THREE SIDES LIVE

This video was filmed during the "Abacab Tour" in late 1981, but the live versions included here are different to the live versions which were released in the "Three Sides Live" double L.P. album in 1982. It was good for me to see this video, but I was disappointed. Genesis plays very good, but the "continuity" of the concert was marred by the " interruption" of some songs by the inclusion of fragments of interviews with Banks, Collins and Rutherford. So, some songs were cut in the middle. But other songs are complete, like the Medley of "In the Cage /Cinema Show / Slippermen / Afterglow". But my favourite song from the "Abacab" album, "Me & Sarah Jane" was cut in the middle. Other songs, like "Duchess", were marred by the inclusion of images of the "tour crew" doing their jobs before the concerts, like tuning keyboards, etc. Maybe the main intention to release this video was to promote the band for a new public, so they included the interviews for this purpose. I hope to see this video released in the DVD format, with "full songs", and with the interviews left out or simply put at the end of the concert images.There are some funny things in this video, like seeing Mike Rutherford playing Phil Collins`drum kit (with Chester playing his drums) on "Who Dunnit?".

Note: This is a personal experience. It may not relate to you .

I fully agree with what colleague collaborator Guillermo has put about this video. I also was disappointed with this video (mine is Laser Disc version) not with the performance of the band but it's more on very poor sound quality - it does not produce hi-fi sound: the treble and bass are lousy, the mid-range is not clear at all. This video came out right after my disappointment with their latest release at the time: "abacab" as follow- up to excellent Duke album. Musically, nothing wrong with abacab if we never knew before that this group was one of pioneers of prog rock altogether with KING CRIMSON, ELP, YES, PINK FLOYD,etc. If we only knew that this band is a typical pop band then it would be OK. But, if I remember how brilliant this band crafted "Supper's Ready" in Foxtrot album or the legendary "Firth of Fifth" in "Selling England by The Pound" album and dozens of other prog tunes by the band, it was disappointing.

When this video came out I was still studying engineering at ITB, Bandung, West Java and Genesis was a very BIG name there because our local band Cockpit did a great cover of even complex Genesis tunes like Supper's Ready or Can Utility and the Coastliners or Firth of Fifth. Cockpit is fabulous in doing cover for Genesis. And when they performed Firth of Fifth it had always been performed completely with the piano introduction and it was 99.99% close to original studio version. The keyboard player: Rony Harahap is really a virtuoso. He can emulate whatever Tony Banks is doing! My friends at ITB knew me really well that I was in love with Genesis because I went to campus with Genesis Tshirt that my friend Nala (where is he now?) who studied design at ITB specifically designed a Genesis T shirt for me. Even my signature using the G initial similar to Genesis "three sides lives" until now! (I only once changed my signature in my life and it did happen when I was deeply in love with Genesis and my regular day- to-day reading mandatory was Armando Gallo's "I Know What I Like" - oh .. where is it now?). Well, I have had great memories about Genesis. It seemed like Gabriel's breathing was very damn close to my ears and I kept singing any lyrics wherever I went, like "Walking across a sitting room .." Oh man .. What a great song! Or "I got sunshine in my stomach ."..

So, when this video hit Bandung, my colleague rockers had a yell like this: "I held the book so tightly in my hands ." exactly with the same energy as Phil Collins sing in Behind The Lines. This song opens the video energetically so whenever we watched it together, everybody in the room sung along with Phil Collins. Oh . what a great rocking vibe at the time - we even forgot about our engineering study! (Even we philosophically challenged ourselves at the time: why did we choose engineering as our major? Why not studying music and making such a great music like Genesis had done?). Duchess is like an integral part of Behind The Lines and we all enjoyed it singing together.

The real ecstasy that we all experienced was the performance of In The Cage. Oh man . all of us who watched the video together did a head-banging especially during interlude where Tony Banks keyboard gone crazy with rapid-fire keyboard solo continued with Cinema Show and The Colony of Slipperman. WOW!!! What I also remember vividly was the lyrical expression by Phil Collins where he sung "Keep falling on my head Keep falling on my head - keep keep falling on my head". And when Collins looks after the drum stools, all of sudden everybody in the room was becoming a drummer or keyboard player. . What a memorable event .. We rocked the world at the time! We hoped the pulse of our energy at the time spread all over the world from Bandung . Keep on proggin' .!

Progressively yours,

GW - Review #320

This would have been an incredible progrock experience if it had only consisted of track # 8 and 9, at these moments we can witness the magic of Genesis during the thriling blend of "The lamb .." and mid-Genesis, what a creativity, ideas and skills. Unfortunately Genesis decided to include also material from The Eighties, what a musical disaster! It's really embarrasing to analyse the huge difference between the abovementioned highlights and the later material, what a creative poverty (besides some interesting moments)!!

Three Sides Live epitomised all that was good about the changing Genesis. Capitalizing on the success of the Second's Out film release ( Where Oh Where has that gone!!!), Three Sides Live was released a few years later incorporating a few more studio releases up to the Abacab album. Great interviews, music instrument setup, insight to the often unrealized road crew, even some whacky radio call in's to Phil Collins. Musically not bad at all. Genesis always were masters at replicating studio sound on stage. The strongest aspect of this video was seeing the youthful looking Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson as well as Genesis members still in their prime. Visually best songs were Bank's favourite ' Duchess', the highly underrated and ending to the song ' Abacab'.' Afterglow' also a great version. Weaknesses: no ATTWT material! Still a solid three and a half stars.

I recently got this VHS from a friend, who had transferred it to DVD format. Its an interesting recording made during their Abacab tour (1981/82). But don´t be fooled by the title, since the track selection is not exactly the same as its namesake live album of the time. There are several tracks in common of course, but some are not complete and/or not shown during the concert: as it was fashion of the time, it looked more like a video clip, with bits being the soundtrack for sound checks, band members of stage, technicians tuning instruments and so on. Even radio interviews can be seen between songs (and sometimes, during the song). It really spoils what could have been a nice view of their concerts of that period.

Overall sound is good, but not excellent. The highlight is, definitely, In the Cage (Medley - Cinema Show - Slippermen), mot surprisingly the longest number, where they show how good they once were as songwriters and how they still could handle such complex material with ease. Of course all the performances are spotless, tight and strong, demonstrating quite well why the live line up of Collins/Banks/Rutherford/Stuermer/Thompson lasted until the very end.

If you like late 70´s/early 80´s Genesis,this is really something you should check out. Like others have said before, it would be very nice to have the full concert available in DVD, preferably including a few extra songs, with those backstage scenes and radio interviews thrown in as a separately bonus material in another part of the menu. That would have make it at least a four star video and an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. As it is, however, it´s good, but non-essential.

'Three Sides Live' is a concert film featuring Genesis that was released after their live album of the same title. This DVD doesn't use all of the material that was included on the live album as it only contains footage from Genesis' 1981 Abacab Tour, as well as interviews, tour bus and backstage footage. If you want to read more about my thoughts on the live performances themselves, read my review of 'Three Sides Live,' the live album. In this review, I will mainly talk about the visuals and how it affects the music.

I like how there is a video of Mike Rutherford saying something along the lines of, "You're jamming and all of a sudden, there's a spark," which then explodes into "Duchess," which is one of my favorite Genesis songs. The lighting during "Dodo / Lurker" complements the dark music well. A radio show with Phil Collins leads into "Abacab." The video for this song showcases Mike Rutherford's guitar playing. After the song ends, the video transitions back to Collins at the radio show and he answers questions from fans calling in. He doesn't appear to be particularly enthusiastic to be there, which is understandable; touring is a grueling endeavor. No Reply at All isn't the same without the Earth, Wind and Fire horn section, though Daryl Stuermer does a good job of playing the horn parts on his guitar.

Then, there is a radio interview with Phil Collins, and the interviewer asks some really odd questions. I have a feeling she didn't know the music of Genesis well. This then leads into a live performance of "Who Dunnit?" which wasn't featured on the live album, and I understand why. Watching this song is like experiencing a fever dream, but it's actually quite funny. Phil Collins is wearing what looks like a scuba mask and sings into a microphone that is bent sideways. Mike Rutherford is playing on Collins' drum kit with Chester Thompson playing on his. You can't make this stuff up. I know many Genesis fans who claim that "Who Dunnit?" is the worst Genesis song, but I strongly disagree. It's very entertaining. The video for the "In the Cage" medley demonstrates visually the exceptional musicianship of each of the five members. The medley ends with the instrumental passage from "The Colony of Slippermen," which bleeds into "Afterglow." This is my favorite moment of the DVD. All the viewer can see is the silhouettes of the band members as they are consumed by dry ice, which makes the song even more majestic when seen in a live context. There is then an interview where the band essentially talk about how they have changed musically since 'Duke.' "Turn It On Again" is a fun song to end the DVD.

In conclusion, 'Three Sides Live' is a good, but non-essential DVD from Genesis. Musically, the DVD features mostly material from 'Duke' and 'Abacab.' If you like the early eighties period of the band, you will love this DVD. I wish that all of the interviews were used as extras rather than interspersed throughout the concert. I also was a bit disappointed by the song selection, but then again, I'm not the biggest 'Abacab' fan. 6/10