Search - David Palmer, Royal Philharmonic :: Music of Genesis: We Know What We Like

A few revelations for Genesis fans

Matthew Haag | Lebanon, PA | 10/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Genesis fans might roll their eyes at the idea of an orchestra playing music of the band. Phrases like "Musak crap" might even come to mind! However, this recording is not completely done in by the hallmarks of easy listening recordings. Some interpretations here do turn out to be quite pleasant reworkings of Genesis music.



However, when this record does not work...it REALLY doesn't work! The renditions of "Follow You Follow Me" and "I Know What I Like" in particular are downright awful. In fact, they are so bad, they simply must be heard by other Genesis fans to fully appreciate their sheer awfulness!



Conductor David Palmer, primarily responsible for the arrangements on this album, does not always make the best choices with regard to material. For instance, the schoolboy choir from Charterhouse (alma mater to band members Banks, Rutherford, and Gabriel) is included on two tracks, but not to all that good an effect. Tony Banks is a brilliant songwriter in my opinion, but having a boys choir sing lyrics from "Undertow" or "Guide Vocal" just does not sound all that good. Handing a boys choir the final stanza of lyrics on "Supper's Ready" (lyrics complicated for some adults!) is also not very promising.



Still, some moments on this album do make up for these deficiencies. The orchestra's subdued take on "Entangled" works very nicely, as does a much more fleshed out performance of Steve Hackett's "Horizons". The latter song barely hit two minutes in length on "Foxtrot", but here an added orchestration pushes the song an additional minute and the result is quite refreshing.



Perhaps drawing on the band's tradition of medleys during live shows, Palmer formulates two and both are fairly enjoyable creations. "Los Jigos" takes jigs that have periodically surfaced in the band's music (most notably in "Duke's Travels" and "The Knife") creating a seamless and exciting (although a little too short) medley of these works. The "Snowbound" medley pulls together three tracks from the "And Then There Were Three" album. The result is a wonderful compilation from that somewhat underdeveloped album, proving the music was sound even if the lyrics or album production left a little to be desired.



Genesis fans will get a mixed bag with finding this record. While there are some Musak moments, there are also some moments that show the well-constructed classical foundation that makes up Genesis' music. Even when listening to the original tracks, one can tell some Genesis songs would translate well to a classical setting. The slight fault in this record is not using this quality to its absolute best."

Decent job (with some liner notes by George Martin!)

Maiku | Somewhere In America | 04/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This symphonic tribute to Genesis contains selections from "Trespass" to "Duke" (excluding "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway"). I was surprised at the fact that Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett lended his talents to this project, which makes it worth the purchase. These renditions are fabulous except for "Guide Vocal/Turn It On Again", it just didn't seem (or sound) right. The highlights of this disc include "Mad Man Moon" (my favorite off of "A Trick of The Tail"), "Entangled", "I Know What I Like" (you can hear someone singing the first verse; I don't know if that was intentional or not. And also Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson performs the closing flute solo), and "Horizons" (or "Horizon's" as it's listed on "Foxtrot". This version also includes a little bit of "Blood On The Rooftops" from the "Wind & Wuthering" album). So if you're REALLY into Genesis and not just the Phil Collins-era incarnation, this disc is worth a listen. Now if I could only find a nice cover of "One For The Vine"....."