Awhile back, I picked up this great live set by the former lead guitarist of Genesis (1972-1977), Steve Hackett.Hackett's back-up band reads like a who's who of progressive rock:
John Wetton (ex-Asia, ex-King Crimson, ex-UK, ex-Uriah Heep) - bass & vocals
Ian MacDonald (ex-King Crimson) - Flute & Sax
Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis, ex-GTR) - Guitar & Vocals
Julian Colbeck (Yes, touring band) - keyboards & piano
Chester Thompson (Genesis touring band) - drums & percussion
The song selection and the arrangements of the songs they chose to play is what makes it such a great set though.
They cover material from King Crimson (In The Court of the Crimson King and I Talk To the Wind), Genesis (Watcher of the Skies, Firth of Fifth, Horizons, Los Endos and I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)), Hackett's solo career, and even some of Wetton's material (including a beautiful acoustic version of the Asia hit Heat of the Moment).
MacDonald really shines on his flute and sax solos, Hackett (as always) is brilliant on guitar, Wetton's vocals are spot on (even on the Genesis material) and Colbeck and Thompson really pull the whole group together.
2 comments:
I was amazed upon my first listen of this how good Wetton handled the Genesis material. He also did well on the early Greg Lake-vocals Crimson, which he naturally had some previous experience handling ...
Not a bad compliation overall. Thanks for reviewing this one.
-- david
I recently read that the original line-up of Asia is planning on a 25th Anniversary reunion tour.
Lake and Wetton's voices are uncannily similar. Lake's accent is a little more pronounced but to an untrained ear Wetton and Lake's voices are nearly identitical.
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