Flashback: Genesis Live


Words By Jon Irvin


This week on Flashback, I dive a little deeper into the catalog bringing you 1973’s Genesis Live. This isn’t your mid 80s Phil Collins Genesis that we grew up with, even though “Land of Confusion” was a pretty awesome music video. No, I’m going way back, into the depths of the beginning of the progressive rock age.

Before Genesis started to turn out radio hits one after another, their early days were a bit more complex. With Peter Gabriel at the helm, Genesis became one of the leading acts, following Pink Floyd, to dive into the multifaceted new genre, progressive rock. Long before Phish took us through Gamehendge, Genesis was the king of musical stories. With every show, the audience was taken deep into a mystical world created by Gabriel, rich with both ground breaking song structures and elaborate costumes and theatrics.


Genesis Live is the only live release to feature Peter Gabriel before departing on his highly successful solo career. The piece de resistance on the album is the opening song “Watcher of the Skies”, a song that was performed by Phish at Genesis’s 2010 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. The importance of Genesis on the music industry was echoed by Trey Anastasio during the induction speech:

"Rebellious, restless and constantly striving for something more... Every musical rule and boundary was questioned and broken... It's impossible to overstate what impact this band and musical philosophy had on me as a young musician. I'm forever in their debt."

www.genesis-music.com

Enjoy comparing these two videos!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Billy Strings 4.18.19