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Liner Notes: Genesis Heights

In the fall of 1976, following the worldwide success of “A Trick Of The Tail” and the accompanying tour, Genesis travelled to the small town of Hilvarenbeek in Holland where they entered Relight studios and set about recording their second album written as a four-piece band. Out of these sessions came another timeless Genesis masterpiece, “Wind And Wuthering”. Fans couldn't fail to notice that this album had a more sombre overall mood than its predecessor and it is now generally well known that lead guitarist Steve Hackett was beginning to feel restrained within the confines of Genesis. The enormous success of his first solo album, “Voyage Of The Acolyte”, had given Steve more confidence and he was at last finding his feet as a songwriter. He came to the “Wind And Wuthering” sessions with plenty of new material but, to his dismay, most of his ideas were met with a blatant lack of interest from Tony, Mike and Phil. Much of Steve's best material was rejected and it marked the start of friction between him and his bandmates.

Nevertheless, the recording sessions yielded a very impressive new epic that became an instant hit with all Genesis fans worldwide. “Wind And Wuthering” was launched in December of 1976, their second release in ten months. The six month world tour to promote the album was set to start with the re-opening of London's famed Rainbow Theatre on January 1^st, 1977. After a few weeks of touring in Britain, Genesis once more travelled across the sea to invade North America, more determined than ever to make their mark in the land of opportunity. To replace guest drummer and percussionist Bill Bruford , the band recruited North American drummer Chester Thompson, best known for his work with Frank Zappa and Weather Report but still a newcomer to the progressive rock scene. His energetic playing would soon win him a place in the hearts of Genesis fans the world over and in later years, his epic drum duet with Phil would become one of the highlights of every Genesis performance.

The “Wind And Wuthering” tour would introduce quite a few changes in the Genesis stage show. After the departure of Peter Gabriel and his fantasy creations, the band were keen for the music to come to the forefront so, with the exception of Harry's hat and coat in “Robbery, Assault & Battery”, there had been no costume changes in the “Trick Of The Tail” live show. For the “Wind And Wuthering” show, Genesis took a few steps further - no more side curtains, screens or projections. Only the music, enhanced by some of the most breathtaking light and laser effects ever seen on the rock scene. As Genesis were booked to play bigger arenas, the stage was increased and Chester and Phil's drum kits were positioned on a three-foot elevated platform at the back of the stage. And since they were now playing larger venues, the sound systems had grown accordingly. Only two years had passed since the end of the “Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” tour, yet Genesis had developed from a struggling cult band to megastars playing to sold-out crowds in some of the world's biggest and most famous arenas. Purists would argue that this was not for the best and, looking back on it now, most fans would tend to agree.

But Genesis were still Genesis and the “Wind And Wuthering” tour was pure magic once again. After a few adjustments, which unfortunately saw “Lilywhite Lilith”, “Wot Gorilla?” and “All In A Mouse's Night” being dropped, the band settled for a standard set, of which this NYC show is a fine example. The set list would remain unchanged until the tour reached Europe, at which time “Your Own Special Way” was dropped in favour of “Inside And Out”, a track from their brand new “Spot The Pigeon” EP and a dynamic live number. As they performed five, and sometimes six, songs from their latest recording, four from “A Trick Of The Tail” and two each from both “The Lamb” and “Selling England”, there was not much room left for anything else but the classic “Supper's Ready”.

Sadly, this would turn out to be Steve Hackett's last tour with Genesis. After struggling with his feelings of frustration for several months, Steve finally decided to move on and start a solo career. Genesis would never be the same again without his ghostly guitar sounds and imaginative playing!

The Earl

Notes From the Re-Master

This show was remastered using the master cassette tapes as the source. They were in very good condition, given the number of years that they have been sitting on the shelf. There was a C60 and a C90 tape used but fortunately all tape flips occurred during applause so no patches were needed. The tapes were digitized using 20-bit resolution and 32-bit format.

The first problem that was obvious was the level of Hiss and other noise. This was reduced using standard techniques insuring that no actual music elements were removed. Next, a volume dependent midrange excess made the louder sections very harsh. A dynamic compression of this frequency band helped to correct this problem. Dialogue sections were initially hard to understand because of the apparent distance of the taper from the stage and the barn-like acoustics of Madison Square Garden. These sections were adjusted as much as possible to help correct the problem. Clicks, bumps and other episodic noises were removed as much as possible. The channel balance was clearly off and needed adjustment. Finally, the speed of the recording was checked by comparing segments of the show to known standards. Both master tapes ran too fast so the music was quite slow. But both tapes ran at different speeds. So, speed correction was segmental but ultimately led to a nice uniform sound. The show was converted to 16-bit Audio and saved in SHN format.

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