THREE SIDES LIVE

I recently got this VHS from a friend, who had transferred it to DVD format. Its an interesting recording made during their Abacab tour (1981/82). But don´t be fooled by the title, since the track selection is not exactly the same as its namesake live album of the time. There are several tracks in common of course, but some are not complete and/or not shown during the concert: as it was fashion of the time, it looked more like a video clip, with bits being the soundtrack for sound checks, band members of stage, technicians tuning instruments and so on. Even radio interviews can be seen between songs (and sometimes, during the song). It really spoils what could have been a nice view of their concerts of that period.

Overall sound is good, but not excellent. The highlight is, definitely, In the Cage (Medley - Cinema Show - Slippermen), mot surprisingly the longest number, where they show how good they once were as songwriters and how they still could handle such complex material with ease. Of course all the performances are spotless, tight and strong, demonstrating quite well why the live line up of Collins/Banks/Rutherford/Stuermer/Thompson lasted until the very end.

If you like late 70´s/early 80´s Genesis,this is really something you should check out. Like others have said before, it would be very nice to have the full concert available in DVD, preferably including a few extra songs, with those backstage scenes and radio interviews thrown in as a separately bonus material in another part of the menu. That would have make it at least a four star video and an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. As it is, however, it´s good, but non-essential.