THE MAMA TOUR

The opening is very impressive with some early use of good 3D graphics on those shapes, while also starting with Abacab, good starting point, even though this isn't my favorite version of this song, the bass sounds really good yet i preffer the Invisible Touch version because of its higher tempo... 3 live video recordings of Abacab?!? That song was very lucky unlike the ones that got shafted from this video and most concert videos from Genesis.

I like the banther done by Phil during this tour, it might get cringy at points but i really like how he messes with the audience, after him doing that we go into That's All another song featured on the next tour, how lucky. At the same time, if you have read my updated review on the "Genesis" album, i said that i liked the solo, a little, well, it doesn't look particularily fun to play now that i watched this again, the solo done by Mike though, so much better than the original.

I like it when Genesis turns off all the lights and starts a drum pattern or an instrument alone, you know that something is going to hit you very soon, a very good way to start the song MAMA, for me it seems surprising that the drum base used live is different than the one in the original vinyl recording, i did a video about that, it's not up for now since i'm "remastering" it. Not a big fan of this song but i have to recognize that the drums and piano would've been sick to hear live at that time, also, Daryl and Mike do much more with the bass and guitar respectively and this version doesn't fade out, this is probably the best version of this song.

Illegal Alien is so much more fun live, from the stage act to the end, this song is a banger. I laughed so much when i heard "Owner of a Lonely Heart" coming from "The Group Radio", also, electri-accoustic guitars??? The road-crew taking part on the stage was really fun. Home by the Sea has the "Audience Participation Time" wich includes some original small instrumentals like Tony "bumping" a note on his keyboard to represent a poltergeist pushing an object... VERY COOL, this is not my favorite version of this song live, the effects are not there yet, same with the cool musical additions done in the IT Tour.

What an odd choice to have Keep It Dark in this VHS since the song wasn't played in all the Mama Tour shows, still, nice to see them play this clusterf^ck of a song, yet this doesn't beat the studio version, also, this one goes into It's Gonna Get Better, another one that's not a favorite, this version features some added effects like a slap, some added piano notes to make this song prettier and a guitar solo at the end, but its also slower for some reason wich i don't like very much.

IN THE BLOODY CAGE, it's funny because the next night the same dude that screamed "Bloody Cage" was in the audience and Phil said "Not Again!!"... About this medley, it was created on the Duke Tour, i think, then perfected on the Abacab tour and this one is where they hit it, this is the perfect version and the recording is so good, you have no idea how many times i have watched this medley. The lights are top notch here, Phil is using a leather jacket to celebrate the 10 years of The Lamb, then the transition, the playing is so good, you can see Phil doing that to the drums, screaming, Tony not failing a single note, Mike playing the bass SO hard... it's beautyful, can't recomend this enough, just watch the damn thing in its entirety, you don't need to keep reading this, go watch the BLOODY CAGE now, even if you watched it like 10 minutes ago, just go!

After that aweosome spectacle, there's a Drum Duet, very technical that sadly gets cut before going into Los Endos to start the dreadful Turn it on Again Medley, i know that its pocking fun or whatever but i just can't listen or watch it, those songs played aren't good and are boring, its very dissapointing really.

So there you have it, if you want to watch the most fresh out of the box versions of songs from the Genesis album, this could be for you, but for me the only real redeeming qualities out of this are weirdly enough Illegal Alien for the fun and THE BLOODY CAGE for its epicness. It's very conflicting, the BLOODY CAGE is a 5 star ranking, while the rest is probably a 2 or a 1, I'll give it a 3 out of 5 stars, i think that its fair.

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