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I liked Up well enough but one small change would have made a big difference for me.
If they had kept the upbeat "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" as part of the track list as was originally planned, and dropped "The Barry Williams Show," which I find plodding and dull, I would have embraced Up as being up to the same high standard as its predecessors.
Personally I would like Genesis to close the doors...
I would never wish for a musician to stop touring or recording because time has caught up to them and they no longer perform up to a certain standard.
Everyone's entitled to make a living, doing what they enjoy doing, including 70-year-old musicians.
Of course the common retort is, "They're ruining their legacy!"
I never know what that means to the average fan.
Does that mean they suddenly can't enjoy the old albums anymore? Are their fond memories of seeing the band perform in the past being erased?
... At this point it's fair to ask how many people would show up for Hackett shows if he was just doing his solo material in concert....
Invariably, he would have to return to playing smaller clubs and theatres again - which is fine with me, but probably less satisfying for Steve and those who take care of his business affairs.
It would be nice if Steve could try to have his cake and eat it too - continuing to play these Genesis Revisited shows if he has to, but maybe book the odd small theatre where he could satisfy an itch to play just his solo stuff, perhaps performing some deep cuts from various albums over the years.
I feel really bad for fans who were so looking forward to seeing these shows - especially those who had made travel arrangements and booked hotels.
Devastating news.
Reelin' In The Years - Steely Dan
Until I had the album in my collection, I thought the line was
"Are you gathering up the teas?"
(As a tea lover, I quite liked the idea of cups of tea being gathered and served).
Hm also interesting in that article Mike (or maybe Tony, couldn't really tell from the writing who was talking) that the concert film from the 76 tour was "bad, terrible." Sounds like we could've got more films from some of the later tours if they didn't feel that way.
They certainly took issue with Tony Maylam exercising artistic licence, adding non-concert footage as a couple of songs are playing.
That is certainly a view shared by many fans.
I don't know if they were too happy about several songs being edited to cut down the film's running time or the fact the audience footage was shot at a Yes concert.
Really? I had no idea. I'm only aware of his big 70s albums I suppose.
He went through a prolific stretch in the '90s where he was releasing multiple albums a year.
By the way, if you like those "big 70s albums," I highly recommend Red Planet which came out last year. A real return to form; fully instrumental, very much in the style of Criminal Record and Six Wives.
I'm a big fan, I have all their albums and most of Gord's solo output and Road Apples is my favourite Hip album.
But I'm never keen on repurchasing albums I already have.
I picked up Saskadelphia - a collection of unreleased tracks recorded during the Road Apples sessions - upon release this past summer.
It wasn't reported at the time, but if I had known it was going to be part of a box set coming out later in the year, I would have waited to get the whole set.
Instead, I think I'll stick with what I've got and give it a pass.
To the band's credit, they've always allowed their touring guitarists some room to put their own stamp on the solo and have never directed them to precisely replicate the original.
I like Anthony Drennan's version.
Yes, it strays from the original - just as Daryl's does - but it remains within the musical boundaries of the song. At no point does he drift completely into uncharted territory.
I’d like to see Steve make a more simpler album actually ... a little bit stripped down.
This hits the nail on the head for me.
It wasn’t a “no holds barred … unleashing of demons” that made Steve’s music unique to me.
It was subtle pastel shades, occasional soaring guitar solos and simple but beautiful instrumental passages with a lot of breathing room (think of Hammer In The Sand, Kim, Hands Of The Priestess Part II).
I think Steve's desire to break new ground has led him to produce music that is more complex and fuller sounding, but lacking the variety of elements that to me made those earlier albums more captivating.
...
Chester and Daryl - don't think I've ever heard anything solo. But would like to hear some of the music Daryl was involved in prior to Genesis
I really like the three albums he did with Jean Luc Ponty (Aurora, Imaginary Voyage and Enigmatic Ocean).
He is the lone guitarist on the first two albums I listed.
On Enigmatic Ocean, my favourite of the three, he shares lead guitar duties with another superbly talented guitarist, Allan Holdsworth.
He certainly seems to be much more in his element here and utilizing a greater depth of his skills playing fusion, than IMO anything he has done while touring with Phil or Genesis.
At the time of its release, I thought it was a horrible misstep by Steve.
There was so much I didn’t like about it: the tinny production, the vocals, the artificial drums — and the fact he was no longer touring with the same cast of musicians that I had seen him tour with the previous year.
In hindsight, I don’t think it’s as bad or weak of an album as I felt it was at the time.
I’ve gained some appreciation for it but it's certainly not one my favourites.
OK, here's a question related to opening songs: Do you prefer "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" or "Calling All Stations"?
...
Easy choice.
The intro to "Where the Sour ..." draws me in with this haunting, hollow sound and plaintive voice that conveys to me a sense of innocence — very fitting for that particular album.
It's also my favourite track on FGTR.
CAS is more of a jarring intro - and for me, if you're going to go that route, the first sounds you hear should grab you by the shirt collars and pull you in.
The opening title track on CAS doesn't do that for me — there's no immediate hook or riff, and overall it's just not one of my favourites on the album.
I like Styx alot. One of those guilty pleasures of mine...
Mine too. I was a big fan of them in my teens and I still like them, especially their first eight albums.
The Serpent Is Rising, Equinox, Grand Illusion - all thoroughly enjoyable as far as I'm concerned.
Having said that, I don't hear anything reminiscent of Styx on ATTW3 or any other album by Genesis.
Has a bit of an "Electric Funeral" vibe to it - at least before the guitar comes shredding in.
Between the two songs I've heard so far, I can easily say I prefer this one over Wingbeats.
...
I completely disagree with this idea Abacab resulted from their sitting down and consciously deciding to capitalise on PC's solo success and/or "we'd better sound more modern and new-wavey". Both are silly notions. They didn't want to repeat themselves, simple as that and absolutely right too.
Genesis wasn’t alone in that respect.
There seemed to be a widespread movement among prog bands at that point to leave the ‘70s sounds behind and produce music that was leaner and more contemporary sounding.
Gentle Giant, Camel, Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull — even Steve Hackett — all adopted, in some circumstances, quite radical changes in their sound.
Genesis, Rush and Yes ended up drawing bigger audiences as a result.
The others I mentioned did more to alienate their traditional fan base IMO, than to build on it.
I was a Genesis fanatic by this point but living on the wrong continent to have heard about this concert, let alone attend it.
I'm envious of those who were there.
After eagerly purchasing GTR upon its release and sitting down to my first listen, I was immediately reminded of my reaction to Asia.
High expectations followed by great disappointment.
Don’t get me wrong. I think there were some decent tunes.
But to me this was like sitting down at a fancy restaurant, telling the waiter “surprise me,” eagerly awaiting a culinary delight and being served burgers and fries.
I don’t mind burgers and fries.
But not when I’m at a place renowned for its brilliant chefs.
This was stadium pop performed by brilliant musicians, not playing up to their individual talents
... It's just one of those things - it was acceptable at that time to do that voice, usually accompanied by a 'limp wrist' gesture, but yes any reasonable person would cringe at it now...
I never picked up on that before but I can hear it now.
To be honest, though, if someone had played that line to me before today I would have probably said the voice portrays a toff, or someone of a demure or reserved manner as opposed to a caricature of a gay person.
I have a lot of casettes too, and having just digitized them (Recommend the Behringer UFO202, or one of it's similar siblings, for the job) I found no issues with this, depends on storage conditions of course, barring EMI tapes which pretty much disintegrate within weeks of buying.
I also have a large cassette collection, though any albums I really value have since been repurchased in CD format.
Nonetheless, if I browsed through the collection I could probably find at least a few dozen titles I don't have on CD that I wouldn't mind having digitized.
Just did a quick check online. Seems like these devices are also quite reasonably priced. I will definitely be looking into getting one.
