Three Sides Live

Performer: Genesis
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: All tracks have been digitally remastered. Genesis: Mike Rutherford (guitar, bass, background vocals); Tony Banks (keyboards, background vocals); Phil Collins (drums, vocals); Additional personnel: Daryl Stuemer (guitar, bass); Chester Thompson (drums). Genesis's third live album finds the group at a major turning point. The group had just released ABACAB, successfully trimming its musical fat and turning the corner from post-prog to avant-pop. Overt commerciality hadn't yet set in, so the balance between art and pop was just right on this 1982 release. Naturally, the album leans heavily on ABACAB and DUKE material. From the reggae-ish lilt of "Me & Sarah Jane" to the minimalist electro-rock of "Abacab," it's a pleasure to hear the group exulting in its newfound sound, seemingly free of prog-rock trappings and able to venture into new rhythmic territory. Fortunately for Genesis diehards, though, the group's prog-rock legacy doesn't fade away so easily. Even in the '80s, the in-concert Genesis was still master of the complex art-rock epic style that first brought the group acclaim. Accordingly, the band tackles some of the most structurally sophisticated tunes from its Gabriel-era back catalog, including "Watcher of the Skies" and "The Fountain of Salamacis." Thus, Genesis proves capable of embracing the new without forsaking the old.

One of the seminal progressive rock bands, Genesis began in the late-'60s as post-Beatles visionaries with a taste for orchestrated pop melodrama, but quickly mutated into purveyors of ambitious, classical-tinged art rock. After flamboyantly theatrical vocalist Peter Gabriel left (eventually followed by guitarist Steve Hackett), the group gradually turned toward more accessible material under the stewardship of singing drummer Phil Collins. By the '80s, Genesis had become an unstoppable hit-singles machine. Meanwhile, both Gabriel and Collins went on to lucrative solo careers. The band called it a day in 1997, shortly following Collins's departure, but reunited a decade later for a major world tour.

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