There is a saying ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’. It is a true statement, and certainly the music industry is testament to that sentiment. There are thousands of Tribute bands out in the wild. Go to Las Vegas and you can watch Elvis impersonators from dawn till dawn, in fact you can even get married by a few of them! Beatles bands are just about as prolific, tribute is here to stay.
Some might argue that ‘tribute’ shows a lack of originality, or a lack of musical ability. I disagree, some bands have gone on to create their own brand, sometimes sounding more like the original band than the real thing!
So lets take a look at Rewiring Genesis. Yes this is a tribute album, but not what you might expect. They have taken an original album in it’s entirety Lies Down On Broadway, and given it a whole and fresh makeover.
Only Phil Collins sounds like Phil Collins, this band makes no attempt to be Genesis, they are merely using Lies Down On Broadway as a blank canvas on which to paint their own musical portrait. I like this approach, they are by no means copying, these guys are creating. In many ways it reminds me of a tribute album that was released following the death of June Carter-Cash, not in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned Elvis Costello doing a cover of ‘Burning Ring Of Fire’ (yes folks June wrote it, but Johnny made it famous).
Rewiring Genesis might not be for the hard core Genesis fan, but I suspect that it will be a highly successful project. This is a delightful reworking of a very classic album. This album is well worth seeking out. Nick D’Virgilio of Spock’s Beard fame and engineer/producer Mark Hornsby are to be congratulated for making a very innovative version of an early Genesis album, one that maybe did not get the credit it deserved when it was first released.
You can get your copy at better record stores or Amazon. The CD goes on sale on November 4th, which incidentally is my birthday and wedding anniversary, Oh, and I guess there is some voting stuff going on that day as well. So go out and vote, pick up a copy of Rewiring Genesis on your way back to work, and send me a birthday card with money in it! 
Simon Barrett
Loading ...
9 users commented in " CD Review: Rewiring Genesis – A Tribute To The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWow,thanks for the great review,you obviously get it! I played the guitar on this project and got to know “the Lamb” very well to say the least. From the outset, the concept was to interpret not copy the original. Thanks again, Don Carr
Wow! Just got the cds in the mail from ProgRock records.
I know The Lamb in and out and this really is a fresh, young look at this masterpiece of concept album from early Genesis.
I don’t know why the review said it’s not for hardcore Genesis fans. It definitely is!
GO BUY IT NOW!
Cheers,
Jochen
when you say, ‘only Phil Collins sounds like Phil Collins’, I assume you’re talking about his drumming, since most of the vocals on the original were handled by Peter Gabriel!
nope. he meant Phil’s voice. thanks for pointing that out. if only because the drums on ‘Rewiring’ does sound like Phil’s drum technique.
also, the title ‘A Tribute To The Lies Down On Broadway’. what happened with the ‘Lamb’? Further on: ‘an original album in it’s entirety Lies Down On Broadway’. Interestingly, to the people, not only fans, who do know the album, it is commonly referred to as ‘The Lamb’, just the word omitted.
he’s right about the quality and originality of the album, but it really makes you wonder if the chap ever heard the original.
‘With profit potential marked by a sign,
I can recognise some of the production line.’
I am a dyed-in-the-wool Genesis fan from the Peter Gabriel days and I have to admit that I was skeptical at first but this project is absolutely superb. Listening to it was a revelation - I wouldn’t have dreamt that The Lamb could be “rewired” so tastefully. I love the original but this tribute breathes fresh blood into a classic album.
- RBF Toronto, Canada
In reply to: “it really makes you wonder if the chap ever heard the original.” I can assure you both Nick and Mark have heard the original. Nick is my little brother, eight years younger, and I discovered Genesis and The Lamb when I was sixteen. Which would make Nick eight when he was introduced to The Lamb. I introduced him to all kinds of great music as he was growing up. He’s just turned 40. He knows The Lamb inside out, and upside down.
In fact, back in 1994 I think it was, Kevin Gilbert put together a band to do The Lamb live at a now defunct Prog festival in LA. Nick played the drums and was spot on. The video of that with Kevin singing and using period instruments is classic.
Lighten up about this project. Anybody who gives enough of a damn about “Lamb Lies Down” (as WE like to call it) to do this is good by me. I just wish I could be there tonight in Nashville to hear somebody belt out “Back in New York City.”
I just purchased the album through Amazon and have listened to it three times. I am a longtime Lamb fan and always felt that it was a remarkable piece of creative art — not just music (although that is first rate). It has an interesting story open to one’s own interpretation, wonderful lyrics…on and on.
As for this version. I absolutely think it is wonderful. I have found myself being quite silly, singing and dancing along as I listen on my mp3 player and that’s just not something I normally do. But this interpretation and its wonderful instrumentations just grabs me somewhere deep down and doesn’t let do. A sheer delight and I am trying to get as many people as I can to experience it. I am experimenting with people who have diverse musical tastes but don’t necessarily know about The Lamb or Peter Gabriel era Genesis.
This is the most excited I’ve been about music in many years…
Hey you guys!
I don’t suppose any has mentioned, or perhaps even knew, that Nick D’Virgilio was one of the two drummers used on Genesis’s last studio album, ‘Calling All Stations’?…I think he knows a little about Genesis!…smiles
Nick…this is astonishing stuff! The mixing is a dream,, and the instrumentation is powerful, yet somehow intricate, and I have a feeling that, measured against (no disrespect to you Phil) the subsequent live versions, even Peter Gabriel himself would be impressed! Isn’t ironic that Phil’s replacement on that last album, should now be directly involved in vocalising, what most would consider, a version of the Lamb, second only to the original
Leave A Reply