GENESIS REVISITED: LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

To get the Blu-Ray of this new show of Steve Hackett, I had to buy this extravagant box-set with Dvds, Cds and Art-Book. It fit neatly with my others culinary book.This is another gimmick from Inside Out to give you some video content if you want the Cds. This concert is much like the recent and previous one in Hammersmith London, with some different songs, like "Carpet Crawlers", "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", "Ripples" and "The Fountain of Salmics". My review will come only from the Blu-Ray, I won't listen to the others formats.

For Steve Hackett, the goal of this project is not to play the same notes, but as he says in the liner notes, to be authentic. Each player can bring their own touch as long as it doesn't betray the spirit of the originals songs. Steve Hackett brings some improvisations at the end of "Supper's Ready", "Ripples", Roger King add a short new passage in the song "I Know What I Like", but the most extreme addition, is the guitar solo of Roine Stolt in the remarkable song "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" where he brings his typical Flower Kings sound. Ray Wilson is guest on 2 songs and his voice fits perfectly in the song "Carpet Crawlers". Nad Sylvan is really comfortable in the singing department, even if sometimes he forced a little too much his voice. John Wetton sings in the song "Firth of Firth". "Los Endos" is played with the usual improvisation of any Hackett's concerts and with some passage of his solo material.

Apparently the sound mix of the Cds suffers from too much bass, but I didn't notice this with the Blu-Ray. This time the drum is not too loud like on the Hammersmith Dvd. There is some nice surrounding effects, you will hear what I mean with the guitars on the "Return of the Giant Hogweed". The picture quality is nice in high definition with plenty of visuals and animation on screens.

I would have changed a couple of songs, but it's impossible to please everyone with a band that has to choose songs from a rich catalogue. For those who are interested in documentary, there is a 40 minutes making of the show, which presents the musicians and show mostly Steve Hackett, who is in very good mood. So good that there is a album by album review interview of 1 hour.