|
| |
|
 |
ALBUM
REVIEWS
Tributes To Genesis, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Beyond... |
 |
For A
Complete List of Titles Available For Sale, Go To The Shopping Section By
Clicking
Here.
|
ALBUM
RATING SYSTEM |
|
***** |
An
excellent album. Strong effort from beginning to end! A must own! |
|
**** |
A
very good album. A few low points but, overall, a decent effort.
Recommended. |
|
*** |
A
good album. Several weak points detract from the album, but it's still
worth owning. |
|
** |
A
mediocre album. Unless you're a real fan, you might not like this album
very much. |
|
* |
A
poor album. Stay away from this one unless you are a hardcore fan! |
|
Leon Alvarado - Plays Genesis and Other
Original Stuff |
|
 |
WOG
RATING: ***
This largely instrumental and heavily keyboard/synth driven tribute project features a mixture of Genesis songs and Genesis
'inspired' tracks by Alvarado. I really enjoyed his interpretation on keyboards
of "Hairless Heart" although on occasion the guitar part on the
song is a little too overly simplified for my tastes. His take on "Cinema
Show Part II" Its undeniably good and has a dramatic Genesis "live" feel to
it. Actually, most of Plays Genesis and Other Stuff was excellent,
although I did find his opening vocals on "Fly on a Windshield" a bit off
for an otherwise all-around professional release.
|
Alvarado shows that he is certainly strong keyboard player, and I thought
his original pieces were creative and well done. He does an excellent job
of integrating a little of the Genesis sound in many of those original
pieces. I would be remiss if I
didn't acknowledge the design of this tribute album. Also created by
Alvarado, its packaged in
almost a mini-LP CD style sleeve with great artwork which in itself pays
homage to the Genesis albums of days past. As you can see from the image
provided above, the cover has an And Then There Were Three feel to
it. If there was an award for best packaging of
a Genesis tribute CD, I would certainly award it to Leon. The entire
package is incredibly professional - inside and out.
|
|
Yngve
Guddal and Roger T. Matte - Genesis For Two Grand Pianos |
|
|
WOG
RATING: ***
While I have mixed feelings about tribute albums, it is always interesting
to hear another artist's interpretation of someone else's music. When I
first heard about this Genesis For Two Grand Pianos album, I was
highly skeptical that anyone could successfully pull off tunes like
"Fountain of Salmacis" or "Down and Out" in an
instrumental format on simply two pianos. After listening to the project,
for the most part, I can say that I was wrong. The material performed is
filled with passion and precision. Pianists Guddal and Matter do an
extraordinary job of rendering the music of Genesis into a classical
format.
|
The beautiful melodies of Genesis For Two
Grand Pianos really give the listener a greater appreciation for the
majesty of Genesis' early music. One or two of the classical translations
did not work very well in my opinion (reminding me of shopping mall muzak)
but, overall, I found the project an interesting twist on the concept of a
tribute album, and worthy of your consideration. Also of note,
artist Paul Whitehead, who created the artwork for Genesis album such as Trespass,
Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot designed the album art for this
collection. If you're a Genesis fan with a flair for classical music, you
will definitely enjoy this album.
|
|
Various
Artists - A Tribute To Genesis (a.k.a. In Too Deep: A Tribute To
Genesis) |
|
 |
WOG
RATING: *
I have a much greater appreciation for Genesis' musical and vocal
abilities after listening to Purple Pyramid/Cleopatra Records wretched
tribute collection, A Tribute To Genesis. Some of these tracks have
surfaced previously on The Fox Lies Down Genesis tribute album and,
to be honest, with the exception of maybe three tracks this entire
compilation is without question one of the worst "tributes" I
have ever had the discomfort of sitting through. Tribute records are a
double edged sword. If it sounds too close to the original it lacks
creativity and you might as well listen to the original version, but if it
strays too far from the original, it ceases to be a remake and becomes an
overly self-indulgent piece of music that is no more an homage to the
original recording or the band they are honoring than any other tune that
new musician may record. To me a great cover version takes enough cues from
the original to be recognizable, but has just enough of the new artists'
sound to make it uniquely different.
|
Probably most importantly, when doing a cover version, its got to be done
well. Unfortunately for the listeners of this album, Most songs on this
particular collection either are bad musically or vocally. In some cases,
both! Among the worst offenders are Patrick Moraz and Ronnie Ciago's
butchering of "Los Endos" which is almost unrecognizable at times, the
terrible muzak version of "No Son of Mine" by Acoustic Moods, the
completely passionless and sterile version of "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"
by Roadhawk, and Inca God's pitiful "I Can't Dance" that sounds like it
was played on a $50 Casio keyboard. Oh, and let's not forget the dreadful
vocals by The Flower Kings on "Cinema Show" or John Wetton's surprisingly
bad version of "Your Own Special Way!" There are so many 'stinkers' on
this collection, I had difficulty forcing myself to get through the whole
thing without hitting the advance button on my CD player! Without
question, the best track on the set is Shaun Guerin's take on "Back In New
York City." Other fairly good songs include G2enesis' "Squonk" and Silver
Ensemble's "Tell Me Why." The Brand X II's "Can-Utility and The
Coastliners" also had moments I enjoyed, but was weak overall. I
could write for hours on how bad this CD is, but I have to get to the used
CD store before they close to get rid of this piss-poor disc! Hopefully, I
get a buck for it!
|
|
Rewiring Genesis -
A Tribute To The Lamb
Lies Down on Broadway (2008) |
|
|
WOG
RATING: ***
Rewiring Genesis is a pseudonym for ex-Calling All Stations drummer Nick
D'Virgilio's 2008 tribute to Genesis. Instead of doing the traditional
collection of assorted popular songs and deep cuts from the Genesis
songbook, Nick opts instead for a more ambitious project - the reworking of
the entire Lamb Lies Down on Broadway record, the band's 1974 epic
double album. Considered by many to be one of, if not the, crowing moment of
Genesis' early days, The Lamb's tale of Rael, the troubled teenaged
punk from New York and the journey he undergoes, is an extremely complex
piece of music. D'Virgilio valiantly interprets the original structure of
the music in a fairly faithful way, but makes it distinctly original by
adding strings and a horn section at appropriate sections of the project. He
takes a few casual liberties, but aside from "The Waiting Room," which
seemed a unrecognizable to me, he tends not to wander too far off of the
original Genesis versions.
|
I honestly had fairly low expectations when I played the album for the
first time (as I tend to do with most tributes), but I have to admit that
I really enjoyed the fresh look at this classic album and surprisingly
good vocal performance by D'Virgilio. Rewiring Genesis balances the fine
line of staying close enough to the original to keep most die-hards happy,
but takes just enough liberties to prevent it from being a dull attempt to
clone it's predecessor. I've probably played this album a dozen times in
the first week I had it. Not because it's better than the original, but
because it was like getting new light through old windows, to steal a line
from Chris Rea. It accomplishes just what a tribute should.
|
Click
here
to return to the album/video review index.
|
