2 Essential Albums By Genesis.

Even though I dont have these 2 albums combined but I have them both I think that this album shows a complete different style of Genesis. "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is a last album their lead singer Peter Gabriel appeared on and "Three Sides Live" is a live look at the band with their drummer/lead singer Phil Collins. When I first found "Three Sides Live" at my record store I was completly in shock.I remember that same night I found Hall And Oates:"Livetime" which is another you must get live album. When I first got "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" it was the first Genesis album I ever got with Peter Gabriel. When I first heard "Fly On A Windsheild","Broadway Melody Of 1974","Back In N.Y.C","The Carpet Crawlers" and "Lilywhite Lith" I thought Genesis was okay with Peter Gabriel because I liked Genesis with Phil Collins. Both of these albums are 2 great Genesis albums.

Always more to get!

I actually got these seperately, but they were original EEC import CD releases. I'm letting go of the ordinary U.S. LPs. We collectors know what we want when we see it! However, my copy of "Three Sides Live" has the five studio tracks instead of the last three live ones, which I copied from the other version.

Two fantastic--but very different--albums in one package

I'm stunned. Many versions of the mediocre "From Genesis to Revelation" are presently available, but the only way to get the incredible "Three Sides Live" album is in this pricy package.

If you can afford this, you will get two great 2-CD albums, each of which deserves five stars. "The Lamb", Peter Gabriel's last album with Genesis, is a progressive rock classic, a (slightly padded) surrealist concept album telling the story of Rael and his journeys in the underworld. This is one of those albums that at first listen has you going "what's so great about this?", but with repeated listenings, becomes a favorite. Genesis' playing isn't as showy as prog-rock peers like Yes and ELP (the only virtuoso musician is drummer Phil Collins) -- and as a result early Genesis takes a few listens to get accustomed to -- but the songs are just as original and musical. There's just too much on this album to discuss in depth here, from great singles like the title cut and "The Carpet Crawlers" to the menacing "Back in N.Y.C." (which foreshadowed the rage of punk, but in 7/8 time) to the teen-lust "Counting Out Time" (compare the lyric with Richard Thompson's "Read About Love", written 15 years later) to great instrumentals like "Fly on a Windshield" and "Riding the Scree".

"Three Sides Live" was recorded live on the 1980 "Duke" and 1981 "Abacab" tours, and is largely made up of songs from those albums. While the song selection on the 1977 live album "Seconds Out" is much better, nothing on that album was better than the studio albums. Here the band is performing lesser songs, but they play them SO MUCH BETTER than on the studio albums that I find "Three Sides Live" the most satisfying Genesis live album. The closing instrumental on "Abacab", which meandered listlessly on the studio track, is a highlight here, with great interplay between the musicians. Genesis has NEVER sounded as powerful as on the "Lamb" cut "In the Cage" and the following medley of synthesizer solos from "The Cinema Show", "Riding the Scree", and "The Colony of Slippermen". The original US release of "Three Sides Live" included an LP side of outtakes from "Duke" and "Abacab". This version substitutes three extra live tracks, of which the keeper is "The Fountain of Salmacis", a cut from the 1970 "Nursery Cryme" album. The other two cuts are nothing special. "One for the Vine", which is borderline ponderous at the best of times, is slowed down to a will-this-never-end crawl. There is also a medley of an abbreviated "it" and the instrumental close of "Watcher of the Skies", notable only because it was recorded on the "Trick of the Tail" tour, with Steve Hackett on guitar and Bill Bruford on drums.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)