Posts by Witchwood

    Anyone know what the best recordings of that tour out there are? Anything like the Lyceum 1980 (I suspect not but thought I'd check!)?

    There are no soundboard or FM recordings from that leg of the tour (if that's what you were hoping for), but there is an audience recording from the Marquee Club in London, 27 Sept. 1982 which I have seen time and time again referred to as the best recording available from that tour.


    Tough to answer because I think there were peak moments at various points.


    We could argue that they recorded and subsequently performed their most challenging and complex music on the SEBTP tour. From recordings I've heard, Peter also seems far more engaging, more spontaneous in his responses to the audience or things happening on stage.


    Having said that, I also think they became a better oiled machine on later tours.

    For example, I think Firth of Fifth and Supper’s Ready were executed more flawlessly in 77, compared to the 73/74 tour.


    And, then with Phil as the frontman, I agree with others who suggest he just seemed to gain complete mastery of the audience by 1980. I think it also helped with Duke that they were still, for the most part, recording and also performing songs that appealed to all eras of Genesis fans.

    I thought it was one of his best albums and it's certainly one of my favourites.


    It also seemed to reaffirm the fact I'm a poor judge when it comes to identifying commercially viable music.

    There were at least 2 or 3 songs on this album that I thought would warrant radio play, would draw wider attention or even some discussion about his solo career.

    Of course, it generated no attention, no radio play and left me shaking my head.


    As for favourites, there are four songs that really stand out for me: Another Murder, Angel Face, Red Day and Still It Takes Me.

    I chose the first three in the poll, but could have easily switched any of them with the latter.

    I've seen several others express the same view about Secret World. It seems to be a widely held view and I'm probably in the minority in that I get more of an adrenaline rush from the studio version. The bass is more prominent and the build-up in that song is driven by that bottom end.


    I certainly agree with you, though, on WOTW. It's similar to me as Here Comes The Flood.

    Virtually every live version I've heard seem more heart-wrenching than the original.

    TWTS for me is part of the second tier of great Hackett albums that I would group with Darktown, Guitar Noir and Bay of Kings.

    Not quite in the same class with the first four (VOTA to Defector). But still very enjoyable, nonethess, with some top-notch material.


    The two opening tracks, Strutton Ground and Circus of Becoming, are my favourites.

    For me, Burn You Up Burn You Down is missing on UP

    It was part of the first promo CD and that fitted well. It was a mistake to save it for a later release

    I agree. It would have been my second-favourite song (after I Grieve) and would have made Up an even more powerful album.

    If I had to pull a song to make it fit, I could have gone without Barry Williams.

    ...after having heard David with Big Big Train, I would have definitely preferred him. Also, I have the feeling, after having heard Ray's solo career and David's contribution to the band, he would have been a better fit in the songwriting department.

    My concern would be if Longdon ended up getting the Genesis gig and they just recorded that one album, David would forever be an ignoble footnote in the history of Genesis and carrying a lot of baggage.

    Would BBT have even hired him? With Nick d'Virgilio as the drummer, half the fans attending BBT shows would be baying for songs off CAS.


    While I agree Mike and Tony made the wrong choice, I am very happy with the way things unfolded with them selecting Ray instead.

    I think the world is a better place with David being musically unfettered in BBT.

    ...


    This is an interesting observation. I know TB is central to Genesis, but there is not a single song from his solo career I would place above the lowest Genesis track. Maybe, *maybe* something like Queen of Darkness over Hold on my Heart. I find the overwhelming majority of his solo work doesn't really sound 'like' Genesis. I think most of it would have been rejected by Mike and Phil.


    ...

    I have a vastly differing view.

    I can think of six Genesis albums that I would choose A Curious Feeling over.

    To me, ACF is the closest any solo release ever came to sounding like Genesis.


    And there are at least close to half a dozen individual tracks from other albums of Tony's that I think would have been among the highlights if they initially appeared on certain Genesis albums.

    ... and Fountain are solid songs, with the latter probably being my least favorite on the album.

    Always interesting to see completely differing views from people who share a passion for the same band.


    Fountain of Salmacis is not only my top track from that album, it's probably my overall favourite song by Genesis.

    But ... PG IV: Peter thought it's a weak album? At least that's what Horst says. Can't imagine Peter really thinks that (or thought that back in the days).

    Artists' views of their own work are often coloured by circumstances that have nothing to do with the music.

    I would wonder if PG's dismissiveness stems from unpleasant feelings or memories associated with the recording of that album, with David Lord being the producer.

    Yikes. I admit I haven't looked at it in quite a while, but that number seems extremely low. Like maybe a year ago I went on and there were dozens of shows...

    Sorry, I think I left you with the wrong impression.


    There was well over 500 shows (Genesis and related) being seeded when I checked.

    But when I did a search just on that one tour ( Genesis 2007), I found only three shows being seeded at that particular moment.


    That is an unusually low number but I suspect that is due to the fact the soundboards from all of those shows were made available through the Encore Series so I don't imagine there's a huge demand for alternative recordings.

    I got the Helsinki 07 artwork downloaded from the torrent site, but I can't see a link for actual music files.


    Does this mean it's not linked anymore?

    I just had a peak on the Movement site.


    It looks like there's only three recordings being seeded right now:

    • Helsinki 10-06-07 (portions of a rehearsal, plus interview);

    • an FM recording (partial show) from Stuttgart 28-06-2007; and

    • a complete audience recording from Paris, 30-06-07.


    In case you're wondering, the soundboards from each show was sold through the Encore Series so you won't find any of those on the Movement site.

    If you're looking for live recordings from the most recent tour which was 2007, there are several options available.


    The official release Live Over Europe which you can get through Amazon or your favourite CD or record supplier.


    There's still at least half-a-dozen Encore Series recordings available from that last tour.


    https://www.themusic.com/encore/catalog2.php?&q[]=Genesis


    And then for bootlegs, if you're into torrents, the closest to a complete source would be The Movement site.


    https://www.genesis-movement.org/livedatabase.html

    I always wonder how many of the fans who bought albums like IT and WCD and were new to Genesis, are still die hard fans or was just a passing music phase in the 80's?


    The setlists seem to be made up of numerous songs from this period, but would the majority of people buying tickets for 2021 prefer a more varied setlist?

    Personally I could easily give WCD, HOMH and LOC a miss for something else

    Admittedly, I tend to characterize pop fans as having as much of a fleeting interest in music as they have in fashion – discarding what was popular yesterday, and moving on to what’s leading edge today.


    But I also know it’s presumptuous to think these same fans would all turn down the opportunity to spend an evening out with friends to see a band that was generating hits 30, 35 years ago.


    Concert goers are always a mix of die-hards, holding onto faint hopes of an obscure track being performed, and people who just want a fun night out, enjoying an evening of live music and nostalgia (and maybe a little catching up with friends during the quiet bits of less familiar songs).


    At a Genesis concert in 2022, I would expect the latter would make up the vast majority.