Ok... With fresh eyes this isn't too bad. There are more complete songs than my initial impression was. In the cage/afterglow is actually complete, which is a bonus. It is still very disappointing to me that most tracks are interupted, but if you view this release as a documentary with some music it is quite good. There are radio interviews. There is a particularly interesting interview after afterglow and halfway through me and sarah jane, and after about thirty seconds of man on the corner, that covers what was happening with them, writing songs, and how they all feel about it . As I say, it works as a documentary with music .. but i am more about concerts. I do enjoy when there is an added documentary to a separate concert video. So my damning statements up there are probably a little OTT, but I was so hugely disappointed when i got the movie box and was looking forward to seeing the footage connected to my favourite Genesis live album and it was what this is. I mean, even most of the full songs have video completely disconnected from the stage ... it is a good video, but terribly frustrating to me.
I received the US version of Three Sides Live as a gift a few months after it was released. It was the rare live album where I actually preferred some of the live versions to the studio originals. I haven't heard most of the album in years; I've never replaced my old LP with a CD version; consequently, I've never heard the fourth side of the UK version. I've also never seen the video. We've already discussed the non-UK studio tracks, which were a big plus for me when I first had the album, even though I had already bought the US "Paperlate" 45 (with "You Might Recall" on the b-side) about 6 months before I had the 3SL album. My recollection is that I found this to be the best officially released Genesis live material at the time, comparing it only to Genesis Live and Seconds Out. Certainly there are also some individual live tracks from the two Archives box sets that are among the best officially released live recordings the band has ever produced (versions of "Ripples" from 1980 and "Your Own Special Way" with an orchestra come to mind), but of the first three official live albums, I think 3SL has more definitive live versions than the other two do - and that's not counting the fourth live side, which I've never heard. A big advantage is that Phil's drumming is just so much more impressive on 3SL than it is on GL or SO. These recordings really show him off as the virtuoso that he was, whereas the earlier live albums seemed to be more keyboard dominated. Tony's obviously very talented, but of all of the members of Genesis, past and present, the only one who was absolutely world-class on his instrument(s) was Phil, and 3SL puts the spotlight on him.
But it wasn’t a bootleg so it just looked like a cop out to me. This was the sort of thing that reinforced how I felt towards the music. Seconds Out and Genesis Live had great front sleeves and in comparison this said ‘we can’t be bothered - we’re just chucking this out’ - I have no idea why they went down that route. I guess it saved paying top rates to a professional photographer though.
At this stage I don't think money is any kind of issue. I get the impression especially after just watching the 3 sides live movie (without the shock of the songs being chopped for interviews) that this was a visual representation of the fact that they were, and wanted to strip everything back. Whether anyone likes what they were doing seems somewhat irrelevant in light of the fact that they were doing what they wanted to do. In spite of all the claims of sell out and what have you, the deeper I look at what happened, the less feasible that actually is. They explain quite clearly that they know they were changing and give good reasoning as to why. They explain how they were enjoying learning the production side of things, which makes sense as they had obviously moved more towards experimenting with sounds rather than chords and structures. They go into detail about why they are writing the way they are, and how that manifests itself. It is really very interesting .... When we look at the music on Abacab and balance it with its cover. It is almost as if they have moved Romantic period art, to more an art-deco type thing (for want of a way of describing it. Abacab doesn't have characters or cartoons on it, it is a series of colours formed in such a way as to be somewhat visually interesting and appealing. The music somewhat reflects that with it also being stripped back and colourful, in a more stark way than a decorative way ... (I hope this is coming out right, it makes sense to me lol) ... It is more a case of standing back ..... let me try and describe what I am saying with two pictures, because maybe I am just tired but I am finding it hard to put in words correctly. They kind of went from this Which is intricate and contains so many elements, that it is difficult to take it all in .... (interestingly in that interview - and this is a paraphrase of sorts - they said that it used to be a case of - Mike would come in with his wall of sound, and Tony would come in with his wall of sound, and Steve would come in with his wall of sound, and Phil would put his wall of sound underneath all that, and then Peter would come in with this thick, rich voice, and everything was fighting for space in the song/picture) that kind of describes what I see here. I like it, quite a lot actually, but it is very busy, it has a somewhat overwhelming feeling in some ways and it is impossible to focus on the whole really. You find yourself drawn to looking at the detail rather than the painting .... if that makes any sense...... and they slowly moved to this (and interestingly to me, Lamb Lies Down seems to have been the catalyst, although trick and wind still hold a certain amount of pre-Lamb style) More focused on a particular thing, than throwing the kitchen sink in ..... Both ways of doing things are interesting, and both ways of doing things are appealing, but the focus is changed. Anyway.... that whole waffle there came from me saying that I think the cover of 3 sides is, to me, merely a case of part of that stripping back of the detail. It also has the Led Zep iv idea of making something whereby people should be focussed on the music...... Sorry for going on so long, my train was racing down the tracks. Anyway I love both pictures and I love the early and the late Genesis, and I see the pictures representing the differences in a way.
I like the cover its very distinguished, you can spot the record far away and immediately know its 3SL. Sure they could slap another Armando Gallo photograph on the cover, but they've done that on the previous two live records, why copy yourself? It also follows the trend they followed with the Abacab cover. And of course you still have an amazing photograph in the gatefold.
Got this last night - actually, before I knew we were covering Three Sides Live, now if I could only find Foxtrot, Selling England, and Lamb that'd be everything up to self titled - but anyway, when my friend picked this one out of the bin, I knew immediately what record it was, the cover is fine enough for me - but the music is where it's at, from the legit Genesis releases this one is probably... second for me, I love the raw energy of Genesis Live plus there's a lack of great Gabriel recordings, where Seconds Out gets... well, TKOd by literally most of the concerts they did during 76/77 that are out there, it's great but there's better options. This one is really great simply for it's track list and feel - it never feels like it's going on a bit too long, and it has the number one version of In The Cage (sorry) which makes it essential for me. The tempo speed up and the medley work to incredible results and the entire thing sounds like a Tony Banks fever dream topped with some Afterglow... mmm. Oh and we get one of the best album tracks on here too, the great track Me and Sarah Jane - I love this live version, Phil's vocals feel really on the spot and genuine. And the title track, that synth drop Tony does right after the last vocal bit is so great. He just plays some atonal keys on his Prophet and it makes it sound way cooler... plus Rutherford shreds for even longer and the ending, man it's amazing - I'll shut up but, calling this essential if you like the other records before it or if you're not a purist but still love In The Cage, just with all the members on cocaine this time, at least it feels like it.
I get where you are coming from Mark and I accept fully that the band were changing, as indeed was I as a consumer. As I said in my first post they weren't going to get me to buy this new album in 1982 whatever they put on the front - but I might have felt differently about them as a band had they put more effort into their sleeve, you know, respected them more. You have to realise that Genesis were at one point my favourite band and while I know they had to change from being Prog Gods to something else, what they changed into wasn't really my thing or at least there was not enough of what was my thing to keep me interested enough in buying their stuff contemporaneously. I didn't dislike Genesis, just felt like they'd gone in a direction that wasn't really for me - there are other layers to this of course - the commercial success (with what, to me, was lesser material) would have been a factor, the over exposure of Collins another. But for every one of 'me' they lost, they gained hundreds of newbies and as these people were helping to stoke the Genesis machine and the band were putting in the hours through bigger and longer tours this gave them the confidence to carry on in this vein. Contrast this with their reaction to CAS. The minute the fans disappeared they pretty much packed it in. I recall Banks saying he didn't want to go back to playing smaller places to build up a following. Understandable but another cause of regret for me who was hoping, just a little bit, that with a new different voice to listen to, I might find something of interest in their next album. Its difficult to portray the full picture here to describe my feelings about Genesis over the years and which has changed to an extent in retrospect (in that I have less of an issue with most of their pop material than I had back in the day) but that feeling I experienced in 1979/80 of having to move on is as strong today as it was back then. I know it was the right thing to do. I hope that all makes sense.
It's not a bad cover and it carries on the simple and abstract approach introduced with Abacab. I feel the stripped down approach matches the musical content actually. A flourished, detailed and evocative image like the one used before, or even an overcrowded one like ATTWT wouldn't serve the content well, IMO.
I love that concert film, warts & edits & all. Could it be better? Yes. Some folks adore the Mama tour video, which I totally don't understand. Oh, well. 3SL & it's video is/are a great live album!
Like I say, my reaction was based on a "wow the video of my favourite Genesis live album. Watching it yesterday, yes, I could see myself watching it again. On my first initial watch, no, I was never going to watch it again. Again, this all ties in with my want to do the thread in the first place. Re-evaluate where I am with these guys, not where I was. We'll get to the Mama tour .... I'm not even going to say anything til I've rewatched it lol
Turn It On Again As with most Live albums, we get the swell of crowd noise and here we get a palm muted guitar/bass? signalling the beat. This is held for a bit, and then the keyboard hits, and then we hit the song proper as we launch into that great riff. The band immediately sounds pumped up. Much to a lot of people's relief, I imagine, we don't have any medley, just the song proper. Phil is belting the vocal out, like a fully fledged rock singer and the band is just pumping. I like the finish they put together for the live version also.
TIOA is a great opening number, gets the show going and the crowd ready. Some complain about Phil's vocal "ad libs" near the end, but he delivers them with such a crazed passion that it emphasizes the concept of the song where the guy has totally lost touch with reality and lives in his world of television. The band is tight - Chester Thompson is exactly on point with the unusual rhythm of the song, Mike and Darryl complement each other perfectly but the music here belongs to Tony. His playing is perfect, as usual. I also really like the coda they came up with for the live version. These guys understood how to construct a great song and how to plan a great concert version. The musicianship and professionalism is here in spades, and luckily, that intangible quality of the band becoming something greater than the sum of their parts is very strong.
It's amusing to see that Phil considered the Groucho Marx t-shirt and decided to go with the "just back from the gym" look and go topless.
actually .. it's interesting that you mention the vocal adlibs .... It has been somewhat weird to me the amount of folks visibly annoyed about the way he vocally adlibs. To me it is a percussionist doing what a percussionist does, mixing up beats, adding little percussive fills, and I have never really thought anything but that.... but I guess it never annoyed me personally
Oct 30 1981 Frankfurt Behind the Lines Play Video Duchess Play Video The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Play Video Dodo/Lurker Play Video Abacab Play Video The Carpet Crawlers Play Video Me and Sarah Jane Play Video Misunderstanding Play Video No Reply at All Play Video Firth of Fifth Play Video Man on the Corner Play Video Who Dunnit? Play Video Cage Medley In the Cage Play Video The Cinema Show Play Video Afterglow Play Video Turn It On Again Play Video Dance on a Volcano Play Video Drum Duet Play Video Los Endos I Know What I Like Dec 18 1981 Wembley Behind the Lines Play Video Duchess Play Video The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Play Video Dodo/Lurker Play Video Abacab Play Video The Carpet Crawlers Play Video Me and Sarah Jane Play Video Misunderstanding Play Video No Reply at All Play Video Firth of Fifth Play Video Man on the Corner Play Video Who Dunnit? Play Video Cage Medley In the Cage Play Video The Cinema Show Play Video Afterglow Play Video Turn It On Again Play Video Dance on a Volcano Play Video Drum Duet Play Video Los Endos I Know What I Like Nov 29 Nassau Behind the Lines Play Video Duchess Play Video The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Play Video Dodo/Lurker Play Video Abacab Play Video The Carpet Crawlers Play Video Firth of Fifth Play Video Man on the Corner Play Video Who Dunnit? Play Video Misunderstanding Play Video Me and Sarah Jane Play Video No Reply at All Play Video Like It or Not Play Video In The Cage Medley In the Cage Play Video The Cinema Show Play Video The Colony of Slippermen Play Video Afterglow Play Video Turn It On Again Play Video Dance on a Volcano Play Video Drum Duet Play Video Los Endos Play Video I Know What I Like
Well that's interesting in itself.... They opened the album and closed the video with Turn It On Again .... and it looks like it played after the In The Cage/Afterglow medley in the main set
I seemed to remember something like that. Possibly because of its "single power". It's still their most popular song it seems, go figure back then when it was still fresh. It puts the "out of the gym" look in perspective, though.
I never really viewed it as out of the gym lol I just figured he was hot It gets pretty warm on stage under all those lights
