THREE SIDES LIVE

Two (very) different track list according to the continent : the European version will consist only of live tracks while the US release will have a complete studio side but will be emasculated from the last live side of the European one which is IMO the best one with the wonderful "One For The Vine" and the fabulous medley "Fountain-It-Watcher". Since it was released in 82, this live sets is half made up of tunes from "Duke" and "Abacab". It is quite normal, since these were their last two studio efforts, but it is also normal that since those two do not belong to my preferred Genesis albums (Abacab being the absolute nadir of their carreer) I can hardly be over enthusiastic about the first CD. Out of CD one, only "Behind the Lines", "Duchess" and "Follow Me, Follow You" are good songs. So, let's go to CD two. The opener "Misunderstanding" which was a commercial success but one of the weakest number of "Duke" has quite unpleasant vocals at the end. By far the poorest number of disc two. Then, this album really starts : a stunning "The Lamb" meddley : the whole of "In The Cage" then excerpts of "Slipperman" interrupted by onother one from "Cinema Show". Just great. "Afterglow", one of their live anthem track of the era and a very, very, powerful and emotional crescendo song is rendered remarkably on this live album. It is the kind of song that give you the shiver when you listen to it. Fabulous. The last numbers of this live effort are just brilliant : at par with "Genesis Live" and "Seconds Out". One of their best song from "When They Were Four" era, is superbly rendered here : "One For The Vine" is a pure jewel (live or in studio). Then the fabulous medley (clocking at sixteen minutes and not ten as previously mentioned in anothe review) starting with the whole of "Fountain Of Salmacis" which is my second favourite from "Nursery Cryme". I have to admit that Phil's performance is brilliant. Then we get a short version of "It" which was the glorious finale for "The Lamb Lies Down"" and finally the closing part of "Watcher" which is truely FABULOUS. Only for these two tracks, you should get hold of the European version. The second CD is gorgeous (this one only would have reached five stars). If, like me, you are an old Genesis fan while they were four or five, the studio tracks from the US release will not add anything great to your Genesis collection. There are three songs that will take place on the boxset "Archive II" : "Paperlate", "You Might Recall" and "Open Door". A fourth one and the only good one is "Evidence of Autumn". There is also one unreleased song which is "Me And Virgil" : it sounds like a demo track and one understands why it remained unreleased. Believe me. This song is not mentioned though in the tracklist posted on this site. Little by little Genesis is losing stars in my rating of their live albums : five stars for "Genesis Live", four stars to "Seconds Out" and three stars for this one (European version).