Search - Genesis :: Three Sides Live

4 sides live?

yesman | Wisconsin | 06/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"somehow the 4th side of the LP containing the hit "Paperlate"

and many other songs have been replaced with live cuts from the Secconds Out "period

I'm told the LP appeared this way in the UK and that the "Studio tracks"

were releseds as an EP



well it's 4 sides live now!

Good in that it features Steve Hackett and Bill Bruford

Bad in that those studio tracks were excellent."

Genesis' second double live disc still resonates 25 years on

Terrence J. Reardon | Lake Worth (a west Palm Beach suburb), FL | 12/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Genesis' 14th album Three Sides Live was released in June of 1982.

The album comprises of songs from the band's 1981 Abacab tour and one from 1980's Duke tour.

On this album, singer/drummer Phil collins, guitarist Mike Rutherford and keyboard player Tony Banks were augmented by guitarist/bass player Daryl Stuermer and the returning Chester Thompson on drums for the live material here. In fact, there were two versions of Three Sides Live released (one for the US, Canada and Germany which the previous review pertains to and the other for the UK, Japan, Europe which is in this review here).

The first disc kicks off with technically seven songs from the 1981 Abacab tour including a spirited "Turn it On Again" (which was played before the Dance on a Volcano/Los Endos medley at the end on the abacab tour itself), an excellent medley of "Dodo/Lurker" (which followed "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" on the 1981 tour's setlist) and an excellent reading of Abacab's title cut (the later live versions trumped this but played with more passion than the classic studio version).

The second side of the album begins with the tour's actual opening tracks "Behind the Lines" and "Duchess" which are performed with more fire than the studio version ("Duchess" was faded as the song segued into "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" during the performances on the Abacab tour). Next is another Abacab track "Me and Sarah Jane" which trumps the studio version. We close disc one with "Follow You Follow Me" which was actually recorded on the 1980 Duke Tour at the Lyceum Ballroom in London (it was not played on the 1981 tour). (The 1981 tracks were from Nassau Coliseum, The Savoy Club and Wembley Arena respectively).

Side three kicks off with a superb version of "Misunderstanding" (which trumps the studio version and when played live segued into "No Reply at All (not included on TSL). Next is the reason to own TSL which is "In the Cage" which is arguably the best live version with Phil on vocals then it segues into "The Cinema Show"/"Slippermen" medley with superb drumming by Collins and Thompson and Banks' keyboards on fire here. We close the third side with "Afterglow" which trumps the studio version and arguably the Seconds Out versions by a longshot.

Now the remainder of Europe and Japan (and excluding the US, Canada and Germany until the 1994 remastered version which is the one available the world over today) got a FOURTH live side containing three superb performanced from 1980, 1978 and 1976 respectively instead of the outtakes from Abacab and Duke that the US, Canada and Germany got. First is an awesome version of "One For the Vine" which was recorded in May of 1980 at the Lyceum in London and this version trumps the studio version by a longshot (shame that the CD tracking splits it as two tracks when it is really one long song). Next, we go back to Knebworth in 1978 for a stellar version of the Nursery Cryme classic "The Fountain of Salmacis" which is just as good, if not better, than the studio version and Daryl Stuermer's solo at the end could give Steve Hacket''s a run for the money plus Phil adding some tympani and gong at the end is a nice touch. Then we go back to 1976 for a medley of "It/Watcher of the Skies" with Bill Bruford on drums and Steve Hackett on guitar. It was superb although it was shorter than the live version eventually released on 1998's Genesis Archive 1967-75 box and then Phil goes to the kit to help segue It to the masterpiece Watcher of the Skies' finale which was an awesome way to close the UK version of this live album.

The UK version of Three Sides Live reached #2 and was not until November of 1994 that it got a Stateside release.

RECOMMENDED!"

Can't believe I still love this

John Cullom | Washington, DC USA | 10/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I stopped listening to Genesis for 16 years. Can you blame me? Phil Collins didn't do much for their memory. I picked this up again yesterday, and remembered everything I loved about them. There's never a song that just has one thing going on in it (perhaps Follow you, follow me - good but cheesy - that's why it made the radio!). Dodo has two melody motifs worthy of a 7 minute song, just great. Abacab, so wierd and poppy at the same time. Me and Sarah Jane wanders through about four or five different melodic areas that combine and reinforce each other in a majestic parading away at the end. This is the Genesis that I'd really liked, poppy but not commercial (is that possible, ask the Velvet Underground). There are a lot of complaints here about the neglect of the back catalogue, but if this was your favorite era of Genesis, this will make you very happy. The back catalogue is covered on Seconds Out, so you have an option. It's also a good introduction to Genesis for someone that isn't comfortable diving into paeans to Persian war gods."