THREE SIDES LIVE

'Three Sides Live' is an interesting Genesis live album, as it gleans live recordings from as early as 1976 to 1981. There's one recording from 1976, meaning that there is only one song on this live recording that features Steve Hackett. This is the first live album from the band to feature Daryl Stuermer, who is a fellow Wisconsinite (as I am) and a phenomenal guitar player. With the exception of the final track, which features Bill Bruford on drums, Chester Thompson (who previously played in Weather Report and Frank Zappa's band) plays drums on all the live recordings. The first half of 'Three Sides Live' contains songs from the band's three most recent albums at that point: '...And Then There Were Three...,' 'Duke,' and 'Abacab.' The rest of the album contains older material that date as far back as the 'Nursery Cryme' album. The main reason 'Three Sides Live' isn't as strong as 'Seconds Out,' the Genesis live album that preceded this one, is simply because the material isn't as strong.

The album opens with "Turn It On Again." Phil Collins' vocal performance is eccentric like it is on a song like "Who Dunnit?" which was released shortly before 'Three Sides Live.' Each time he repeatedly sings "turn it on again," I become increasingly annoyed. "Dodo," "Behind the Lines," "Duchess," "Me and Sarah Jane," and "One for the Vine" when performed live, don't deviate too far from their studio counterparts. The live version of "Abacab" is more energetic and musically interesting than the studio version. At times, it makes the original sound sterile in comparison. "Follow You Follow Me" also is more energetic.

The band changed the ending to "Misunderstanding", and I strongly dislike Phil Collins' vocals during that section. The "In the Cage" medley is magnificent as it contains not only "In the Cage" in its entirety, but it transitions into the 7/8 section of "The Cinema Show." Also included in this medley is the main melody of "Riding the Scree" and the keyboard solo from "The Colony of Slippermen." The live version of "Afterglow" on 'Three Sides Live' is just as majestic as the version on 'Seconds Out.' I found it odd that the band chose to include "The Fountain of Salmacis" in their live set at the time it was recorded for 'Three Sides Live.' Nevertheless, when I first saw the tracklist of this live album, I was excited to hear it, as "The Fountain of Salmacis" is one of my favorite Genesis songs. The song is performed with grandiosity, and Daryl Stuermer's guitar solo is outstanding. He shreds a bit more in his solo when compared to Steve Hackett's original solo, but I still really enjoy his interpretation. The song ends with two songs combined into one, both of which I was also surprised to see that the band performed in their live set at the time it was recorded: "It" and "Watcher of the Skies." The former is performed like the studio version, but when it bleeds into "Watcher of the Skies," the band only play the instrumental parts of the song. A strange way to close a live album.

In conclusion, 'Three Sides Live' is a good live album. I love most of what is found on the album, but there are some moments and songs that I'm not, let's just say, obsessed with like I am for the rest. I also think that the tracklist is very strange. The first half of the album contains "newer" songs and the second half contains older songs. In theory, this should provide a satisfying dichotomy between both halves, but I think the album could have been arranged better. There are two songs on 'Three Sides Live' that I think are superior to their respective studio versions. Those songs would be "Abacab" and "Afterglow." Overall, this isn't a live album I return to very often. To be fair, I don't return to live albums very often in general. Nevertheless, there are some excellent renditions of already excellent songs found on this live album that are definitely worth checking out if you haven't heard it already. 8/10