Label: Inside Out Music
Release date: 30.06.2014
Album length: 120.24 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 9.5 / 10
Legendary guitar virtuoso Steve Hackett has decided to squeeze every last drop out of the ongoing ‘Genesis Revisited’ tour. “Genesis Revisited: Live At The Royal Albert Hall” is already his second official (double) live album from the same tour, following “Genesis Revisited: Live At Hammersmith”, and one more in a string of Hackett shows at England’s most prestigious concert venues. This time he played the aristocratic Royal Albert Hall, which was associated with extreme snobbery and elitism right up until the early nineties, when Keith Emerson (ELP) was finally allowed to play there after a years-long ban over burning an American flag. Still, even in traditionally conservative England, things are slowly turning for the better in places.
While all the former and current members of the English prog legends are busy with anything but Genesis (Peter Gabriel is reviving memories of the most commercially successful album of his solo career on his current live dates, Mike Rutherford is out on tour with his band Mike + The Mechanics, Tony Banks still swears by classical-leaning solo work with an orchestra, and Phil Collins is slowly creeping back out of retirement), Steve has done everything in the meantime to keep the legacy of the prog legends alive on concert stages too, and for that he deserves a really deep bow.
Past reviews and reports have already said plenty about Hackett’s ‘Genesis Revisited’ exploits, so there’s really no point in going on at length yet again about how this is an unrepeatable live experience that no fan of classic progressive rock should miss at any cost. Steve’s ambitious mission of reviving Genesis classics on stage was carried by his superb backing band, which in 2013 also featured bassist Lee Pomeroy (It Bites), while at certain shows around England a few prestigious musical guests kept him company too. This time they were John Wetton (Asia and UK), Ray Wilson (ex-Genesis, Stiltskin), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings and Transatlantic) and Amanda Lehmann.
At the Royal Albert Hall, a show marked throughout by a top-notch atmosphere, Steve’s in-great-spirits crew played an outstanding set that covered every Genesis album from 1971 to 1976. Singer Nad Sylvan sounds a lot like Peter Gabriel, while the winds, led by flute and sax courtesy of Rob Townsend, add a special pastoral and at times jazzy charm to individual classics, making for a very successful blend of the old and new approach to Genesis evergreens. It’s hard to pick out individual highlights on either disc of this spoiling live experience, since almost every Genesis classic at the Royal Albert Hall came off truly superb.
Still, among the most interesting moments of the night are the ones with special guests: the evergreens “Carpet Crawlers” and “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” with Ray Wilson on lead vocals, “Firth Of Fifth” with John Wetton on vocals, and “The Return of Giant Hogweed” with Roine Stolt on extra guitar. The weakest is the unforgettable power ballad “Ripples”, which with Amanda Lehmann’s guest vocals never quite lands its emotional punch. The other atmospheric peaks of this live document are the Mellotron feast “The Fountain Of Salmacis”, the epic magnum opus “Supper’s Ready”, the ethereal adventure “Watcher Of The Skies” and the traditional bombastic finale in the form of the unforgettable instrumental “Los Endos”.
Mr. Hackett has no intention whatsoever of stopping spoiling his followers. “Live At The Royal Albert Hall” is already the second superb official live album from the ‘Genesis Revisited’ tour. Let’s be surprised and allow ourselves to dream that his hugely successful ‘Genesis Revisited’ tour is a kind of warm-up for an imminent reunion of the classic Genesis lineup. The big question is what a live album by the classic Genesis lineup would sound like these days if they got back together, a thought most fans of the English prog legends have been toying with for almost four decades. The biggest question marks there are Peter Gabriel, who surely couldn’t sing certain classics the way most people expect of him anymore, and Phil Collins, who has been half-deaf for a long time and would have to relearn a ton of classic material from scratch. In any case, the final say on the set list should go to Steve Hackett, who to this day remains by far the most faithful keeper of the Genesis legacy, and for that he can be pinned with a special medal for absolute loyalty to his musical roots.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
CD1:
1. Dance on a Volcano
2. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight
3. Fly on a Windshield
4. Broadway Melody of 1974 (Vocals: Gary O’Toole)
5. The Carpet Crawlers (with Ray Wilson)
6. The Return of the Giant Hogweed (with Roine Stolt)
7. The Musical Box
8. Horizons
9. Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers…
10….In That Quiet Earth
11. Afterglow
12. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (with Ray Wilson)
CD2:
1.Firth of Fifth (with John Wetton)
2. Ripples (with Amanda Lehmann)
3. The Fountain of Salmacis
4. Supper’s Ready
5. Watcher of the Skies
6. Los Endos
Lineup:
Steve Hackett – guitar, backing vocals
Roger King – keyboards
Gary O’Toole – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Rob Townsend – saxophone, flute, percussion
Lee Pomeroy – bass guitar
Nad Sylvan – vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
John Wetton (Asia) – vocals
Amanda Lehmann – vocals
Ray Wilson (ex-Genesis) – vocals
Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) – guitar
