SECONDS OUT

This album is a historical one in a few respects. It was to prove to be Steve Hackett's swansong in a band to which he had given so much. It was absolutely deliberately intended to mark an epoch in the band's career by providing fans with a definitive handover from the "classic" era to a new, simpler, era under the direction of the three remaining members. It was, also, the tour (combined with Yes Going For The One) that finally persuaded the late John Peel that prog was, as an artistic force, dead and buried, and he went on to champion the emergent punk rock movement.

Wow, that's a lot of history associated with just one double live album. But, does it live up to this in terms of performance? The answer is a resounding yes. This is THE definitive Genesis live album, although I would here mention the one gripe that I have with this, and other official live releases by the band, and that this also has barely any interaction between Collins and the audience, in the same way as the interaction by Gabriel in Live is minimal. In truth, of course, Collins was an excellent frontman, always telling stories, jokes, and inviting the audience to participate.

This, though, is a minor quibble. The album features five tracks from Trick Of The Tail and Wind & Wuthering, including quite easily the finest version of Afterglow ever committed to tape, and seven from the Gabriel era. Thus, it features a live catalogue of the band's career from Trespass to W & W. Yes, Trespass is included - listen to the instrumental passage within I Know What I Like, and you will hear the instrumental from Stagnation. The last tour still featured this, by the way.

Given that Suppers Ready was acknowledged by Gabriel to be his early period masterpiece in terms of one track (The Lamb being the successor in album form), it was a mighty brave thing for Collins to throw himself into it with such aplomb, and it is pulled off fantastically well. In addition to this, the closing section of The Musical Box pulls off the almost impossible task of beating the original live album for sheer intensity, scope, and emotion.

There is not a weak moment here. This is the sound of a band who have sweated blood over years to arrive as probably the finest live band in the world. This is also, by the way, the sound of the band at the precise moment when I fell in love with them, a love affair that remains to this day.

A pleasure to listen to from start to finish, and fully worthy of the ultimate accolade. Five stars for the one live album every self respecting prog collection should include.