SECONDS OUT

Seconds Out is a certain contender for the top 10 of prog live albums ever. Seconds Out was recorded shortly before Steve Hackett would leave Genesis and in doing so bereave the band of their strongest remaining prog asset.

It also two studio releases where Collins took the position as front man and even though these albums could not entirely convinced me; the live recordings here prove his grown confidence. Phil gives a solid performance on both his own and on the Peter Gabiel tracks. Quite an achievement. It is never easy to impersonate another voice, let alone that of an icon like Peter Gabriel.

The rest of the band is in fine form as well. Thompson fills Phil's shoes as if he never worn anything else and Bruford sounds as comfortable with Genesis as he did with Yes and King Crimson. Rutherford and Hackett don't miss a note and as usual Tony Banks brings in an excellent performance. More then 30 years after its release, his keyboards have aged very well and still sound fresh and inspiring. Something that can not be said about many of his contemporaries...

As far as I'm concerned this is an essential addition to the Genesis catalogue.