Customer Reviews

Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I did not want to like this album.

I thought to myself: "Who does Steve Hackett think he is cashing in on the old Genesis stuff? What, the solo career isn't working? Need to put the kid through college?"

Forget about it. Genesis Revisited is the real thing. Not covers of the old tunes, exactly... reworking? reimagining?

Well, whatever you want to call it, this is incredible. Like a Genesis' Greatest Hits from a parallel universe where the 60s prog rock pioneers had access to sophisticated 90s production qualities, a full orchestra, Bill Bruford, Paul Carrack, Chester Thompson, Ian MacDonald and John Wetton.

Breakout tracks:
"Watcher of the Skies" is incredible. Right up there with the original. Mellotron plus orchestra plus incredible vocals.

"Your Own Special Way." was never one of my favorite tracks. It always seemed a little treacly to me. This version is better. Paul Carrack's vocals sound both more authentic and restrained.

"Fifth of Firth" is a great song. This version is different, not better than the original.

"Dance on a Volcano" is vastly improved by the HUGE sound of the full orchestra and techno percussion. Then it's diminised by electronic vocals. (It seems SOMEONE couldn't leave those vocoders alone, or didn't give the result enough of a listen.)

The rest of the album is, at worst, interesting. There's a new/old tune that Genesis wrote and never recorded, and a new composition in the spirit of the atonal organic experiment of "The Waiting Room" from Lamb Lies Down.

The only clunker is "I Know What I Like", which strives for kitch or camp and doesn't quite make it.

The album is much more of a tribute to pre-pop Genesis than an attempt to cash in. Forgive me, Steve, I take back everything bad I thought about you.

Steve Hackett and an entourage of other terrifically talented musicians (including Tony Levin, Bill Bruford, and Chester Thompson) cover the sturdy old wheels of 1970s Genesis tunes with some sticky new tread. Now, Hackett has done his turn in the supergroup arena, and to a limited extent (perhaps because of John Wetton's presence) this album sounds a tiny bit like "Asia Does Genesis." But just a tiny bit.

Mostly it sounds great. The reworked "Watcher of the Skies" has more punch and pow than the original, still retaining its Morse code beat (no doubt still fit to punch a message through the hydrogen band to some waiting intelligence elsewhere in the universe, if played loudly enough). "Dance on a Volcano" is gloriously overblown, albeit with very peculiar vocals. Another standout is "Fountain of Salmacis," which gets off to a soaring, cinematically broad start that makes you wonder if you might have been transported into the titles of a movie filmed somewhere south of the equator.

Watcher of the Skies remains true to the original spirit of its songs. And even the sound. Mellotron and fat synthesizer bass abounds. The production is first rate. The overall sound is thick and wet but almost always on the proper side of muddy. The percussion is invariably crisp. If you've grown jaded with Genesis's own increasingly perfunctory and smoothed-out medleys of its earlier works, you MUST get hold of this album.

It might have been nice to see other members of the band participate, but I think you'll agree that Hackett and company have gotten along nicely without them. Overall it comes across as a project where all of the participants, Hackett included, have sacrificed a bit of ego and habit in the interests of rendering the best possible versions, at least one more time, of some of art rock's most idiosyncratic songs.

Obviously a risky proposition, Steve Hackett's Genesis Revisited project is full of hits and misses alike. However, there are two cuts that make it well worth having - Valley Of The Kings and Deja Vu. Valley Of The Kings is a new Hackett instrumental in his classic style, lush and majestic with those hallmark chill-inducing guitar melody lines. Deja Vu is the real treat here. Originally composed by Peter Gabriel and actually rehearsed by Genesis during the Selling England By The Pound sessions, the song was ultimately shelved until Hackett dusted it off some 26 years later (with Gabriel's permission) to be "revisited" on this CD. It's an absolutely beautiful gem. Had it been included on Selling England, it would now be considered a Genesis classic. Plunk down your hard-earned money and get this CD for these two cuts alone. You won't be disappointed.

Any fan of REAL Genesis will want to own this cd. I always hoped one of the band members would step up and redo some of the best music ever produced and he did an excellent job getting great names together to do it. Better buy this cd while you can get it as it is not a mass market issue and it just might get hard to find in the future.

For some reason [...] Steve Hackett chose in 1996 to look back 20 years at his Genesis career. He brought along many guest stars, including John Wetton, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford. The album is pleasant, but it's hard to imagine anyone repeatedly listening to these versions instead of the originals. Five of the cuts are close remakes of the original pieces that don't add much to the originals but a little bombast. Along the way, Hackett does some of his best guitar solos all over again, practically note for note the same as he did them before. "Your Own Special Way" is redone in an adult contemporary style, and "I Know What I Like" is turned almost into a lounge piece (with a closing that smacks of the Bonzo Dog Band's "The Intro and the Outro"). "Deja Vu" is a mediocre ballad that may get undue interest for being a "lost Genesis song"--Hackett completed an unfinished Peter Gabriel tune from the "Selling England" period. "Valley of the Kings", an original piece thrown in, works better--it starts with an Asia rip before going into a fun instrumental that would have fit right in on Hackett's "Defector" album. While this is a nice listen, nothing here improves on any of the Genesis originals; the whole thing seems more like "product" than inspiration.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

When someone who belongs to a classic group like SH has, you really wonder what would have happened if they had total control of a song. As it was, SH wrote with the other folks in Genesis... so, with this release, you get a chance to see how SH would have shaped the songs, and what he did with them.

Song by Song look:

Watcher of the Skies opens up the CD and I really must tell you that this song is just fantastic. The use of the Philharmonic of choice here is very good, since throughtout the cd SH does not let the orchestra be anything other than texture. Much like YES did in their Magnification release.

Dance On a Volcano. I love this song. It is just the best remake of any of the songs in the mix. The use of electronica on the voice over is just great. Makes the voice sound like it is actually coming from a volcano. The music is just so open and a bit experimental.

Valley of the Kings. A very good song, not familiar with it from earlier incarnation.

Deja Vu. this is a real treat. Apparently Peter Gabriel had this song up for grabs during the SELLING ENGLAND period, but for whatever reasons, it was not finished. SH receieved permission from PG to finish it up. Very good.

Firth Of Fifth. This song is done so well. I simply think that this version can hold up very well with the original. Matter of fact, I am going to burn both copies of both songs from the orignal cd's and from this release. Everyone who loves this song will really like this version.

For Absent Friends. I was not really wild about this song in its original release, but this version is no worse off.

Your Own Special Way. I didn't like this version originally, but I really do like the Paul Carrack version a lot. Here is a case where the redone version is way better than the original. Way better.

Foutain of Salmanacs. Again, not all that nuts about the original version, but this version is better. Could be that the original version seemed restrained but these versions on this release are much more expressive, the orchestra on this cd really helps out.

Waiting Room Only. Intersting. In a LLDOB way.

I know what I like. This is very good, and I think that the vocals from SH are just fine... i don't understand why people crack on SH voice. It is just fine. The music shines.

All in all, a fantastic release. Even on songs that I didn't really like originally were often done even better. I think folks can see the expressive emotion of the fantastic guitar playing from SH.

A must buy of early genesis fans and SH fans.

Steve Hackett takes a number of Genesis songs and adds his own interpretation. Some of it sounds like Genesis, some of it sounds like a Hackett solo album and some of it is refreshingly different.

On some songs, like "Watcher of the Skies", he really doesn't add anything new. On "Fifth of Firth", the beginning and end also aren't anything new, with the heavy mellotron backing, but the middle is a very interesting orchestra piece. "Your Own Special Way" is done like a longue act, but it isn't bad. The verison "Fountain Of Salmacis" is kind of flat. "Deja Vu" is an old song written by Peter Gabriel that never made it to an album. I didn't find it very interesting. There is an amusing version of "I Know What I Like", which not everyone will appreciate. He turns it into one of those jazz numbers where the musicians are introduced (sort of like the end of Tubular Bells).

The best things on the CD are the intrumentals, "Dance on a Volcano" and "Los Endos", which he plays with a new fire. The unfortunate thing about any Hackett album is the track order. He always interrupts the flow of an album by placing light frilly songs in between the stronger material. It is hard to sit through the silly "All I Know What I Like", while waiting for "Los Endos". I know that "Los Endos" is supposed to be the grand finale, but it would have better to put the fluff at the end of the album where you wouldn't have to listen to them more a few times.

If you like this CD, you will definitly want to check out "The Tokyo Tapes" which was taken from a concert tour to support this album.

Let me begin by saying I am a big Steve Hackett fan. He is easily my favorite Genesis member, both as a contributor to the band and as a solo artist. I have all of his many studio albums, and then some. And of all those studio albums, this is just about the worst (with only BLUES FOR A FEELING even giving it a run for its money).

It's well documented that Steve left Genesis in '77 because he felt the band wasn't using a fair share of his ideas. This happened after WIND & WUTHERING, which, oddly, was possibly the Genesis album on which the MOST Steve material was used. (In contrast, half of Mike's input ended up on the accompanying EP, SPOT THE PIGEON, and Phil contributed less writing than on any other Genesis album where he sang lead.)

What Steve wanted, but didn't have with Genesis, was full artistic control. The problem is that Steve, brilliant as he is, does best when he has someone else keeping his creativity somewhat in check. When he's left to his own devices, his music often suffers from a lack of discipline and restraint. GENESIS REVISITED is the second best example of this. (The BEST example is on his 2003 album TO WATCH THE STORMS: "Brand New", the biggest waste of a great song idea in the history of rock music.)

Steve's claim in the liner notes, that "the 'definitive' versions of these songs have yet to be heard until now", is one of the most unintentionally funny things ever written. These rethinkings of classic Genesis songs are occasionally interesting -- in the way that a blatantly tongue-in-cheek cover version might be interesting -- but they add nothing worthwhile. There is no "definitive" happening here. Most of the remakes just serve as reminders of how good the originals were. At worst they're overproduced, directionless and obnoxious.

Song by song:

WATCHER OF THE SKIES - Sung by John Wetton. A bit overproduced, with nothing really new added, but it's not too bad in and of itself. The addition of "morse code" sound effects -- where no sound effects were needed on the original because the instruments said it all -- is a good example of what's wrong with this whole thing.

DANCE ON THE VOLCANO - One of the worst tracks here. While I think Hackett is fine as a singer when given the right material, he just doesn't work for this song. Plus there's too much of his trademark overused gimmick, the pitch-lowered spoken voice.

VALLEY OF THE KINGS - Not a Genesis song but a new Hackett piece. I'm not sure why this is here, but it's a fairly decent Hackett instrumental.

DEJA VU - Sung by Paul Carrack. Historically interesting as a previously unused 1973 Peter Gabriel song idea. Personally, I think this is the best track on the album (which may not be saying much).

FIRTH OF FIFTH - Sung by John Wetton. The song is messed with in ways that obviously took much work & skill, but that add nothing. Wetton's take on the line "lured by the siren's cry" is a great vocal moment, though.

FOR ABSENT FRIENDS - Sung by Colin Blunstone. Most fans may not know that this song was written (and originally performed) solely by Hackett and Phil Collins. This version could never replace the original, but it's an interesting and fairly worthwhile rethinking. With the change to 3/4 time and the use of orchestration in the place of acoustic guitars, the song gains an appropriate sense of wistful melancholy. My only complaint is that there's too much (blatantly artificial) reverb on the vocal in spots.

YOUR OWN SPECIAL WAY - Sung by Paul Carrack. While this is not especially good in its own right (especially when compared to the original), it was a clever idea to interpret this Mike Rutherford composition as if it were a Mike + The Mechanics number!

THE FOUNTAIN OF SALMACIS - The main thing wrong here is that several new little bits have been shoehorned into the song, adding nothing to it but running time. But in spite of the pitch-lowered narration at the beginning, and the line "as he rushed to quench his thirst" nonsensically worded wrong, Hackett actually does a good job singing this one --particularly considering that it can't be an easy song to sing in the first place. But there's just no substitute for the backing vocals in the Genesis original ("unearthly calm descended from the sky -- AA-AA-AA-AA-AA-AA-AAAAA-AAAA!").

WAITING ROOM ONLY - This has nothing to do with the similarly named Genesis piece, but it's pretty entertaining in its own weird, overindulgent way. It gets better as it goes. Kind of reminds me of some nonsensical but vivid dream.

I KNOW WHAT I LIKE - Sung by Hackett. This would be the prime example of a "blatantly tongue-in-cheek cover version". It can't be taken at all seriously, but it doesn't have to be. The talking at the beginning and end is badly done (though still not as bad as Gabriel's take on those parts on GENESIS ARCHIVE), as is common with Steve's spoken parts. But the TUBULAR BELLS parody at the end is a hoot. (What the heck is a "vegetarian guitar", anyway?)

LOS ENDOS - Typically (for this album), this is overproduced, overcomplicated for the sake of being complicated, lengthy without ever achieving a "buildup" worthy of "release", etc. Worth noting is a quote from the Genesis song "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight", and also a theme from the (then future) Hackett song "Rise Again".

Overall: Worthwhile for hardcore Hackett fans, particularly those with a tolerance for his occasionial excessive self-indulgence.

Well there are some choices here like the flaw and not useful track "Your own special way" or the usual "I know what I like", which nowadays is not interesting nor believable as hit single !!, that I don't approve(The absence of the splendid Bank's intro of "Firth of Fifth"-despite of the fantastic guitar solo- here completed with great solo stuffs by Hackett and the excellent performance by Wetton as well, is another example).
But the rest is full with great arrangements and skillful performances as well("Watcher of the sky" or "Dance on a volcano" are positive examples).
A special mention for the fantastic version of "Fountain of Salmacis", in my opinion the best of all time, so that it makes this album well worth checking out.

Higly recommended !!

This version of Watcher of the Skies and Firth of Fifth are worth the price of this CD alone. The few new tracks are also great. However, I know what I like and Your own special way are classic examples of why as brilliant as Steve Hackett is, he really needs a heavy-handed producer to pull him away from directions like these. The ending to Watcher of the Skies still brings chills up my spine - UNREAL. Buy it.