SUPPERS READY (GENESIS TRIBUTE)

There is precisely one reason to get this album; Kevin Gilberts masterful version of Back in NYC. Everything else on here hews far too close to the original sources (Firth of Fifth, Entangled) or tries to experiment without having the musical or artistic chops to carry it off (I Know What I Like). Some are just plain awful. Carpet Crawlers sounds not unlike the faux-operatic stylings of Antony and the Jonsons, with a forced vibrato to hide the fact that the singer can't hit a single note.

Also, many of the song selections are odd (For Absent Friends? Ripples?), even though I have to admit that there's something brave about picking late-period Genesis pieces if your intended audience is probably Prog heads. But if you do, why reel off note-for- note renditions of Mama and Keep it Dark? Both songs are very sparse in their original versions, and therefore lend themselves to much playing around. Imagine someone having the balls to reimagine Mama if it were on Nursery Cryme.

Yes, it is sad to say that the one flash of genius on this entire collection comes from a man who passed away far too soon. It's brilliant enough that it made the purchase worth it for me, second hand and cheap. But the rest of the album will never be listened to in this house again, except maybe as a warning example to someone planning a concept album.

Only four tracks deserve attention in this tribute album : "Firth of Fifth" by Over the Garden Wall, "Many Too Many" by Pete Bardens and "Entangled" by Shadow Gallery are good covers although they are very close to the original songs. Kevin Gilbert's version of "Back in N.Y.C." is more adventurous and really enjoyable. The rest of the album is easily forgettable.

Recording a Genesis Tribute is probably one of the most difficult but honourable attempts for a progressive band. The result would depend on the intention of the band that participates and, of course on the subjective expectations of the listener.

Personally, my expectations on a tribute like this are listening different versions of the original tracks, but with an intelligent contribution that does not insult Genesis composition. Besides, I consider that the tributing bands should be highly influenced by Genesis to perform tracks according to their style. All these personal expectations are partially accomplished in "Supper's Ready" Magnacarta Tribute. However, the tracks selection is fortuitous, indeed they does not represent the real Genesis contribution to progressive music. Let's take a look at the tracks one by one.

1. Watcher of the skies (8/10): An interesting effort lacking the finesse form Genesis but preserving the original essence in this emotive ambient that characterizes Robert Berry's music. This track has sound much neo-prog-like with plain vocals and solid bass lines.

2. Firth of Fifth (8/10): The main achievement of "Over the Garden Wall" is preserving the fresh and polish sound of Genesis in this classical-influenced composition where keyboards and acoustic guitar lead this classical performance in an awesome and wonderful way. Bank's solos are played in acoustic guitar and Hackett's solo is played in electric guitar with a metallic but still enjoyable sound. I'll penalize with one point less due to the lacking of a vocalist of Gabriel's calibre and another one less for the lacking of finesse. The rest of the composition remains the same but with harder drums. Good performance!!

3. Undertow (6/10): Great vocals, an interesting performance but I consider this track should not be included in this tribute. This track is boring and lacking the compositions of real progressive essence. Anyway decent track!!!

4. Ripples (10/10): Really wonderful work, not just for selecting this track but for preserving the lovely voice of Annie Haslam which is ideal in "Ripples". Obviously, the sound of this track reminds me Magenta with their particular neo-prog sound. No complaints at all!!!

5. Back in N.Y.C. (6/10): Decent performance but far away from the original track. This track is kind of experimental but still is enjoyable and interesting for open-minded people.

6. For Absent Friends (10/10): This is probably one of the most worthy tracks. Robert Sinclair has achieved what other bands couldn't; he preserved the original sound of Genesis but improved with new compositional lines with the particular acoustic sound taken from "Nursery Cryme" album. This track is so well-performed that when I listen to it, I can swear that the only thing that differs from Genesis is Gabriel's voice. Excellent performance!!!

7. Mama (11/10): Sorry to all 70's Genesis fans but this is the BEST TRACK OF THIS TRIBUTE ALBUM!!! This track convinced me that I needed to purchase this album. I've always been a huge fan of Magnacarta's bands especially Magellan which I consider one of the most innovative band in the progressive metal scene. I am sure that Trend Gardener should have listen to "Mama" from Genesis when defining its particular style. "Mama" from Magellan is a track with the sound of "Hour of Restoration" with powerful rhythm guitars, hard drumming, precise percussions, solid bass lines, and intense keyboarding. The voice of Gardener is exceptional and their metallic sound are a real great contribution. I may not be a great fan of the original track but I can't deny that this was the basis for Magellan own sound. Mama is an attempt from Genesis to mix metal sounds with progressions. I don´t exaggerate when I say that this single track makes the purchase worthwhile!!!

8. Man of Our Times (10/10): Enchant is an art-rock band with a sound that mixes Rush influences with Duke's Genesis sound. Every time I listen to this track I can understand that "Duke" and particularly this track was determinant in Enchant's sound. This track has the exceptional keyboarding of Douglas Ott, the emotive vocals of Ted Leonard, and of course, the complex and delicious drumming of Paul Craddick. Excellent track!!!

9. Many Too Many: (6/10). This is a mediocre track that despite the great vocals of Nick D'Virgilio (who is the drummer in "Calling All Stations" album) there is no other important contribution. Personally I think this track should not be included because it doesn't represent an important contribution in a Tribute album. The sound of this track is very different from Genesis real contributions to progressive music. Anyway, a catchy ballad!!!

10. Entangled (10/10): Shadow Gallery is one of the most relevant bands that perpetuated the sound of late seventies Genesis and this is the exact track to be tributed by them. Listening to this track from Shadow Gallery is my own fulfilled dream. The acoustic guitar that has ever reminded me the sound in "Carved in Stone" album and the subtleness of Mike Baker's voice makes of this track a real must for any SG fan. The original sound of Genesis is still preserved with the same emotiveness.

11. Squonk (9/10) When you listen to "A Trick of the Tail" album this tracks comes after "Entangled" in the same order is in this tribute album, coincidence or no, I don't know but for me is a beautiful detail. This track is performed very well enclosing all the elements from Cairo: wide passages, soaring vocals, crystalline sounds, fine electric guitar solos, and solid bass lines. Very good performance!!!

12. I Know What I Like (In your Wardrope) (0/10). I just want to forget that I once listened to this track. This is the kind of things that I consider an insult to Genesis. This track is much more less than horrid and unlistenable. Just imagine a band trying to tribute without drums, narration instead of vocals and with a bothering techno sound. Terrible!!!

13. Carpet Crawlers. (6/10). I would have expected some that really held my attention but this track does not have it. An interesting but mediocre effort from this modern band!!!

14. Keep it dark (0/10). I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY ON EARTH THIS TRACK WAS INCLUDED HERE??? "Keep it Dark" is a terrible track from terrible Abacab album that is desperately repetitive and monotone. This is a terrible selection for a band like "World Trade" that can play good music, just like "Turn of The Century" in Yes Tribute. If they wanted to add a track from Abacab album they could have been select "Abacab" track which could provide the band with interesting guitar arrangements.

At the end of this album, I feel a deep emptiness since there are no tracks from "Trespass" that could be included like "The Knife" neither an excerpt from "Supper's ready" epic. By the way, if could focus efforts on middle-age Genesis material; indeed, there are very good tracks from "Wind & Wuthering" that could be included and the epic "Duke's Travel + Duke's End" could have been an elegant end.

CONCLUSION

This album is recommended for Magellan's fans like me that are eager for listening to their new version of "Mama". Also, recommended for curious fans of Magnacarta bands and open-minded Genesis listeners with modest expectations.

Not recommended for 70's Genesis fans that consider that this band died completely with Gabriel's departure, neither people that want to listen exact copies from the original versions.

Personally, despite a couple of unlistenable tracks I enjoy the rest of it a lot!!!

GOOD PROGRESSIONS!!!

iv always been a big fan of tribute albums because you get a totally different perspective, different arrangement, and different styles(i.e. genre, vocals, musicianship). the first track "Watcher of the Skies" starts totally different than the original and at first you fear that this album will head for a much softer approach to genesis it ends up sounding more like the original about three minuets into the song. "Firth Of Fifth" This song caught me by surprise, because it's very irritating when a band covers a genesis song(or any band) and attempts to copy the voice. in spite of the horrific vocal copy the musicianship is amazing nearly spot on. that being said the whole album follows the same formula, different version that eventually retains the original sound intended by Genesis or the exact music genesis intended. undoubtedly better genesis tributes exist such as "A Tribute to the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Rewiring Genesis (Nick D'Virgilio and Mark Hornsby). this album is not bad by ant stretch of the word, but when you compare it to the original it lacks any interesting quality's.

Few days ago I reviewed "Top Musicians Play Genesis" and mentioned this one as far better of the two. Now looking at the previous reviews & ratings I'm surprised about 2,2 stars average. The main fault seems to be the performances being too close to the originals. That's quite true, but still I'd say this is above the average level of tribute albums (not that I've heard very many). Track selection is fairly good and balanced, spread pretty evenly over the Genesis dicography except that the newest song is 'Mama' (1983). Does someone miss Invisible Touch or We Can't Dance songs here? Me neither.

Faithful soundalike attempts surely aren't the ideal thing on tributes. However, I don't have big complaints about the openers, ROBERT BERRY's 'Watcher of the Skies' or OVER THE GARDEN WALL's 'Firth of Fifth'. The vocals in the latter are a bad Peter Gabriel clone which disturbs me. DAVID HENTSCHEL (the Genesis producer!) with JAY TAUSIG on vocals do a good, and again, quite faithful, version of 'Undertow'. Fantastic ANNIE HASLAM from Renaissance is a perfect performer for 'Ripples'.

And as in the aforementioned "Top Musicians" CD, 'Back in N.Y.C.' is just a bad song to me even though KEVIN GILBERT does a good job with it. RICHARD SINCLAIR (of Caravan fame) gives a charming version of 'For Absent Friends', backed only by David Rees-Williams on keyboards. MAGELLAN's carbon copy of 'Mama' clearly loses to the powerful original, especially for the vocals. Sadly one of the worst Duke songs is represented, 'Man of Our Times', and the vocals resemble of bands like Toto.

'Many Too Many' is a pleasing one, sung excellently by Nick D'Virgilio from Spock's Beard, and so is SHADOW GALLERY's 'Entangled' or 'Carpet Crawlers' by the Brand X guitarist JOHN GOODSALL with MICHAEL ZENTNER on vocals. Again, these stick close to the originals but are fairly good nevertheless. CAIRO have chosen 'Squonk' and manage to add some new things in it. Probably my least fave here is 'I Know What I Like' by CRACK THE SKY. For a closer, WORLD TRADE (ie. Billy Sherwood on vocals, bass, guitar and keyboards) have chosen a surprising track from Abacab album but 'Keep It Dark' turns out to be interesting.

The leaflet kindly lists all the musicians and the cover art is nice. On the long run this isn't as clearly better than "Top Musicians Play Genesis" as I first thought, because there's so little originality in the performances. Therefor there aren't many songs I want to save to myself. Good, but non-essential.

Supper's not included!

Released in the same year as the Yes tribute album Tales From Yesterday and part of the same series of tributes to major progressive Rock acts of the classic era released by Magna Carta in the 1990's, this tribute to Genesis involves many of the same performers as the Yes tribute. As I mentioned in my review of Tales From Yesterday, these tribute releases from Magna Carta are special in that they do not only include a bunch of younger generation bands and artists paying tribute to their childhood heroes, but also involve some contemporaries and peers of the celebrated band itself. On the present album we find, for example, Peter Bardens of Camel, Richard Sinclair of Caravan, and Annie Haslam of Renaissance doing their versions of Genesis' music. These people's three respective numbers are actually among the most enjoyable even though the songs they are covering are not among Genesis more progressive songs.

Bands and artists that were also involved in the creation of the aforementioned Yes tribute Tales From Yesterday include World Trade, Cairo, Shadow Gallery, Enchant, Magellan, and Robert Berry - all of which were signed to the Magna Carta label at the time. I like several of these bands, but not all of them fit here. Shadow Gallery, for example, is an excellent band, but they are out of character on Entangled; they are just not right for that song.

With the exception Wind & Wuthering (which is my personal favourite Genesis album), every album from 1971's Nursery Cryme to 1983's Genesis are represented. In almost every case, it is the less progressive songs from the respective albums that are being covered. While I can only applaud that they don't ignore underrated, post-Steve Hackett albums like 1978's And Then There Were Three and 1980's Duke, most fans would certainly have preferred to hear more songs from the band's earlier albums at the expense of 80's numbers like Mama and Keep It Dark. I personally don't mind these latter two songs too much, but they are hardly among Genesis better songs or even the best songs from the albums from which they originate.

Supper's Ready is nonetheless a half-decent tribute album to one of my all-time favourite bands, but it is not as good as the Yes tribute Tales From Yesterday. (If you feel nostalgic for Genesis, you would be much better off with Steve Hackett's recent Genesis Revisited releases, especially the live albums).