Second's Out, by Genesis, turned my life around. Don't you just love overenthusiastic statements like that? Well, I remember sneaking into my brother's room when he was out, snatching a copy of Second's Out from his turntable, putting on the headphones, listening to it from start to finish in the dark, while looking out the window waiting for his car to pull back into our driveway, so I'd have enough time to run back into his room (still in the dark) and place it back onto his turntable at exactly the right axis he left it at. If the inside record label was even slightly too much to the right, I was always paranoid that he'd find out I was playing his records again and he'd yell at me! He was 8 years older than me and much bigger! He was an avid prog-rock fan and had dozens of albums, and treated them all like gold.
ELP was my first love and I thought no other band could amaze me so much, until my brother bought Second's Out and I heard it playing in his room all of the time. I was too young and poor at 13 and my mother wouldn't buy albums for me because she thought I'd scratch them all, so I would listen to my brother's.
Second's Out, from the Chester Thompson stick-click count off into Squonk, to the very exhausting end of Los Endos, was nearly a spiritual album for me. It was the first time I heard magic on a record. Like being a child and hearing fairy tales, but now being older and hearing how they would sound. I was unaware of even who Peter Gabriel was, so I had no compunction about calling Phil my favorite singer and the only one for these songs. Today, of course, I could not be more of a Gabriel fan and have seen every tour since the Security tour of 1982-83!
But Phil's smoky voice and warmly passionate delivery was the best voice I'd heard to that date. Each song was rendered so magical and potent, that it's still hard to believe this was a live concert recording in Paris. I guess we credit David Hentschel for his production, and the band for their artistry and transcendence. Everything had the right amount of reverb on it. Even the synth solo on Robbery, Assault & Battery should have no right to sound as not dated as it does! Banks and Hackett truly carry the melodic brilliance and performance of these songs, on the backs of the most musical, dramatic and firey rhythm section work you're likely to hear. To me, there is more fire in these performances than in any Metallica or Sex Pistols album recorded. This music was edgy, and ballsy. Today there are still metalheads and jazzers going 'How the heck did they write and perform something as mind-boggling as Apocalypse in 9/8??!!'. How did they, indeed? Speaking of which, Supper's Ready always intimidated me. I broke into this album side by side. First it was Side one. Then Side Two, with Firth of Fifth, and Hackett's pained guitar seagull cries that
dive and swipe, and that guitar solo having three or FOUR climaxes! I Know What I Like introduced me to the silly side of Phil Collins and was a nice
breath-catching moment.
When I did listen to Supper's Ready, each section captured me and sucked me in until I had to listen to the whole song at every sitting, each time taking me on a musical journey in my head. I thought, 'How could there be 5 individuals on the planet who were so on the exact same wavelength to create music so seamless and transcendent as this? Why am I getting so high off this music??!! Is it affecting anyone else out there as much as it was me??!!'. Yes came close at times, but even their musical individuality often threatened to split apart the majesty of their collaborations, and did on 'Tormato'. Second's Out is a documented treasure of those 5 individuals in Genesis and their timeless music. There is no more exciting live album than Second's Out.
U2 came close with 'Bad', but that's not a full-length live album. Can they ever capture their music as passionately as Genesis did with theirs on Second's Out? I haven't heard it yet. Has Radiohead? "I Might Be Wrong" is great, but they haven't yet, either.
Last word, on Cinema Show. Bill Bruford threatens to steal the whole album with his performance on drums there. If you are a drummer, listen to the rapid-fire kick drum work in the song's instrumental climax towards the end of the song. I love King Crimson, but I can't think of many times when he has bettered himself in a live album than what he plays on Cinema Show. How about those synth solos? Still damn impressive! I was CRUSHED when Steve Hackett left the group. I enjoyed his solo albums, but I knew he could not end up doing anything as brilliant as Second's Out. Or Supper's Ready. Or Trick of the Tail. Or Ripples. Or Eleventh Earl of Mar. The man had Phil Collins as his drummer!! Tony Banks as his keyboardist!
Mike Rutherford as his bassist!! Hackett's departure, especially after the release of Second's Out, hit me more hard than Gabriel's actually did! Nonetheless, this classic album needs to be heard and appreciated for what it is: One of the best representations of any live band recorded in concert. At the top of their game. A live album of previously-recorded material that nearly beats every studio version of the songs it repeats. Presenting perfect performances that are so well blended as one, you wish other bands could do theirs as good.
Oh, and if you didn't know, while all of this was going on, as this music was pouring out of their souls, Genesis had one of the best light shows ever. They always had state of the art lighting systems, lasers and fog that could create heaven or hell along with their music in concert. Sometimes on this album, you can hear the French audience gasping and cheering for no apparent reason ("Afterglow"). The reason was the lights, so meticulously choreographed to the songs as to create a thrilling, never before seen audio and visual emotional spectacle in real time. If you don't believe me, read some of the reviews from the time. I saw it on the And Then There Were Three tour of 1978. There were lasers bouncing off of six giant mirrors above the band's heads and fog swirling through it all. By the time Genesis ended up playing stadiums, they were so far ahead of the live show that they were selling tickets based on their word of mouth alone.
I believe Cirque du Soleil is STILL trying to out do them with their sound and lighting nearly thirty years later!! But with no DVD of the show to view in 5.1 Surround from that date, we're left with the music, gloriously on display.
Buy the new mastered version of Second's Out, put on a good pair of headphones, relax and put on Supper's Ready. From the moment Collin's casually announces 'Supper's Ready', you will be taken on a ride. By the time you reach Phil angelicly singing '666 is no longer alone', if you are not completely moved, than you probably have no pulse. Or taste. Enjoy!
And ya can't even see the light show!!!
Remastered Edition ? quite disapointing sound
12 tracks
