Genesis Live CD

Genesis: Tony Banks (vocals, guitar, electronic piano, organ, Mellotron); Michael Rutherford (vocals, guitar, bass, bass pedals); Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute, bass drum, tambourine); Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion); Steve Hackett (guitar).
Recorded at The De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England and The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England in February 1973.
Digitally remastered by Nick Davis, Geoff Callingham & Chris Blair (The Farm, Abbey Road, England).
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute, percussion); Tony Banks (vocals, keyboards); Phil Collins (vocals, drums, percussion); Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett (guitar).
Audio Remasterers: Chris Blair; Geoff Callingham; Nick Davis.
Recording information: De Montfort Hall, Leicester (02/1973); Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England (02/1973).
Photographer: Bob Gruen.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Peter Gabriel; Tony Banks.
In early 1973, Genesis allowed the taping of a couple of live shows for broadcast in America as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour syndicated radio show -- most of their current set, drawn from their albums up through 1972's Foxtrot, was represented. A few months later, Tony Stratton-Smith, the head of Charisma Records, to which the group was signed, approached them about allowing him to fill the extended gap between Foxtrot and their next album, Selling England by the Pound, by releasing a live album from this same taped performance. The bandmembers, who now say they were somewhat distracted at the time by their work on the new album, agreed to it. And the result was Live, which was originally the only official document of the group in performance with Peter Gabriel in the lineup. And it's not just the singer, but everyone who shines here -- it's doubtful that anyone ever got a richer sound out of a Mellotron on-stage than Tony Banks does on this album, and Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins' playing is all quite amazing as a whole unit, holding together some very complex music in a live setting. And on that basis alone, this album was an essential acquisition for fans of the group, as well as a key link in solidifying their growing popularity -- the intensity of the performances on "Watcher of the Skies," "Get 'Em Out by Friday," "Return of the Giant Hogweed," "The Knife, and, especially, "The Musical Box," easily transcend the work (superb though it was) on the studio originals, and is an in-your-face presentation of the theatrical intensity that Gabriel and company brought to their work on-stage. What's more, the very fact that the band could pull some of what they do on-stage -- and this was in an era where other prog rock bands, such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, were running up against a brick wall in terms of re-creating their complex studio sounds in concert -- is mighty impressive. Additionally, in the case of "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," both songs originally recorded on Nursery Cryme, the versions here documented this lineup's true approach to these pieces -- at the time when Nursery Cryme was recorded, guitarist Steve Hackett had barely joined the group (and fragments of music composed by his predecessor, Anthony Phillips, still exist on the album), and most of the guitar parts there were actually the work of bassist Mike Rutherford (who did, in fact, take over most of the group's guitar chores after Hackett's departure in the late '70s). So what we hear on this album, which has now been upgraded on CD at least twice, once in the '90s and again in 2009 as part of the Genesis Live 1973-2007 box set, are the definitive interpretations of these pieces by this version of the band, more so than the studio originals. And one also gets to hear the classic version of the band tackle the oldest part of their repertory, "The Knife," which went back to their first Charisma album -- and it's a kiQ (11/96, p.64) - 3 Stars - Good - "...a splendid record of a classic progressive rock group taped for US radio..."
Q (12/94, pp.162-3) - 3 Stars - Good - "...the oddest and most interesting [of Genesis' live albums]..."
Mojo (Publisher) (3/01, p.82) - "...Acceptable account of the FOXTROT-era set..."