Steve Hackett is an incredibly busy and productive musician these days. Not only is he regularly releasing new albums, but he tours and revisits some gems from his past. This release documents such a tour, featuring a Genesis classic and a Steve Hackett classic played in one concert. It’s the best of both worlds, and it sounds magnificent. 

Having witnessed one of those shows, I walked away with a certain picture in mind. The concert was great, and I felt Hackett completely captured both albums perfectly. This set is a great replica and souvenir. The idea of filming and recording at the infamous Hammersmith gives it an extra prestige, but the show was as good as witnessed by yours truly. 

It begins with Spectral Mornings, and slowly works its way into Selling England By The Pound. Yes, it is going backwards, but when you listen, it feels like a natural progression of sorts. The attention to detail is incredible here, and that’s really the best part. Nad Sylvan provides the vocals for Selling England By The Pound, and he does a great job reviving the spirit of Peter Gabriel. Sylvan is a very animated singer with a voice full of tricks, who makes the impossible possible.

The whole set is a very pleasant listen, well played and well produced. There is a visual disc that accompanies this set (DVD/Blu-Ray) so you can truly relive the experience, or perhaps see the show as it was played. More and more live albums do include a film component, and this set is very well put together.

Steve Hackett is relaunching his own legend with these Genesis-oriented tours, and there's definitely a hungry audience for this music. Many get to see the music of their youth again, and many see it for the first time only in this format.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts at reuniting the original Genesis. This is as close as one can get right now to seeing this music still performed by one of its original inventors. Saying “a job well done” is an understatement.

Rating: A

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