Tony Banks

The worlds of the crossover album and of the ECM music label don't overlap much, but this is a crossover album unlike any other released up to this time. For one thing, it deals with the Renaissance lute song, not a form in which new pieces have been written often. And for another, the vocal middle ground between Renaissance vocal styles and the rock background of the contemporary composers is unique. What is here are Renaissance lute songs from England and Spain, plus songs by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Tony Banks of Genesis, and, at the end, Sting, expanding on his Dowland album of a decade ago.

This Dutch prog-rock band took root in '95 when schoolboy friends Roland van der Horst (guitar and vocals) and Joost Hagemeijer (drums and keyboards) teamed up and started to write their own compositions. In '98 they released the album "Cold World" as a project titled Brainstorm. Two years later singer Eric Holdtman joined Roland and Joost, but unfortunately left in 2001 due to personal circumstances…

What if Genesis had decided to go back to their progressive roots rather than a commercial direction in the 1980's? Of imagine if you will the notorious three reuniting to do likewise. The result might sound something like The Underfall Yard. You've got your mellotrons, twelve string guitars, a lead vocalist, David Longdon, who sounds just like Phil Collins (Phil called and he'd like his vocal style back), also the occasional flute.
After that Big Big Train starts to diverge from the old Genesis sound. David's flute playing is more reminiscent of Ian McDonald than Peter Gabriel. The bass work by Andy Poole is more complex than the basic bass of Mike Rutherford and reminds me more of Geddy Lee…

Genesis - Genesis
FLAC, EAC, LOG & CUE | Lossless Artwork | Size: 402 MB
Label/Cat#: Vertigo, Phonogram 814 287-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1983
Genre: Rock | Hoster: Filesonic/Uploaded/Filepost

Moments of Genesis are as spooky and arty as those on Abacab – in particular, there's the tortured howl of "Mama," uncannily reminiscent of Phil Collins' Face Value, and the two-part "Second Home by the Sea" – but this eponymous 1983 album is indeed a rebirth, as so many self-titled albums delivered in the thick of a band's career often are…

Genesis - Genesis
FLAC, EAC, LOG & CUE | Lossless Artwork | Size: 402 MB
Label/Cat#: Vertigo, Phonogram # 814 287-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1983
Genre: Rock, Pop | Style: Pop Rock, Art Rock, Synth Pop

Moments of Genesis are as spooky and arty as those on Abacab – in particular, there's the tortured howl of "Mama," uncannily reminiscent of Phil Collins' Face Value, and the two-part "Second Home by the Sea" – but this eponymous 1983 album is indeed a rebirth, as so many self-titled albums delivered in the thick of a band's career often are…

Six years after their very promising debut (Powered By Light), Kinetic Element is back again with their sophmore release called Travelog. It was a long time coming, but very worth the waiting. The american quartet had some changes: now Mark Tupko replaces original bassist Tony D´Amato. And the vocal department, once courtesy of keyboardsman Mike Visaggio are now handle by three different guest singers…

In early 1973, Genesis allowed the taping of a couple of live shows for broadcast in America as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour syndicated radio show – most of their current set, drawn from their albums up through 1972's Foxtrot, was represented. A few months later, Tony Stratton-Smith, the head of Charisma, to which the group was signed, approached them about allowing him to fill the extended gap between Foxtrot and their next album, Selling England by the Pound, by releasing a live album from this same taped performance. The bandmembers, who now say they were somewhat distracted at the time by their work on the new album, agreed to it.