Steve Hackett
Genesis Revisited Band & Orchestra: Live

Steve Hackett is a diligent man and he likes to revisit Genesis, as he has done once more when it comes to this new live release. He has one impressive release already this year and here comes a second one with Genesis stuff played with his regular band and an orchestra enhancing the songs with wind instruments and strings. That is something quite interesting considering that most of the stuff Hackett does and have done is well suited for being enhanced with symphony stuff. But just because it works it shouldn’t always need to be released, this is the third Hackett live release I write about since 2016, that is a lot – I think that live releases should be reserved for more special events or very rarely released otherwise. A symphonic event can be considered a bit special but as Hacketts music is quite melodic anyway it isn’t really that much difference, a bit more depth and melody but not really that different.

By now the style of music should not be surprising, Hackett has released plenty of albums and he plays the progressive rock and has done so all the way through his career. The sound of this live recording is excellent, really strong melodies that are enhanced by the symphony orchestra. Everything is flawlessly made, the variation is strong and you can listen through the entire thing without thinking that it is too long. But at the same time it is difficult to overlook that this is quite similar to the previous live albums I have written about, sure the orchestra adds something little extra but not really that much.

The video is well produced and well-lit, the cutting is in line with the tempo of the songs and performances in general. There isn’t much to complain about in terms of the video either. But as the band is fairly static a bit faster cutting and braver camera moves would have added some life and energy to the viewing experience, that is a personal preference though and the video material is as solid as the music. But you cannot really claim that this band shows the most impressive stage presence ever presented so the video material can be described as solid but not really exciting.

As usual with Hackett you get a great album when listening to this one, but it doesn’t feel like you are getting a new one. It is familiar, solid and very good but Hackett already has plenty of live albums and this sort of becomes another one in a very long line of live albums. Fans who have enjoyed the earlier live albums will probably find this one as appealing as well, but it offers nothing we haven’t already heard. The little additional depth and melody offered by the orchestra aren’t really setting the album apart from earlier works by Hackett.

Good and solid live album; it should have been released as a vinyl LP or something so that you get the best part of it. It is a release there you don’t really need to look at the video, it is enough to listen to the songs as they are quite great while the band isn’t the most exciting to look for and there are better choices if you want to watch a good live video. I would not call this the most impressive release in the brilliant discography of Steve Hackett; you will not be disappointed if you get this one.

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