Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Since Genesis last took to the stage for their 2007 tour, the most productive two members of the stalwarts and guiding lights of Progressive Rock are the two that had left the band in the days before they become the corporate behemoth of the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Peter Gabriel has been busy giving his fans new looks of his back catalogue and inspired readings of other people’s works. Steve Hackett on the other hand has produced more solo work than any other member of one of the U.K.’s favourite Prog acts; he also seems to find time to keep the work of Genesis between 1970 and 1977 very much alive on his keenly anticipated touring schedule.
For the multitude of Genesis fans who have been thrilled by some of the songs he has been able to resurrect over the years and present to them at various gigs, the latest album he has put his name to is nothing short of remarkable, dazzling and sublime, for Genesis Revisited II is exceptional and without peer.
With no new album for over a decade, so much longer if you discount the final and somewhat weak, Calling All Stations, Genesis fans must have worn out their versions of albums such as Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as they tried to recapture that first moment of excitement when they heard songs steeped in Prog history and mythology as The Chamber of 32 Doors, Ripples and Supper’s Ready.
What Steve Hackett has managed to do, and by no means an easy or mundane achievement, is to bring together some of the greats of British Pop and Progressive Rock to re-record and re-imagine some of the songs that Genesis made famous.
With contributions from the likes of Marillion’s Steve Rothery, Neal Morse, Nik Kershaw, Nick Beggs, Lee Pomeroy and Asia’s John Wetton, to name but a handful, Steve has shown why he is considered one of the greats of the movement. The new versions are exciting, heart stopping so; they give the listener that same feel as when they first may have heard these songs. Tracks such as The Musical Box with excellent vocals by Nad Sylvan, Entangled and The Broadway Melody of 1974 are not just given a new lease of life but overwhelm and tempt the listener to play over and over again.
Two of the most amazing new versions are Ripples from Trick of the Tail with vocals supplied by Amanda Lehmann and arguably the ultimate Progressive Rock track Supper’s Ready which has just celebrated its 40th birthday. This new version features Simon Collins on vocals and where it was by far one of Peter Gabriel’s high points in a mountain range of peaks, Simon Collins gives it a nasty, seamy and sweetly driven performance.
You might not be able to reinvent the wheel but is seems it’s possible to reinvent the beginning of Genesis.
Ian D. Hall