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Jan 26, 2015 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Genesis was at a crossroads in the early ‘80s. Frontman Peter Gabriel left in 1975 for a solo career and guitarist Steve Hackett departed before 1978’s appropriately-titled ...And Then There Were Three. But instead of marking a downturn in the band’s fates, this mid-period incarnation of Genesis-frontman Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford-found itself on the cusp of new heights. The subsequent albums, 1980’s Duke and the following year’s Abacab, were two of the best of the reinvigorated band’s career, and songs like “Misunderstanding,” “Turn It On Again,” and “No Reply At All” ushered in a more singles-friendly Genesis to begin the decade.

Three Sides Live, released as a double LP in 1982, served to document the band’s new era, and the accompanying video, reissued here for the first time on Blu-Ray and stand-alone DVD, stands as the ultimate mid-period Genesis show. Faithful to the original release, this reissue presents a 12-song concert with interspersed backstage and interview footage. Recorded on the band’s 1981 North American tour, the show begins with Collins on drums, then symbolically moving to the front to sing “Behind the Lines,” “Duchess,” and “Misunderstanding” all from Duke. The more progressive “Dodo/Lurker,” from Abacab, proves that while Genesis was moving into more pop hit territory, it still possessed the chops and inclination toward the more experimental material it trafficked in earlier days. While the more electronic “Who Dunnit?” sounds incredibly dated today, the rest of Three Sides Live holds up amazingly well more than 30 years later. Collins is in fantastic voice throughout and songs from hits like “No Reply At All” and “Turn It On Again” to album cuts like “Me & Sarah Jane” sound as alive as they ever have.

It would be a short half-decade until Genesis started to become a parody of its hit-making self, with albums like the band’s Invisible Touch and Collins’ perpetual giant face-cover solo albums. But Three Sides Live is Genesis at its mid-period best, a band equally adept at hooking you with a melody as delighting with its prog-leaning instrumental prowess. (www.eagle-rock.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10