Posts by WinstonWolf

Yes, I really think this is a great show and well worth checking out. Especially if you've seen them before.

After the last couple of Selling England shows I thought they were starting to phone it in a bit. It's a great show, but there's no way you can keep playing that over and over again and it not get a bit stale.

By contrast, they were all really on fire at the show I saw. Also, not being constrained to mimic a particular show allowed all of them (lead singer especially) to play parts that would have otherwise simply been missing in a live context but having those extra bass/keyboard/percussion bits helped them reproduce the songs even more exactly than usual.

The musicianship and the showmanship is still there, it's just a little different this time.

I totally agree with OneForTheVine; this is a fantastic show!

Being able to step out of the confines of performing an exact replica of a particular tour gave them the chance to breathe a little more life into the performances. As already mentioned getting to hear so many super rare songs was a real treat, and I felt the sincerity was very clear.

I felt this was show was what Genesis would have played in 1977 if (in some bizarro world) Peter Gabriel had never left the band.

I bought all of them on cassette the first time around, minus Calling All Stations.

I grew up sort of in-between vinyl and CD's, so cassettes were my go to. Looking back on it now the biggest drawback was the complete lack of printed lyrics, and some of the older albums didn't have any liner notes at all.

It seems that Phil had a knack for helping arrange their various bits from fairly early on, to the point that when HE left that skill seemed to be the biggest hole he left. Mike and Tony could get another singer and another drummer, but they couldn't (didn't want to?) replace Phil's ability to help shape the musical ideas or be another voice for or against what was being written.

That, to me, is something Steve also brought to the band, but in a more musical and less structural way. Perhaps he wasn't constantly contributing whole creations the way Tony was, but his contributions and opinions had an impact on the arrangements and the overall sound of the band just the same.

Almost all of Genesis' catalog is so interesting because the final products were always more than just the core of what the song was strictly speaking. They all contributed to the sound regardless of who took the biggest credit, and I think that's why their songs are greater than the sum of their parts. And Then There Were Three and Calling All Stations are both good examples of what happens when you pare the Genesis sound too far.

Abacab is playing at the Lincoln Theater in downtown Raleigh Saturday night. Anyone else going?

Quote from DecomposingMan

I clearly hear "Feel the fear, dressed to kill." I get the impression he was just modifying the lyrics a little.

I agree. Phil's been pretty consistent in NOT singing the original lyric in that spot all along.

I'm pretty excited about my newest project and wanted to share.

I've been a huge Phil Collins fan for well over 30 years, but I've never really put too much though into actually having a kit like Phil's. But this year I finally decided to go ahead and put together a set like his.

I know Phil never played a full Ludwig kit, but I've always loved their drums and decided that would be my own spin on the project. That Ludwig concert toms are plentiful also helped convince me. But with that detail I suppose it isn't really a replica kit as much as a tribute kit. No matter, it's a blast to play.

Even though his setup didn't change too much from 1981 on, I decided (at least for now) to try to replicate the specific kit he used in 1981 on his first solo album Face Value, and the Genesis albums Abacab and Three Sides Live. It really just boils down to cymbal placement, but having that big swish right up front is a lot of fun!

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/hUgFEy/Front_1.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/ewiTZy/Front_Low_2.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/fR08Zy/Front_High_3.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/deL8Zy/Side_1.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/ksH0gd/Side_2.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/hosBnJ/Side_3.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/fkB47J/Side_4.jpg]

Compared to what I was replicating:

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/j57xuy/71_Kmwri2_On_L_SL1442.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/eMEXSJ/1682.jpg]

[Blocked Image: https://image.ibb.co/iSO3Zy/16010368_947740145360653_1630614273_o_600x407.jpg]

If I'm being honest, even after more than 20 years I'm still waiting to get to the "like" phase with this album. As already mentioned, the "demo" quality to the album is what holds me back the most. Phil's voice obviously would have made the whole thing sound more familiar but I can't get over how unfinished most of the songs sound. I can't blame Ray because even though he never really rises above being "fine" I'm not sure there are any musical moments that really rise much higher either. Similarly, Nir Z and Nick D'Virgillio are completely competent but aren't given the opportunity to let loose outside of the solo in The Dividing Line.

It's clear that it was Phil's ear for arranging ideas that was sorely lacking. Had they chosen to jam out the songs as an actual band instead of making Ray and the drummers just overdub their parts they might have solved some of the arrangement problems, but for whatever reason that isn't what happened.

That isn't to say I don't like some of the songs. Not About Us really stands out to me, and might be my favorite song on the album. The Dividing Line, There Must Be Some Other Way, and One Man's Fool are also ones I'd rate pretty highly.

I'd have to choose Snowbound. It's clear to me they had a hard time writing lyrics for this entire album, but in the is case both the music and lyrics are pretty lackluster.

I'll say one thing about Peter, while he can't quite find time to finish an album he never seems to miss a chance to be next to someone famous when cameras are around.

There are quite a few that really hit home for me. I Wish It Would Rain Down, Everyday, and Please Come Out Tonight still connect on a very personal level. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's thought Phil was secretly writing my own life story.

One of the strangest feelings I've had is getting to a place in my life were a particular lyric "clicked" and suddenly an old song took on a lot more meaning and weight. The line in All Of My Life about "playing records upstairs while he watched TV" cuts deep after you realize you really didn't spend the time you should have.

Musical Box comes to Philly/New Jersey regularly, and often plays Washington DC. Pre/post-show meet ups are pretty common, so feel free to join in!

I'm really excited by this too. I love their full-blown tribute shows (and I'd LOVE to see them play the whole Lamb again) but after seeing three Selling England tours in a row I wouldn't seek out a fourth.

I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Mike seems oddly against a lot of things. He seems unwilling to license out his songs or allow them to have much of a digital/streaming presence. He seemed to think the Genesis remixes were unnecessary. He was unwilling to let Paul Carrack use all of the Mechanics songs he wanted on his greatest hits albums, to the point they fell out over it.

I'm sure he has his reasons for his choices, but they seem very odd to me.

It's a huge shame Duchess never came back after the Abacab tour. I had high hopes we would have heard it in 2007 but alas...

It's Chester's drumming that puts the 3SL Duchess over the top for me. He drives the song so hard the studio version feels tame to me.

In general I think the entire Gabriel era sounded better on stage than it did in the studio. There was a fairly high level of restraint in their playing in the studio albums (probably to make the recording process faster) and that suited some songs but was a bit of a let down on others.

I think every song on Genesis Live is better than its studio counterpart.

On Seconds Out Cinema Show and Supper's Ready are the clear standouts but I can't say that any of the others really bested the album versions.

Three Sides Live has a great vibe...By '81 they were really hitting their stride as musicians AND performers. Other than Follow You, Follow Me and Turn It On Again I think all of the performances there are fantastic...Duchess especially stands out for me.

The Way We Walk is a little more tricky to choose. Home By The Sea sounds so much more confident and complete but most of the songs don't quite capture the atmosphere or energy of the studio recordings. That said I really do enjoy how well put together and performed The Old Medley is.

In spite of the already mentioned oddities I think the 2008 remixes from 1970 - 1974 are my favorite versions of those albums. The clarity is a big improvement and unlike some of the other remixes didn't occur at the expense of the overall sound of the album.

The blue box albums are more of a mixed bag, as I like the remixed ...And Then There Were Three... but strongly prefer the 1994 DER versions of all of the others besides Abacab, which is a toss-up.

Similarly, I LOVE the remixes of Genesis and Invisible Touch, but I just don't hear any improvement in We Can't Dance or Calling All Stations.

The live box albums all sound superior to any previous version.

Serious Tour Chapel Hill 1990

Both Sides Tour Raleigh 1994

XM Radio show taping Washington DC 2005

I'm in Fayetteville, UNCP grad.

There's a Charlotte NC-based tribute called Abacab: The Music of Genesis that's really good. I've seen them half a dozen times now and they're a great group of guys that put on a great show.