Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In 1992, Genesis were one of the biggest acts around, each member had their own success to varying degrees, and even their former guitarist and leading frontman were a force to be reckoned with; they could do no wrong, and on the back of their 1991 release of We Can’t Dance, it was only inevitable that at some point the three main members of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks, would go all out and record at least one concert on the tour. It is perhaps with serendipity that the one released took place in the high summer, an August day filled with the possibility of being iconic, of being amongst the finest captured event since their most prominent gig since Wembley in 1987.
Genesis’ Six Sides Live Volume 2 – The Complete Knebworth 1992 Broadcast follows in the footsteps of the band’s tradition of producing quality live shows for broadcast and for posterity. The sense of feelgood cool, of quality rock, of classic memories bound up in the summer heat, of new songs that haven’t quite led to the same passion, but when heard in a group setting unleash emotions of togetherness, of bonding in the contemporary as well as in the expected hits that carried the band through the 70s and 80s.
Six Sides Live Volume 2 as a release may suffer slightly from the broadcast hiss of radio static, the definite completely polished satisfaction that came with the group’s 2007 release of Live Over Europe, but it adds a historical subtext to the live set as it would be one of the final shows captured with the threesome, along with Daryl Steurmer and Chester Thompson on guitar and drums respectively, for 15 years.
The listener and the fan alike will know what to expect from the recording, Phil marvellously playing up to the crowd, the respectful hints and passages to the period when Peter Gabriel shone like a beacon of Progressive frontman showmanship and Steve Hackett’s incredible guitar work, the power rock that caught the band new attention from the moment they become a threesome, and then the brand new songs, ones that would become the final epics in the career of the three as a unit; this the crowd knew to be not only big, but seismic in the Hertfordshire countryside.
As stated, six sides lives, half a dozen sides of a concert that starts with Land of Confusion and No Son Of Mine, arguably the two strongest and memorable songs from the latest two albums, and quickly followed by the historical medley, songs that cement the longevity of the group, Dance On A Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, the closing section of The Musical Box, and Firth of Fifth amongst them; and as the hits play out, as the beauty of the event fiercely digs down into the roots of the enjoyment and the factor of nostalgia, so Genesis, despite the naysayers constant attacks, prove once more their dynamic and their worth to rock music and the times they inhabited.
Till 2007 this was to be the last recorded act of a group that had lived, breathed, and tackled success, and it shows with honour; a live album finally seeing the light of day on vinyl and cd – a permanent reminder of all that was cool.
Ian D. Hall