on the band's "Genesis Archives Vol. 1" box set, including the coveted live version of "Supper's Ready." However, keep in mind that that's a bigger, separate purchase (though totally worth it).Still, "Genesis Live" is a great little slice of vintage live Genesis, so if you love the band's early days with Peter Gabriel, you can't go wrong by adding "Genesis Live" to your collection. :-)

Many remember Genesis live shows as Broadway-esque affairs with laser light shows, smoke machines, medleys and Phil Collins in chinos shaking his tambourine. Those were certainly fun, but in the early days Genesis concerts were an altogether different beast. I'm not old enough to have experienced them, but "Genesis Live" offers a tantalizing snapshot of the band's performances from the Peter Gabriel era.

Gabriel was best known for wearing bizarre costumes during Genesis concerts, to illustrate the whimsical characters from his lyrics (the old man of "The Musical Box," the title character of "The Return of the Giant Hogweed"). The cover gives you some idea of the visual aspect. More importantly, you get the music - a rawer, more energetic brand of progressive rock than that presented on "Seconds Out" or "Three Sides Live."

The song selection isn't perfect, mainly due to the time constraints of the vinyl era. Most notably absent are "Supper's Ready" and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners." But you get a representative sample of songs from "Trespass," "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot." While the live versions remain essentially true to the studio versions, the band infuses the music with new levels of energy, particularly on "Watcher of the Skies," "The Musical Box," and "The Knife."

"Genesis Live" is a great introduction to the band's early years. In terms of running time, it's less generous than the band's subsequent live albums. But in its ability to capture the power of Genesis live, it's unmatched.

For many years this was the only available live document of Peter Gabriel's Genesis days, and it still is unless you can afford to shell out for the box set. As such it is frustratingly short, originally released as a single vinyl LP. There's nothing wrong with the tracklist at all, but it's sad to think that "Supper's Ready," "The Fountain of Salmacis" and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" were left off because the record company was looking for a quick buck at the time. I remember the original vinyl album having that thin cardboard cover that said "budget album" back then. Yeah right, prime live Gabriel-era Genesis treated like a budget album.

But enough of my grumbling, here's what it sounds like: quite simply this is the rawest, grittiest and rockingest you'll ever hear this band. I was struck by the resemblence to Van Der Graf Generator's sound more than what one expects from Genesis. The down and dirty sound is no fault of the nicely-done remaster, it's just the way the band sounded live at that time, sort of grunge-prog (the ultimate oxymoron.)

This edgy, louder sound suits the rocker "The Knife" perfectly, while making this version of "The Musical Box" the standard one for me over the badly produced and badly edited original. Steve Hackett's rousing guitar finale to "The Musical Box" is a showstopper and makes me jump up and say YEAH every time! "Watcher of the Skies" is terrific too, and again I like it better than the original.

This is a record filled with regretful "if-only's" but I enjoy it for what it is, an enjoyable, unique addition to the prog collection or Genesis collection.

For anyone interested in finding out about old Peter Gabriel Genesis, this might be the CD to begin with...though "Supper's Ready" is absent, as a whole this live album represents most of the best music from their first four LP's (though there's nothing here from their debut).

Just switching the lights off and listening to "Watcher of the Skies" is an amazing experience. The 'live' sound is so rich and full, as Chris Welch wrote of this album many years after this lineup disbanded, it really makes you wish you could walk down the street tonight and see this band play...they were fantastic!

Great versions of "Get 'Em Out By Friday" and "Giant Hogweed" follow, as one also gets a slight glimpse of Peter Gabriel's interaction with the audience (much more of which is brought forth in the boxed set). "Hogweed" especially is much better here than in the studio.

The best live performances here are on side two, however..."The Musical Box," through all its authorized incarnations (Nursury Cryme, Genesis Live, Seconds Out, The Way We Walk, Vol. 2) has never sounded better than it does here. The song is so powerful, there are a dozen moments when I get chills. And the album ends with an a...-kicking version of "The Knife," the only authorized version with Phil Collins of drums and Steve Hackett on guitar...it's great to hear the lineup best known for "The Lamb" and "Selling England" rocking on one of the bands early classics.

All together, a wonderful live album, originally supposed to be a double album with "Supper's Ready" taking up one whole side, but that didn't happen...instead, "Supper's Ready" turns up on the next live album, Seconds Out, which is why the latter is better, even though Peter doesn't sing on it.

This aggressive live album was released in July 1973 by the Charisma label around the time Genesis was working on the classic Selling England by the Pound album. Apparently, the band was not interested in releasing a live album, but Charisma managed to convince them to release the album anyway and at a budget price. As a side note, there were plans to release this album as a more expensive double album and it would have included Supper's Ready, in addition to the tracks that were already on the album. Based on what I have read, Genesis: Live was the first Genesis album to place in the American charts, where it reached #109.

The lineup on this live recording is the classic incarnation of Genesis and includes Peter Gabriel (lead vocals, flute, bass drum); Tony Banks (mellotron, Hammond organ); Michael Rutherford (bass, electric/acoustic guitar); Steve Hackett (electric/acoustic guitar); and Phil Collins (drums, backing vocals). This was a very tight outfit, and the ensemble work on the album is very intricate, with odd meters and hairpin shifts in dynamics.

This live album is surely the rawest and most powerful of all the live Genesis albums and the performances are top notch and simply ferocious. The pieces have more oomph and swing than the studio counterparts, although the renditions are still just very careful reconstructions of the studio tracks. Unlike Yes (with the Yessongs album, also 1973), Genesis did not work lengthy solos or extended group improvisations into the live performances on this album. The performance of The Knife however, is a marked improvement over the studio version, just because Phil was playing drums and not John Mayhew. The tracks on the album were taken from the studio albums Trespass (1970), Nursery Cryme (1971), and Foxtrot (1972). The live recordings were made by the King Biscuit Hour at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England and at the DeMontfort Hall in Leicester, England. Like all of the King Biscuit recordings, the sound quality is excellent.

Although the playing is excellent, I have to admit that, as a huge and longtime Genesis fan, I was a little disappointed by the lack of Peter Gabriel's stories. Apart from a dry (and pretty funny) comment regarding an "unaccompanied bass pedal solo by Michael Rutherford", the commentary used to fill the time between pieces is largely absent. Fortunately, there is a pretty cool story reproduced on the back cover of the Live album. For those of you that are interested, the live performances on the Genesis 1967-1975 box set feature quite a few of the Peter Gabriel narratives.

I recall when I first bought this album (on vinyl no less), I did feel that there was a bit of a "budget" feel to it, although I really liked the energy and overwhelming force of the music. My only wish is that they had simply held out a little longer and released the live album later in 1973 or even waited until 1974 or 1975. I have a few bootlegs from the late 1973 -1975 period that are simply incredible.

All in all, this is an excellent document from the early phase of the classic Genesis period. The performances are first-rate, as is the sound quality, and would make a nice addition to the Genesis collection. Another superb (and considerably more polished) live album is Seconds Out (1977) and it is also highly recommended. Unfortunately, Steve Hackett is all but mixed out of the Seconds Out album, but that is another story altogether.

This is perhaps my favorite Genesis album. Peter Gabriel is at his enigmatic best on this live outing. I regret that I never got to see Genesis in concert, as this album is evidence of the band's place in prog-rock history - more coherent than Yes, more versatile than ELP, and much more accessible than King Crimson. The recording quality is not the best (this album has since been remastered). This album should be in every progressive-rock fan's collection.

Genesis Live is by far the best Genesis live album. The band play amazingly in expanded compositions. Although this album is short for a live album 47 minutes (46 without Peters spoken intros and the cheering) its not the shortest live album ever, George Michael and Queen with Lisa Stansfield Five Live, for example is shorter. Because Tony does not play acoustic piano on Live Return Of The Giant Hogweed takes on an earie feel with the electric piano replacing the acoustic for its break. Also different is Peter shouting "Giant Hogweed lives!!" Both enhance the song. The knife features Phil playing the wistle frantically during the speeded up conclusion. Peter really shows why he was the frontman of the group, his singing, flute playing, tamborine, bass drum and inside sleeve notes are greatly pronounced and they are missed on the albums after he left the band.

There are few (if any) albums that can even come close to the magnificence of this one. It is the brilliance that made Genesis tick in the beginning and that produced their amazing tracks.

Watcher of the Skies-The slow, methodical chord progression of the organ in the beginning beautifully moves into the agressive song that opened up "Foxtrot." This is the perfect opening track.

Get 'em Out By Friday-This is the song that probably got the least attention, shoved behind "Watcher" and "Supper" on the Foxtrot album, but it is an excellent track to show the theatrical and vocal range of Peter Gabriel.

Hogweed-Beautiful work by all instruments, especially Tony on keyboards and Hackett on guitar. Pure fun the whole way through this track.

Musical Box-A very musical song, ranging from slow methodical lines to screech guitar by Hackett that could blow Zepplin or any other hard rock bands out of the water.

The Knife-This is probably the closest Genesis got to hard rock as a group, and contains beautiful work on the keys by Tony, a flowing line by Gabriel on the flute, a heavy, strong bass line by Rutherford, and even though Collins and Hackett were not involved in the original production, it is still great, better than the original. All is tied together with the controversial lyrics about rebellion and redemption in a violent and corrupt world.

Supper's Rea...Wait, it's not on the album. Darn it! So close to perfection, yet so far. Well, hey, I can still get a version of Supper's and burn it onto a cd with all the other tracks that this cd has to offer.

Don't fall pray to the inevitable trap that is pop music! This music is an example of what direction the musical world should have taken. Buy this cd and save yourselves!

This record was my introduction to Gabriel-era Genesis, and what an introduction! Although the set list is rather slim -- five 8-10 minute songs -- each one of these songs is a classic of the Gabriel era, and the recordings on this set are vastly superior to the studio originals. This is especially so on "Musical Box" and "Return of the Giant Hogweed," which suffered from truly abysmal production when they were recorded in the studio. These live cuts crackle with ferocious, dynamic energy, and make for a thrilling listen. These songs, with their unconventional structures and odd time-signatures, aren't immediately accessible to anyone raised on Top 40 radio, but if you're a fan of early Genesis or are looking for something intriguing, I can't recommend this album highly enough.