THREE SIDES LIVE

Genesis third live album shows the transitional period when pop and prog tendencies were quite balanced in the mix. The music was becoming more and more radio friendly, but still they retained enough prog leanings to make a difference form most bands of the time and the resulting sound is quite interesting. The orignal vynil record had three sides of live songs (hence its original title) and one side of studio recordings. I remember at the time when it came out I liked it very much. In fact I like it more than Seconds Out, becuase Seconds... meant to me the end of an era and it had a bitter taste, even if the playing and the song selection were excellent. GAbriel was sorely missing then.

Three Sides Live on the other side showed Genesis taking confortably their pop seats. Sophisticated pop, indeed, and it seemed somehow appropriated for that time. The songs may sound odd nowadays, but they are still very good and cannot be discarted as pure commercial stuff. In fact, these early 80´s tunes are much more progressive than most of what Genesis did afterwards.

The sound is good, and they prove they could give the audience a fine show of instrumental virtuosity when they wanted (like in the meddley "In The Cage/Cinema Show"). They haven´t really forgotten where they came from and did not deny their past. Genesis simply had this pop sensibility all along. That´s why I think this album is quite convincing. Ok, they are a new band, not the old Genesis we wanted them to remain, but they´re very good anyway.

As for the studio tracks, they look a bit like leftovers from the previous albums like Duke or Abacab. Not par to their best stuff at the time but not bad songs either.

Conclusion: a very fine live album and a good showcase of Genesis at the beginning of the 80´s. Recommended for non radical Genesis fans and anyone who likes the good, more accesible side of prog music.