TOP MUSICIANS PLAY GENESIS

(With gratitude to a friend who lent me two Genesis tribute albums.) < The other one is called Supper's Ready and is by far better than this one, which neither is actually badly done. Maybe it's just so that tribute albums tend to be a mere curiosity, very rarely succeeding to have a more permanent listening value. You see, the usual fact is that one knows the originals by heart and probably doesn't even want to listen to them often, but they are so dear nevertheless that the covers tend to be either uninteresting soundalike attempts, or the differences can irritate the fan. In the case of Genesis there's one more problem: the big division into the old progsters who dislike the pop-era stuff and the later generation who may not be into classic prog. And that dilemma is central concerning this compilation of various artists.

The opening track is like a compromise: JOHN WETTON - an old school prog legend himself - sings 'Your Own Special Way', a simple ballad which originates from the prog era. It's OK, nothing special (oops), in fact quite the same soft pop approach as with Paul Garrack in Hackett's Genesis Files. THE FLOWER KINGS deliver a tasty, not-too-faithful reading of the lovely 'Cinema Show' (7:02). A pity that it fades far too soon, cutting off the whole instrumental tail. The next three tracks are aimed at the pop-era listeners. The artists ought to be really brave and innovative to make something interesting out of 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight', 'Tell Me Why' and 'In Too Deep', but they stick very close to the uninteresting originals.

G2ENESIS - I wonder how they pronounce it! - is a live tribute band specialized in Seconds Out Tour 1978. No doubt they are good at it, but a CD has different values, so their faithful live take 'Squonk' is nothing I'd return to. SHAUN GUERIN, whose own output shows strong influence from Peter Gabriel, has chosen my least enjoyed track from The Lamb, 'Back in N.Y.C.'. I dislike the original too, so it doesn't help that Guerin's version is technically good. BRAND X II's 'Can- Utility and the Coastliners' seems to have completely lost the spark of the superb original, especially in sound, and the piece feels far less progressive now.

CONTROLLED BLEEDING's 'Broadway Melody of 1974' includes also the instrumental section of 'Fly on a Windhield' and is one of the more valuable tracks here, even though the vocals are a bit too murky. I had high hopes towards JOHN FORD (of the Strawbs fame) doing 'Carpet Crawlers', but it didn't sound like what I expected (ie. earthy, airy, folky and fresh), nor were his vocals very recognizable in that totally non-folky arrangement.

DARXSTAR's 'Dancing With the Moonlit Knight' is here clearly the best example of an interesting and highly personal version done with big artistic freedom at the risk of pissing off the puritans. Just few of the numerous ideas of the fantastic original are used, and very freely anyway, and this chill- out track surely deserves repeated listenings. 'Los Endos' by PATRICK MORAZ & RONNIE CIAGO is an obvious enjoyment for most listeners, I think, featuring effective keyboards & drums firework.

The leaflet is rather poor, only 8 (of 12) artists are briefly introduced, and no full lists of performers at all. This was an interesting curiosity, all right, but I can't give more than 2 stars since the real goodies were so scarce.