"Passion: Music From The Last Temptation of Christ - A Film By Martin Scorsese" by PETER GABRIEL - June 1989 Soundtrack Album (2LPs or 1CD) on Real World Records featuring David Bottrill, David Rhodes, Manny Elias, Nathan East, Shankar, Baaba Maal, Youssou N'Dour, Billy Cobham, Jon Hassell, David Sancious and many more (June 2002 UK Real World Records/Virgin 'Limited Edition Mini Vinyl Compact Disc' CD Reissue - Tony Cousins Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...It Is Accomplished..."

 

How do you describe this Soundtrack masterpiece? Art Rock, Eastern Mysticism, Tribal Rhythms, Sand and Synths, World Music with some Folk and Finger Cymbals? 

 

I've loved Peter Gabriel's output since I was a geeky kid in the early Seventies and like most of my adolescent crew, we worshiped at the needs a wipe down feet of all things GENESIS. Albums like "Foxtrot", "Selling England By The Pound" and the glory of the double concept album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" in 1974 wre literally magical to my dandy danglers and I. After a shaky start in 1977 and 1979, his solo career veered into brilliance with 1980's "Peter Gabriel" (III) and 1982's "Peter Gabriel" (IV). And then came the wildly commercial "So" in 1986 that blew everybody away. His "Birdy" Soundtrack was good too (if not all great, truth be told) - but little prepared me for the epic sweep of "Passion". A few years back (2018), I bought the 3LP Remastered 45RPM Reissue just to have it and pet it and stroke it like a man needing medication in a hurry. 

Which brings me to this rather cool if not entirely satisfying CD Remaster from 2002 where PG reissued his catalogue as stand-alone Remasters in cool Mini LP die-cut card sleeves - minus any bonuses (mores the bloody pity), but still looking like a must own to yours truly. There is much to get Surdo, Duduk and Kemenche about (if you know what I'm saying Eastern Instrument hip types). So indeed let's get acquainted and accomplished...

UK released June 2002 - "Passion: Music From The Last Temptation Of Christ - A Film by Martin Scorsese" by PETER GABRIEL on Real World Records RWCDX1 - Virgin 7243 8 11787 2 0 (Barcode 724381178720) is a straightforward transfer of the 1989 2LP/1CD release onto a Series of 'REMASTERED: Limited Edition Mini Vinyl Compact Disc' Artwork that plays out as follows (67:04 minutes):

 

1. The Feeling Begins [Side 1 of 2LP set]

2. Gethsemane 

3. Of These, Hope

4. Lazarus Raised 

5. Of These, Hope (Reprise)

6. In Doubt 

7. A Different Drum

8. Zaar [Side 2]

9. Troubled 

10. Open 

11. Before Night Falls 

12. With This Love

13. Sandstorm [Side 3]

14. Stigmata 

15. Passion

16. With This Love - Choir

17. Wall Of Breath [Side 4]

18. The Promise Of Shadows

19. Disturbed 

20. It Is Accomplished 

21. Bread And Wine

Tracks 1 to 21 are the Soundtrack 2LP set (1CD) to "Passion: Music From The Last Temptation Of Christ (A Film by Martin Scorsese)" - released June 1989 in the UK on Real World Records RWLP 1 (Vinyl) and Real World Records RWCD 1 and Geffen GHS 24206 (2LPs) and Geffen 9 24206-2 on 1CD. Produced, Composed and Mixed by PETER GABRIEL (additional mixing by David Bottrill) - it peaked at No. 29 in the UK and No. 60 in the USA. Track 14 composed by Mahmoud Tribrizi Zadeh and Track 12 composed by Shankar.

PETER GABRIEL - Vocals, Synths, Bass, Whistle, Shakers, Surdo, Percussion Instruments 

Some of the Guest Musicians include:

ANTHRANIK ASKARIAN and VACHE HOUSEPIAN - Duduk

MUSTAPHA ABDEL AZIZ - Woodwind (Argul) 

DAVID BOTTRILL - Tambourine, Distorted Slide and Mixing 

BILLY COBHAM - Drums and Percussion (Tracks 9, 18 and 20)

COR ANGLAIS (Robin Canter) - Choir (Track 16), Oboe (Track 12)

NATHAN EAST - Bass  

MANNY ELIAS - Surdo and Percussion Instruments (Octabans, Skins) 

RICHARD EVANS - Tin Whistle (Track 21)

FATALA - Percussion  

JON HASSELL - Trumpet (Track 15)

NUSRAT FATAH ALI KHAN - Vocals (Track 15)

MANU  KATCHE - Percussion (Track 13)

BAABA MAAL - Vocals (Tracks 5)

YOUSSOU N'DOUR - Lead Vocals (Tracks 7 and 15)

HOSSAM RAMSY - Finger Cymbals, Tabla and Daf

DAVID RHODES - Guitar

DAVID SANCIOUS - Backing Vocals (Track 9), Sampler Keyboards (Track 12), Organ (Track 20) 

SHANKAR - Violin

 

The artwork for each of these 'Limited Edition Mini Vinyl Compact Disc' sleeves all looked the same, gatefold card sleeves with a CD and inner on one side and the booklet stuck into the other. Each right flap however has a die-cut look that is unique, reflecting the LP in question - a '4' for Peter Gabriel 4, '3' for Peter Gabriel 3 and so on. Here you get two curved semi-circles. The inner sleeve holding the CD shows rows of tape boxes with tempting outtakes and differing variants - none of which are available to us even now in March 2023 as I write this - and the inner sleeve is exactly the same for all issues in this series - frankly a bit of a waste of space and an annoyance (see photos). Of all his albums, I would love to hear outtakes from "Passion" - a surefire cry out for 2CD Deluxe Edition if ever there was one (including the Scorsese film itself on a DVD). The 12-page booklet has pictures from the movie - Willem Defoe as Christ - some words from Gabriel about the album and its sources and musician credits - nothing that wasn't in the June 1989 CD. The gorgeous and innovative artwork isn't expanded upon which is a damn shame. In fact it's more cluttered than it should be when you're trying to work out who played on what and where.

But the great news is a new Remaster by TONY COUSINS who did those fantastic GENESIS Remasters for the now expensive and deleted Box Sets - the best I've ever heard any of those dense LPs of the Seventies sound. Here the effect is revelatory. By the time you get to three minutes into the drums assault that is "The Feeling Begins" - the sheer power of it may have you reaching for the volume control. But it's the punching Eastern Rhythm of "Of These, Hope" and its treated whispering instruments reprise in "Lazarus Raised" where you feel the music's power and majesty. There is real menace in the throbbing soundscape that is "In Doubt" - the whale like wails wafting across your speakers as it segues into a huge Drum and Percussion moment - "A Different Drum". It's here that you hear his arrangement genius - building - building - until the synths and vocals from Youssou N'Dour and Gabriel bring it into a strange but utterly brilliant focus - Shankar's Violin too. 

 

The mesmerizing, disturbing and ultimately uplifting "Zaar" was used as the Passion album's lone representative on the "Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Great" hits set that came out on Real World in 1990 - and you can hear why. It's inventive, moving, thrilling - and so Peter Gabriel. The remaster is HUGE too. And stuff like "Open" where it's only Gabriel and Shankar providing all the swirling synth, violin and vocal treatments - it's just fabulous and moving too. 

"With This Love - Choir" - Richard Canter plays Oboe and has a Choir (Cor Anglais) give it some echoed requiem - you hear them taking breaths and noises around them. And on it goes to piano and church-bell rapture of "It Is Accomplished" - both David Sancious (once part of Bruce Springsteen's Seventies band for "Born To Run") and "Spectrum" Fusion Drummer Billy Cobham playing a big part in its magnificent enrapt closure. Love triumphant.

I love it. I love it. Few artists could have even come close to this brilliance and our PG is one of them. He issues his first new work in 20 years in 2023 and I for one am there with the "Bread And Wine". The kind of album you return to as a friend - a thing of beauty that makes you smile - get this greatness into your living room...

"Brilliant Trees" by DAVID SYLVIAN – June 1984 UK Debut Solo LP [ex Japan] on Virgin Records featuring Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen of Japan, Steve Nye of Penguin Café Orchestra, Holger Czukay of Can, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Danny Thompson of Pentangle, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Isham, Jon Hassell, Phil Palmer and Ronny Drayton (September 2003 UK Virgin CD Reissue and Remaster in Card Digipak Sleeve with Altered Artwork) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Ink In The Ink Well..." 

 

A lot was expected of the improbably handsome David Sylvian back in the mid Eighties (he was once voted most beautiful man in the world by a committee of men who idolised hair bleach). And the ex Japan frontman delivered big-time with his June 1984 debut solo album "Brilliant Trees".

 

This is a fabulous record - one I’ve always loved and admired - lifted up here into the stratosphere by a subtle yet genuinely muscular 2003 CD Remaster by TONY COUSINS who did such stellar work on the Gabriel-years Genesis albums.

 

I had the original Virgin Vinyl LP (they've altered the front cover artwork slightly as per Sylvian's update, bringing only the photo into focus) and as sure as God Shiva made little green radioactive apples, it didn't sound as good as this. Just a few moments of Danny Thompson's double bass on "The Ink In The Ink Well" or that huge backbeat with spoken lyrics by Holger Czukay (of Can) meshing with those swirling staccato keyboard soundscapes in "Backwaters" and I'm hurtling towards sonic raptures. This thing sounds gorgeous – new life ahoy. To the banks of sexy red guitars...

 

UK released September 2003 - "Brilliant Trees" by DAVID SYLVIAN on Virgin CDVX 2290 (Barcode 724359130729) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1984 debut solo album in new digipak artwork and plays out as follows (39:48 minutes):

 

1. Pulling Punches [Side 1]

2. The Ink In The Well 

3. Nostalgia 

4. Red Guitar 

5. Weathered Wall [Side 2]

6. Backwaters 

7. Brilliant Trees 

Tracks 1 to 7 are his debut solo LP "Brilliant Trees" - released 25 June 1984 in the UK on Virgin Records V 2290. Produced by DAVID SYLVIAN and STEVE NYE - it peaked at No. 4

 

MUSICIANS were: 

DAVID SYLVIAN - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Treated Piano and Tapes

RICHARD BARBIERI [Japan, Rain Tree Crow and Porcupine Tree] - Synthesizers on Track 1

STEVE NYE [Penguin Cafe Orchestra] - Piano and Synthesizer on Tracks 3 and 4

RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - Piano and Synthesizer of Tracks 4, 5 and 7

KENNY WHEELER - Flugelhorn on Tracks 2 and 3

MARK ISHAM - Trumpet on Track 4

JON HASSELL - Trumpet on Tracks 5 and 7 (also wrote the music)

HOLGER CZUKAY [Can] - Guitar, French Horn and Spoken Voice (Track 6)

RONNIE DRAYTON - Guitars on Tracks 1 and 4

PHIL PALMER - Guitars on Tracks 2 and 4

DANNY THOMPSON [Pentangle] - Double Bass on Track 2

WAYNE BRAITHWAITE - Bass on Tracks 1 and 4

STEVE JANSEN [Japan] - Drums and Synthesizer

 

Pretty as it looks (folds out into three flaps of sepia photos from the period), the new digipak is tactile enough and updates the musician credits to feature the new, but ultimately feels flimsy and disappointing. There is no history or new liner notes – no comments from the players. But all that is whomped like a goodun by a TONY COUSINS Remaster from original tapes carried out at Metropolis Mastering in London – beautiful, subtle – give it some crank on the volume dial and you will be blown away.  

 

Richard Barbieri on Synth and Ronnie Drayton on Lead Guitar contribute cool flourishes to "Pulling Punches" - a great five-minute opener. Virgin pre-empted the LP with "Red Guitar" as a true solo 45-single in May 1984 - Virgin VS 633 making it to 17 in the UK charts. Fans will be disappointed that its even cooler B-side "Forbidden Colours (Version)" is not included on this CD reissue - what a genuine bonus that would make for both Sylvian and Sakamoto fans. Speaking of singles, the sexy rhythms of "The Ink In The Well" were used as LP-45 number two in August 1984 - Virgin VS 700 with another Non-album B-side mix called "Weathered Wall (Instrumental)" on the flip. 

"Nostalgia" sounds just huge - pinging notes swirling around your room and again you wish the packaging had maybe stumped up his lyrics as a read. "Backwaters" is the kind of Sylvian sound-stage that just keeps creeping in - a fab track that I return to and get something new every time. I know not everyone can make it through the full eight-and-a-half minutes of the title-track closer, but I love it - rich and textured - like the album itself.

 

To sum up, as a CD reissue without bonuses and properly in-depth annotation, This 2003 variant of "Brilliant Trees" is 3 to 4 stars presentation-wise at best. But man that 5-star sound gets me every time...so it award it the bung.

 

"There you stand...making my life possible..." Sylvian sang on the typically ethereal and odd love song "Brilliant Trees" – lessons to be learned – prices to be paid – leading me back to the source. Well, dip into your forest pockets for this one – because it is brilliant...and no foliage was damaged during its upgrade...

"The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" by GENESIS – Double-Album from November 1974 on Charisma Records (UK) and Atco Records (USA) – featuring Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins with Guest Brian Eno (November 2014 Japan-Only 2 x SHM-CD Reissue with HR Cutting and Mini LP Repro Artwork 'Standard Edition' – Using The 2007 Remaster by Tony Cousins) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...It's Only Knock And Knowall, But I Like It!"

I've told this story a few times. I was in a Dublin bar with a mate of mine in the early Eighties and we were getting legless. For some reason lost to time, alien abduction and cosmic wormhole reasoning - we decided to start singing "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" and about an hour later and a few bevvies in - we'd done all four sides including the two instrumentals! And like some spoilt celebrity salaciously stroking his Sage Oracle Coffee making machine in my landing strip of a kitchen (who's Daddy's favourite eh) - I'm so proud of that! 

So as I was prepping for this review in my 62-year-old dotage, I tried it again and with a hearty pat on my greying but still suspiciously intact hairline, I remembered about half of the lyrics without having to refer to the repro'd lyric inserts provided in this gorgeous Japanese reissue. That's how it is when you truly love an album. I would imagine it's the same for Soul Boys when it comes to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" or once rowdy young men when it comes to The Pistols and "Never Mind The Bollocks..." In fact, we need only see the artwork of our fave-rave and a quickening of the pulse occurs, rushing blood in the trouser area makes a valiant effort and a wee tear of nostalgic joy appears in our cataract-addled eyeballs. Could have been the Guinness mind...

I love double-albums and after the creative highs of 1972's "Foxtrot" and 1973's even better "Selling England By The Pound" - the Peter Gabriel led period of Genesis finished on a total humdinger - a 1974 2LP groovy Hipgnosis artwork splurge that had many fans reaching for such highbrow phrases as 'the last great concept album' or 'bugger my NYC Apple Pies but that's brill boys'. But what issue of this Progtastic Lilywhite Lilith double-dip do you buy?

After years of false digital starts, the fantastic Tony Cousins Remasters that first appeared in the 2007 Box Set 1970-1974 were issued as stand-alone SACDs in 2008 and then standard 2CD sets in 2009. That 2009 variant on Barcode 5099926570228 is widely available to this day for about a tenner or maybe a tad more. But such is my love for this extraordinary double, I want the best - and choosing between the Platinum SHM-CD from 2014 (over £50 on some sites) or this standard edition for about £25 which is still on catalogue in 2020 - I've settled on this. And I love everything about it. But to the Colony of Slippermen first...

Released 26 November 2014 in Japan-Only - "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" by GENESIS on Universal/Virgin UICY-76719/20 (Barcode 4988005858214) is a 2-Disc SHM-CD Format Reissue of the 1974 Charisma Records Double-Album in Mini LP Repro Artwork with a Gatefold Card Sleeve, Inner Sleeves, Foldout Booklet, Obi Strip and an Outer Plastic Protective. This 2014 Reissue uses the 2007 Remaster but also features HR CUTTING for the SHM-CD discs to get optimum sound retrieval. It plays out as follows...

CD1 (45:36 minutes):

1. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway [Side 1]

2. Fly On The Windshield

3. Broadway Melody Of 1974

4. Cuckoo Cocoon

5. In The Cage

6. The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging

7. Back In N.Y.C. [Side 2] 

8. Hairless Heart

9. Counting Out Time

10. The Carpet Crawlers

11. The Chamber of 32 Doors

CD2 (48:49 minutes):

1. Lilywhite Lilith [Side 3]

2. The Waiting Room

3. Anyway

4. Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist

5. The Lamia

6. Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats 

7. The Colony Of Slippermen [Side 4]

(a) The Arrival (b) A Visit To The Doktor (c) Raven

8. Ravine

9. The Light Lies Down On Broadway

10. Riding The Scree

11. It

Released November 1974 in the UK on Charisma CGS 101 and November 1974 in the USA on Atco SD 2-401. Produced by Genesis and John Burns – it peaked at No. 10 in the UK and No. 41 in the USA.

The packaging is beautiful on these Japanese reissues, the fold out booklet with its Japanese and English lyrics. You get the story of Rael - a spunky Puerto Rican kid living in New York - runs the gamut of weird and wonderful experiences, a lot of which feels like drugged-out trips into colonies of Slippermen and dark drafty Chambers with 32 Doors and water-rafting on the scree to some ‘it’ ending. And that Hipgnosis artwork was mesmerizing too with Rael jumping through glass and bodies with snakes draped over them and Gabriel’s "…Keep your fingers out of my eye…" story on the inside and the sheer volume of lyrics on the two inner sleeves (only "The Waiting Room" and "Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats" are instrumentals). It was a lot to digest at the time and still is - and there were many who weren’t too convinced. But time has shown this staggering artistic outpouring as a properly brilliant thing. I never saw the legendary tours with those boil-in-a-bag outfits but I’ve seen the photos and read the Phil Collins recollections of masterful slide shows which featuring the whole double whether the crowd wanted it or not. Hardly surprising that PG was gone by 1975 - solo stardom beckoning in 1977 with "Solsbury Hill" (again on Charisma Records).

The Tony Cousins audio is fantastic and again that noticeable oomph given by the better-format disc. When Gabriel sings "Early morning Manhattan..." as the opening title track kicks in, the punch is palpable. But like most longtime fans, I went straight for deep album tracks like "Anyway" (beautiful piano playing from Banks), those shimmering Hackett guitars 'wrapped up in some powdered wool' in "Cuckoo Cocoon", crucial dilation of the pupils in the witty sexual awakening song "Counting Out Time" and the track that was always hard to hear on the original LP - the almost imperceptible "Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats" – now a gorgeous instrumental. I remember Hackett's wife did beautiful 'Wind And Wuthering' type paintings depicting those tracks in a book that came out in the 80s (can’t remember its name). Everywhere you turn, the audio thrills. That wonderful chorus with the harmonizing vocals in "Lilywhite Lilith", the wind synths and acoustic guitars actually depicting in sound a "Ravine" and of course that final run of three "Riding The Screen" (stunning Banks synth solo) segueing into the strangely peaceful acoustics of "In The Rapids" and that synth burst with Collins giving it some superb drumming on "It" with the "...it's only knock and knowall, but I like it..." lyrics.

Niggles - It's known that the 'Evil Jam' version of "The Waiting Room" on the B-side of the April 1975 British 7" single for "The Carpet Crawlers" (Charisma CB 251) is a different mix to the LP cut and I suppose could have been included here on Disc 2 as a Bonus Track - but it's hardly a huge loss. What you do get is fabulous just as it is (Audio and Presentation).

Prog Rock used to be such a maligned genre, but as the years have gone by and with so much blandness masquerading as music coming off the airwaves - new listeners are discovering what we loved first time around – its complexity and inventiveness and wild out there nature – and damn it – on occasion – its tearful beauty.

"...We hold together and shoot the rapids fast…" - Peter Gabriel sang all those decades ago as the band made a successful dash for the finish on Side Four. 

Well, if you want to get down to this 1974 Broadway fantasy, then this gorgeous 2014 Japanese SHM-CD2 reissue is the 2020 Times Square audio buddy you need…

"Genesis 1970-1975" by GENESIS (November 2008 Virgin/Charisma 'Hybrid CD, SACD, DVD' Box Set - Tony Cousins and Nick Davis Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Almost 300 Others Is Available In My

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Here are details for the six saintly shrouded men…

UK and Europe released November 2008 - "Genesis 1970-1975" by GENESIS on Virgin CDBOX 14 (Barcode 5099951968328) is the 3rd box set in an extensive reissue campaign. Each of the original five vinyl albums from the Peter Gabriel period are pumped up here into double 2CD issues - whilst the 1974 2LP-set "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" now becomes a 3-Disc CD set. "The Lamb Lies Down Broadway" is presented in a beautiful Book Pack while the other albums are in 2CD jewel cases.

Disc 1 of each issue is the SACD and CD Remaster of the album with both mixes encoded onto the disc, while Disc 2 is a DVD with 5.1 Surround Sound with extras tagged on at the end of each. The sixth and final double is called "Extra Tracks 1970-1975" and features singles, demos and BBC Sessions - again both in Audio and DVD. "Extras' is housed in a 48-page hardback book with an essay, band contributions, photos and celebrity reviews. Here's a detailed breakdown of the sets:

1. Looking For Someone [Side 1]

2. White Mountain

3. Visions of Mountains

4. Stagnation [Side 2]

5. Dusk

6. The Knife

Disc 1 (42:33 minutes) is their 2nd album "Trespass", originally released on LP in November 1970 on Charisma CAS 1020 in the UK and Impulse 9295 in the USA (the original UK issue had the 'Pink Scroll' label design and the CD reflects that). The DVD Audio version also has a 'reissues interview from 2007'.

1. The Musical Box [Side 1]

2. For Absent Friends

3. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed

4. Seven Stones

5. Harold The Barrel [Side 2]

6. Harlequin

7. The Fountain Of Salmacis

Disc 2 (39:36 minutes) is their 3rd album "Nursery Cryme", originally released on LP in November 1971 on Charisma CAS 1052 in the UK and Charisma 7208 552 in the USA (Pink Scroll Label also). The DVD audio version also has the 'reissues interview from 2007'.

1. Watcher Of The Skies [Side 1]

2. Time Table

3. Get 'Em Out By Friday

4. Can-Utility And The Coastliners

5. Horizons [Side 2]

6. Supper’s Ready

Disc 3 (51:20 minutes) is their 4th album "Foxtrot", originally released on LP in October 1972 on Charisma CAS 1058 in the UK and Charisma 7208 553 in the USA (changes now to the `Mad Hatter' label design for 3, 4 and 5 reflecting the original vinyl). The DVD Audio disc has 3 extras - reissues interview 2007, Brussels, Belgium Rock Of The 70's 1972 clip and Rome, Italy, Piper Club 1972 clip.

1. Selling England By The Pound [Side 1]

2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

3. Firth Of Fifth

4. More Fool Me

5. The Battle Of Epping Forest [Side 2]

6. After The Ordeal

7. The Cinema Show

8. Aisle Of Plenty

Disc 4 (53:39 minutes) is their 6th album "Selling England By The Pound", originally released in October 1973 on Charisma CAS 1074 in the UK and Charisma 7208 554 in the USA. (Their 5th album, "Genesis Live", was released in July 1973 on Charisma CLASS 1 in the UK; it was an official release and no explanation is given for its no show in this box set).  The DVD Audio version has 3 extras, reissues Interview 2007, Shepperton Studios, Italian TV, 1973 clip and Batacain, France, 1973 clip.

1. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway [Side 1]

2. Fly On A Windshield

3. Broadway Melody Of 1974

4. Cuckoo Cocoon

5. In The Cage

6. The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging

7. Back In N.Y.C. [Side 2]

8. Hairless Heart

9. Counting Out Time

10. The Carpet Crawlers

1. Lilywhite Lilith [Side 3]

2. The Waiting Room

3. Anyway

4. Here Comes The Supernatural Anesthetist

5. The Lamia

6. Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats

7. The Colony Of Slippermen [Side 4]

8. Ravine

9. Riding The Scree

10. In The Rapids

11. It

Disc 5 (45:38/48:51 minutes) is their 7th album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", originally released in November 1974 as a 2LP set on Charisma CGS 101 in the UK and on Atco 7599 122 in the USA. The DVD has all of the slide show that accompanied the stage shows offering both Surround and standard stereo versions.

Disc 6 "Extra Tracks" (46:44 minutes):

Track 1 is "Happy The Man", a non-album 7" single issued in the UK on May 1972 on Charisma CB 181 ("Seven Stones" is its B-side - a track off "Nursery Cryme")

Track 2 is "Twilight Alehouse", the non-album B-side to "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" issued on 7" single in May 1974 on Charisma CB 224

Track 3 is "Sheppard (BBC Nightride 1970)"

Track 4 is "Pacidy (BBC Nightride 1970)"

Track 5 is "Let Us Now Make Love (BBC Nightride 1970)"

Track 6 is "Going Out To Get You (Demo 1969)"

Tracks 7 to 10 are called Genesis Plays Jackson.  Michael Jackson was a painter who put music to a silent film of "Metropolis" and invited Genesis in to score it. Some tracks were done, but the full project was abandoned. These tapes have only recently come to light and the four tracks are; "Provocation", "Frustration", "Manipulation" and Resignation" - "Frustration" would later turn up as "Anyway" on "Lamb" and "Manipulation" became "The Musical Box" on "Nursery Cryme".

NICK DAVIS prepped the 5.1 Surround Mixes and Stereo CD mixes with the remastering carried out by TONY COUSINS at Metropolis Mastering. Both of these guys handled the preceding box sets to both applause and derision in equal measure. While I admittedly don't have a Surround capability at home, I find the sound quality on the Stereo CD mixes to be GORGEOUS - a revelation. "Trespass" & "Nursery Cryme" are hissy in places, but still so much better sounding than the crap 1994 Virgin remasters we've been lumbered with all these years (which in turn were supposed to replace the dire 80's issues). But the great news is "Foxtrot", "Selling" and "Lamb", each of which now has GORGEOUS SOUND. At 8:15 minutes into "Supper's Ready" on Foxtrot when the acoustic guitars kick in, I was in floods, huge sound filling my room... We've been waiting 35 years to finally hear these great works in DECENT AUDIO.

While the DVD and Audio elements are fantastic and the extras fascinating - I find the packaging naff (typical of all things Virgin). The box lid won't close no matter what you do, the individual booklets are simply the original artwork restored, but again they're too small to read and massively underwhelming compared to the beautiful event feel of the original vinyl gatefold sleeves (especially "Lamb"). And with no new essay, no new photos, nor nothing of their history - when they're released as stand-alone CDs, fans are going to feel mightily short-changed – again. And why no "Live" set - nor the 1975 single edit of "Carpet Crawlers" - or its unique B-side, the live in the USA (Evil Jam) version of "The Waiting Room"? Nor is it cheapest of things either…so with the boys now individually credited as Limited Companies on the rear sleeve - the whole thing is beginning to smack a little too much of corporate greed instead of musical celebration.

The Music is truly incredible and still stands up with "Foxtrot", "Selling England By The Pound" and that amazing 1974 double "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" still eliciting gasps – and I’d have to say that the Audio is gorgeous and revealing throughout. "Trespass" and "Nursery Cryme" have their moments for sure – but it’s the final three in the Charisma period that are Proggy Heaven.

Wonderful in some respects and yet strangely disappointing in others - this eagerly awaited box is 4-stars really when it should have been six. And yet I love it and them in all their mad, imaginative and sprawling brilliance. Fans will know what I mean when I say - "...something tells me I’d better activate my prayer capsule…"