petergabriel.com

For information (I hope this isn't old news) . . . . NICK D?VIRGILIO RELEASES GENESIS ?LAMB? TRIBUTE ON PROGROCK RECORDS http://www.progrockrecords.com/press/view.php?id=97 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA ? 25 August 2008 ? Nashville-based recording engineer/producer and a Los Angeles-based performer have teamed up to create a unique twist on a classic Genesis album. This fall, Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard fame and engineer/producer Mark Hornsby are re-recording the Genesis classic: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, in it's entirety. Produced at Java Jive Studio in Nashville, the album features some of Music City?s best musicians, taking the songs in a whole new direction. "We wanted to see what would happen if we exposed the songs to a different climate of musicians," says D'Virgilio, "The early Genesis recordings are so musical and very bluesy when you get right down to it. They really lend themselves to some different interpretations. When it came time to figure out what label to work with, I remembered working with Shawn on the Amaran?s Plight release and had been really pleased with how that all worked out and I knew what a big Genesis fan he is, so I?m glad it worked out.". Although all of the original elements of the songs are still included such as drums, bass, guitar and piano, the recordings now take on a more "theatrical" vibe. This, coupled with orchestra, rock guitars, and some fantastic horn arrangements, the songs now enter an entirely different place. "We had talked about doing something like this for awhile," says Hornsby, "With the recent attention our version of The Colony of Slippermen received, and the re-release of the original album in 5.1, the time seemed right to see what we could come up with. After the first conference call with Shawn, I felt really comfortable about working with him, and we all managed to make it work and realize the fruition of our vision." "Genesis is one of my all time favorite bands and I spent many hours reading the lyrics and liner notes for The Lamb. Nick is one of my favorite drummers, and to combine these two elements in what is an amazing re-imaging of The Lamb is a fantastic thing to be part of.", said Shawn Gordon, President of ProgRock Records. "A Tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is the ProgRock Records debut release from Rewiring Genesis and can be found at http://www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=104. The album will be released in late September 2008 and is available for immediate pre-sale. The CD is discounted $2 during the pre-sale period. It will be available at your favorite brick and mortar retailer on October 21, 2008. ~ ~ ~ ~ The link to the album at ProgRock Records website is here and you can listen to the track "The Colony of Slippermen" http://www.progrockrecords.com/shop/view.php?id=175

Just goes to show how bloody brilliant Peter voice was and is! Oh why do people ruin perfectly good records with remakes??

I'm off to listen to the real deal now, you just can't beat originals. :-] :-]

Well Phensy, i wouldn't pass judgement too quickly. IMO it's not the voice on the Slipperman track that is the problem. That sounds like Nick himself and he has a fine voice. He is also a fantastic drummer. Just saw Spock's Beard live in fact. Great band! What i don't really dig on this track are the keyboard choices. The accordion and other less than meaty keys really takes the bite out of this track. But the rest of the album ain't necessarily so. Still, i would hardly say they have "ruined" it. I'd still like to hear it all when it's out.

I'm not even sure if I'd want to hear Genesis (Pete, Steve & "the Three") rerecord the Lamb with a "new interpretation", let alone these guys. I agree with Nechesh, the vocals are the least of the problems, at least with this one track. If I was going to re-do the Lamb (and I wouldn't btw), I'd have "bent" it towards a Latin feel (Rael being Puerto Rican). I could even understand an urban Hip Hop direction. What's with the Accordion, Big Bang thing? I didn't think Rael was Cajun. At first whiff, this smells pretty bad to me? =

There's a band out here in LA called 'the Art of Self Defense', and they've made a recording of, of all things, 'the Carpet Crawlers'. At first I cringed at the thought, but after listening to it only one time, I had to give them credit for doing such a straight-forward, stand up job of it. I hate it when someone decides to 'change' or 'tweak' a great song, it never comes out half as good as the original. Here's their MySpace URL http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=132213518 The song is listed as 'Work in PROGress' (pun intended) in their player window. Check it out

Misheard lyrics in Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Suzanne tired her work all done, Thinks money-honey-be on-neon. Cabman's velvet glove sounds the horn And the sawdust king spits out his scorn. Wonder women draw your blind! Don't look at me! I'm not your kind. I'm Rael! I thought it was: Suzanne tired her work all done, Thinks Merlin Merlin think of me now

Well just saying, in my opinion, that voice is too weak for that song. It really just hits ya right from the off that this is someone who doesn't feel the music, doesn't have a passion for it. When Pete sings it, it lives. This track is pretty lame(in my opinion).

Actually Theo, it's listed as "WORK IN progRESS" so perhaps their reference is "lower case". Nick D'Virgilio has a bit of a history with this album as he was in the band that with Kevin Gilbert recreated The Lamb live in 1994. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW57uYoQ0H8&feature=related

Well Phens, whether the album will be a success or not remains to be seen, But i have little doubt that Nick D'Virgilio does indeed have both a passion and the feel for the music. From the sounds of the quotes from Nick their intention is not to do a carbon copy of the origin. Why bother doing that? Rather they are attempting an interpretation of The Lamb. If it sounded exactly like Genesis i would have no interest in it whatsoever. No one is going to do that better, not even The Musical Box.

Here is another moment of Nick D'Virgilio taking one some Genesis material. Nick took the singing role here as usual lead singer Neal Morse took a turn at the drum kit. Of course this piece is early post Gabriel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtNhpVDcaGA