reviews / 2021

GENESIS - The Last Domino?

Name: GENESIS – The Last Domino?
Item: The Last Domino?
Rating: 7
Author: Claudio Lancia

2021 (Virgin)

classic rock, progressive

by Claudio Lancia

Proprio mentre in terra inglese è partito l’attesissimo (anche se parziale) reunion tour, i Genesis rilasciano una selezione di materiale pubblicato nel corso della loro lunghissima carriera, l’ennesima celebrazione che come al solito lascia numerosi rimpianti per le troppe assenze, in alcuni casi davvero ingiustificabili. “The Last Domino?” (titolo scelto sia per il tour che per questa doppia raccolta) conferma l’insulso atteggiamento del trio superstite: insistere nel riproporre praticamente le medesime canzoni dal 1986. Un vero autogol per una band dal carniere ricchissimo, che potrebbe a ogni data far venire la pelle d’oca a tutti quei fan pronti a strapparsi i capelli per qualsiasi inatteso ripescaggio.

“The Last Domino?” contiene tutte le super hit degli anni 80 e dei primissimi 90 (“Turn It On Again”, “Abacab”, “Mama”, “Invisible Touch”, “Land Of Confusion”, “No Son Of Mine”), mentre assegna ingenerosamente poca importanza al periodo Gabriel, dal quale si recuperano quattro estratti dall’inevitabile “Selling England By The Pound” e un paio dal successivo “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway“, tralasciando completamente tutto quel che accadde prima. Scarsamente rappresentata anche la fase a quattro, quella con Steve Hackett ancora alle chitarre: la sola “Afterglow” non può certo sopperire all’oblio nel quale si lascia cadere l’intero “A Trick Of The Tail”.

Non mancano invece le smielate ballad molto Collins “Hold On My Heart” e “In Too Deep”, così come i brani più estesi degli ultimi dischi (“Home By The Sea”, “Domino”, “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”, “Fading Lights”), quelli che cercavano di mantenere il marchio Genesis su strutture prog più “moderniste”, con risultati apprezzabili pur se discontinui.

Nella versione della compilation pensata per il mercato americano, scompaiono “Duke’s End”, “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” e “I Know What I Like”, rimpiazzate da “Misunderstanding”, “Los Endos” e dall’immortale “The Musical Box”. Misteriose scelte dei compilatori, che ci regalano anche la chicca di un ordine apparentemente incomprensibile, che in realtà ha l’intento di riproporre la medesima sequenza pensata per i concerti in corso. Ed ecco la vera dimensione della raccolta: rappresentare la versione in studio di questo tour, una sorta di souvenir per coloro che assisteranno ai live show. Non a caso oltre Manica è finita nella Top Ten dei dischi più venduti.

Persa l’occasione di concepire un “bignamino” memorabile, restano comunque ventisette tracce che ripercorrono parte della storia di una delle rock band più importanti di sempre. Ognuno di noi avrà almeno un motivo per essere affezionato ad almeno una di loro.

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30/09/2021

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Claudio Lancia, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition

Tracklist

1. European Edition
Cd 1
1. Duke's End
2. Turn It On Again
3. Mama
4. Land of Confusion
5. Home by the Sea
6. Second Home by the Sea
7. Fading Lights
8. The Cinema Show
9. Afterglow
10. Hold on My Heart
11. Jesus He Knows Me
12. That's All
13. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
14. In Too Deep
Cd 2
1. Follow You Follow Me
2. Duchess
3. No Son of Mine
4. Firth of Fifth
5. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
6. Domino Medley
7. Throwing It All Away
8. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
9. Invisible Touch
10. I Can't Dance
11. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
12. Carpet Crawlers
13. Abacab (edit)
14. US Edition
Cd 1
1. Turn It on Again
2. Land of Confusion
3. Home by the Sea
4. That's All
5. Throwing It All Away
6. Follow You Follow Me
7. No Son of Mine
8. Hold on My Heart
9. I Can't Dance
10. Invisible Touch
11. Afterglow
12. Duchess
13. Misunderstanding
14. Jesus He Knows Me
15. In Too Deep
16. Domino (Pts. 1 & 2)
Cd 2
1. Mama
2. Carpet Crawlers
3. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
4. Firth of Fifth
5. Abacab (edit)
6. Los Endos
7. Fading Lights
8. The Cinema Show
9. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
10. The Musical Box

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