Los Endos Starting with what I assume is a truncated version of the dual drummer thing (which I have always loved in all it's forms) we move into Los Endos. With a great deal of the song being a reflected version of Dance With The Moonlit Knight, just makes it work all the better here. A great way to end this great album.
Side 4 is great and I agree that "Cinema Show" is possibly the record's peak moment. Still I think that Side 2 should have been placed last, with "The Lamb/Musical Box" as closer. I'm not sure what you mean with that "Moonlit Knight" reference. Could you expand on that?
Honestly, I didn't grasp that you were referring to "...Volcano" which, by the way, should have been obvious. About "Los Endos": I like jazz-rock vibe of this instrumental and the "Volcano" riffs that are thrown here and there. The "Squonk" quotes, on the other hand, do not work very well IMO.
I know I'm in the minority here, but Trick was always my favorite Genesis album. Yeah, yeah, "Selling England is genius" and all that, but I connect much better with Trick than with the general Gabriel weirdness, tbh. I really need to be in the right mood for him. Yeah, I'm one of those rare progheads that loves Yes/ELP/Tull/Crimson/Rush/GG etc. but was just lukewarm on Genesis.
Seconds Out is a sublime live album. It took me a while to realize this. First heard it in 2013 long after having initially gotten deep into Genesis. The fat sound of the Moog Taurus pedals, the impeccable musicianship and the soulful vocal delivery of some of the Gabriel-era classics is sublime, the version of Supper's Ready is almost equal to the studio counterpart, and the keyboard sound on the album has that lovely, dusty, deep prog rock quality about it. Love the Visions of Angels and Stagnation teasers in I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)... But other than taking every little bit apart piece by piece and meander, I will just go with saying that the opening (hard and soft) of the album and Supper's Ready are the highlights. For a short while this was the only Genesis album I listened to. Still know it like the back of my hand... Thanks to many a commute. Own an old fatbox CD that sounds glorious.
I like this version of Supper's Ready a lot. There are bits which I like better than the original version (the Apocalypse section is an example). The Cinema Show is wonderfully performed, specially the rhythm section on the second part. Mike and the Phil/Bill partnership on the drums play with breathtaking passion and energy. Dance On A Volcano improved a lot compared to the studio version, I just wish they had played the entire piece before leading up to the Drum Duet which is in its best version here: shorter and heavier. As for Los Endos what a killer version!!! This is the track from the album that my neighbours listen to the most
I love the original "Cinema Show" in Selling England -- I'm particularly partial to the subtle, understated but incredibly dynamic drumming by Phil Collins in the original. However, I love the more flashy, two-drummers version in "Seconds Out" too so I'm kind of split with this one. This happens to me with many songs in "Seconds Out" where I kind of love the original as much as the live version in this album. What a great album! A brilliant conclusion of the peak years for Genesis (of course, IMO). I like a lot of the 3-man Genesis records but I thing they never again revisited the amazing peak of the 1973/77 years.
Mark, sorry, I know I've been all over the place in this thread these past few days. This happens to be my favorite album from my favorite thread! I'll try to chill out and leave some room for other people to comment in the next few albums
Not a truncated version. That is how that whole sequence was played. They expanded it with each following tour.
Seconds Out works best, I think, as an introduction to earlier material for Collins-singing-era converts. I got it in 1980, having bought ATTWT and Duke. For some reason, I thought Seconds Out was the first album without PG. Listening to it again... it does have a sort of low energy, which is a shame, especially as I like Phil's vocal's more than Gabriel's, so I do like like hearing Phil do the PG material, however he seems restrained. The whole album feels somehow restrained. It is the performance, the mix, the way they were miked?
To some degree I think Phil was still getting comfortable with the idea of being the frontman/lead vocalist. You can here he pushes more later, but yea, early on he holds back on the power ... unless at that stage it didn't have it as much. The voice is an instrument that needs training also I have no problem with it musically, but I can hear what you're saying
Speaking of the boots - there are a n I can't personally say for sure, but all it takes is a listen to some of the many quality boots from this era, and you know how extensively Seconds Out was scrubbed, tinkered with and overdubbed. There aren't any live shows I've heard that sound like Seconds Out - it's almost to the point where Seconds Out is a live album in name only.
In some interview (with the remixes, maybe?) Tony said as much. He said that Phil really didn't start sounding like a lead vocalist until And Then There Were Three or Duke...
Before the first couple of tours (1976/77), Collins probably had some basic fears and doubts about whether his voice could hold for a full tour, etc. He had no previous experience on that front. He probably held back a lot and consciously avoided screaming and pushing the voice too hard during those early tours. In addition, the classic Genesis material is quite demanding for a singer -- in terms of vocal range, key changes, etc. It's the kind of material that can make a singer very self-conscious IMO. If you add the Gabriel comparison factor into the mix, I find it almost unbelievable the Phil actually managed to pull it off so well.
Love love. LOVE Seconds Out. However it does seem odd to me that most of it was recorded on the Wind and Wuthering tour but only one song was taken from the album. Its too bad Hackett couldnt stick around to overdub some guitar on it though. Oh well, both parties did well to rectify that, however far into the future.
