GENESIS REVISITED II

Anybody who listens to this album expecting a genuine sequel to the unique Genesis Revisited will be sorely disappointed. You won't find any Firth of Fifth, Los Endos, or Fountain of Salmacis on here. All of the songs on here are essentially note for note covers. While Hackett does add a little bit of his own material (primarily classical guitar openings) to the originals, you will not be sorely missing out if you already have the original versions of the songs. Despite the note to note cover, there are some songs presented on this double album that give the original's a fresh, modern feel to them.

Due to how many songs there are and that so many of them are note to note covers, I will only be mentioning those that I felt were better (in some sense) to the originals and those which I prefer the originals over the newer version.

The Chamber of 32 Doors would seem like an odd opener; a relatively unknown song from Lamb while the previous GR opened with the classic Watcher of the Skies. The song opens with a short classical guitar melody that gives a mysterious aura before going into the gentle, yet haunting piece. A good way to start the album.

Hackett gives us another classical guitar opening with Dancing With the Moonlit Knight. Surprisingly, it works very well and does not distract from the iconic a cappella opening. The song is able to bring the stellar energy and the tender elegance of this classic to the modern ears. An absolute joy to listen to every time.

The Musical Box, probably one of the most iconic progressive rock (and Genesis) songs, suffers greatly from the choice of vocalist. Nad Sylvan sounds too nasally and whiny and it really distracts from the song, despite how musically great it is. Why did Hackett keep Mikael Akerfeldt in only a couple of suites in Supper's Ready?

Hackett revives an old classic with Please Don't Touch. While I always considered the original to be a classic, it was always awkward to listen to because it would instantly fade into another song. Here, we get to listen to the song in all of it's strange glory without the fear of it segueing into something else.

Blood on the Rooftops is an example of when Hackett's classical guitar openings do not work. It seems tacked on and does not flow into the original opening, which unfortunately seems to bring the whole song down by making it a little too long.

Did you think Return of the Giant Hogweed was an energetic song before? It gets a double dosage of energy with this incarnation. The guitars of Hackett and Roine Stolt pump this song with a dose of energy that was hidden away in the original. At first, I did not enjoy Neal Morse's vocal performance. However, I felt that it matched the songs over the top nature, and quickly found myself enjoying it.

I have always thought one of Genesis' most beautiful songs is Entangled. Hackett brings this gem back and Jakko Jazzyk sings the song with such tenderness. Probably the only song on this album where I would not care if I never heard the original version again.

The interlude between Hackett's guitar and Bank's keyboards is what has alway attracted me to Ripples.... However, Hackett makes the guitar louder during the interlude and diminishes the keyboards, making the magical interlude lose some of its magic.

Another Hackett classic returns with A Tower Struck Down. The rock opening of the song is replaced with a suspenseful string orchestra before turning into the powerful and epic rock piece that the original was.

While Camino Royale is one of my favorite Hackett songs, I can't say that I enjoyed his reworking of this song. The jazz elements he adds to it just don't flow well with the song and distracts from the quirky charm the original song had.

This album is hard for me to rate. I don't think that it is essential or needed (since I'm assuming that if you bought this, you've probably listened to the originals), but I cannot say that you won't be missing out on some fine re-workings of classic pieces.

3.5 stars, but because I can see Hackett's love for these pieces shine through, I'll bump it up to four stars for the official rating.