Comment from Rob:
Being a long time fan i try to devour everything i can about the band. I know those songs well enough to know some parts had been redone and I heard Tony Banks and Steve Hackett confirm the same in interviews. Your detailed analyses is impressive because i did not realize the retracking was so extensive. Would love to do an album analyses of Selling england by the pound. A very controversial album within the band as to where Peter went too far with certain vocal tracks but one of my favorites.
Reply from Lileigh:
Hi, Rob!
So glad you are enjoying the Analysis series...(makes me grin to know there are others out there who also love to get caught up in the delectable historical & musical minutia of it all ;-)
I, too, was quietly astounded as to how much of Archive had been re-tracked vocally, by Peter...then really happy to know that Steve had gone back into the studio to re-cut the most important highlight solos of the the live Shrine show (since, in addition to the left thumb tendon surgery - I always felt his soaring guitar harmonies to Tony's magnificent BankSynths were consistently lost in the Live..and sometimes, recorded..early mixes).
Whatever surprise I felt over 15 months ago - when I first heard the original King Biscuit Flower Hour live version & compared it with the Archive 1 collection - it thankfully spurred me on to post those first 2 videos (to razz some friends)...and the rest is YouTube history!
It led to my collaboration with Steve and Nick ...which led to more Hackett, Supper's Ready and Cinema Show-focused Analysis vids...which led to The Musical Box and King Crimson (Adrian Belew & Tony Levin) material.
I haven't had this much fun in years, to tell you the truth... *wink*
As for doing an Analysis video on Selling England By The Pound (on which I adore Phil & Peter's outlandish vocals - especially "Battle of Epping Forest"...remember they shared the same label as Monty Python, in those early days..and Peter, to this day, is capable of superlative vocal-impressions & accents) - I would say I'd be happy to focus on SEBTP...but, with what would I compare?
My main goal has been to de-construct that which has been "restored" by audio engineering & re-mixing magic.
It was meant to be instructive as to how something that was fatally-flawed, abandoned & left mouldering somewhere in a cabinet or tape vault in rural England ..could be re-assembled and remade into an ingenious hybrid work of young & older genius.
Not only that...it was to show that two completely different artistic and corporate musical entities (Genesis/The Farm and Gabriel's Real World Studios) could once again work peaceably together (much like Disney and Warner Bros did with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit") to produce a totally new and wondrous animal.
Selling England has many bootleg recordings, I'm sure...and we have many of the live versions featured on the various collections. But, I'm not quite aware of Gabriel (or the other members of Genesis) re-tracking any of those released recordings.
And, that is the whole Raison D'etre of my YouTube series.
So, the question would be....what would you like me to technically analyze and compare with SEBTP, in particular?
Are you aware of some audio re-engineering of which I'm not aware?
If so, please elucidate..for I am ALWAYS on the lookout for new material to add, here! (And, that goes for anyone else following my series, ok?! :-)
xoxo Lil