Retro Record Review: Genesis Classic: Live in Poznan by Ray Wilson and the Berlin Symphony Ensemble (2011)
Ray Wilson may not be a household name like his Genesis predecessors and hasn't appeared in the UK charts for many years, but he still has a cult following (which is especially strong in his adopted home country of Poland) and has been far from idle since leaving the band almost two decades ago. Alongside a solo career and a revival of Stiltskin, his other recent project has been the Genesis Classic, an innovative fusion of Genesis hits with classical instruments, and after years of listening to the band's own live and studio versions this album is a refreshingly different take and really is a revelation.
Despite its name, the Genesis Classic is made up predominantly but not exclusively of Genesis songs, and also includes related material from Stiltskin, Mike and the Mechanics, and the solo careers of Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Wilson himself. The show made its debut in 2009 and after eighteen months on the road honing it, this performance was recorded in his current hometown of Poznan, Poland in December 2010 and released in July the following year as a boxset containing two CDs and a DVD. Wilson had apparently intended to release the entire performance separately on DVD, but problems with poor quality of the footage meant this plan had to be abandoned and caused delays to the album's release, so the majority of songs are audio-only. Eight tracks were however salvaged from the video and included on a bonus DVD in the set to give a feel of what the show looked like.
This album is a rarity that is not easy to obtain as I couldn't find it listed on Amazon or eBay, and the only online retailer stocking it is Wilson's own official website, so my order was itself despatched from Poznan. Such is the low volume of sales that Wilson is able to individually sign every copy, something that would never happen with a Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins album. The band featured here basically comprises the complete line-up of the reformed Stiltskin (Ali Ferguson and Ray's brother Steve Wilson on guitars, Lawrie Macmillan on bass, Ashley Macmillan on drums and Filip Walcerz on keyboards), plus three violinists (Kristin Sy, Steffi Hoelk and Nora Boesel) and cellist Tobias Unterberg. The Genesis Classic show is still touring five years later, mostly in Poland and Germany, but the size and composition of the band has changed regularly and only Steve Wilson and Steffi Hoelk now remain from this incarnation as full-time members.
Wilson has matured as an artist since his time with Genesis and seems more comfortable and self-confident with less to prove. He has a commanding presence and is in fine voice here, with the exception of 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', which is inexplicably a bit off-key and not as good as his past performances. The inclusion of this sub-par rendition shows his honesty and integrity as many other artists would either cut such a disappointing performance from the recording or enhance it in post-production. As the title track of the extraordinarily bizarre concept album released at the height of Peter Gabriel's eccentricity, this is one of my least favourite Genesis songs so personally I feel it is no great loss, but others may disagree.
The combination of strings and keyboards gives Genesis's songs a quality similar to that of the Electric Light Orchestra, and indeed Wilson's voice is not completely unlike Jeff Lynne's. His choice of material is unusual and sometimes unexpected, for instance 'Turn It On Again', 'Land Of Confusion' and 'Jesus He Knows Me' don't obviously seem to lend themselves to the addition of strings, yet somehow it really works and creates a very different but equally pleasing sound compared with the Genesis originals. Perhaps the finest change is that to 'Congo', a song Wilson reputedly disliked and rarely performed due to its simplicity, but also his biggest hit with Genesis. This has been extensively reworked and transformed into what it always could have been, something much deeper and more exciting than the slightly staid album version, and the final solo suits the violins far better than Tony Banks's original keyboards that to me didn't really fit with the rest of the song.
Wilson does seem a little confused over the dates he was in Genesis, as at one point he tells the audience that he recorded Calling All Stations eleven years ago. As this show took place in 2010, that would put the album's release date at 1999, when in fact it was a full two years earlier, but he can be forgiven for this as he has done so many other things since Genesis. Alongside the aforementioned 'Congo', three other songs from this album also feature, 'Shipwrecked', 'Not About Us' and 'Calling All Stations', all tastefully rearranged and most unlike the versions he used to sing with Genesis back in 1998. Wilson apparently considers the latter to be one of the most difficult to perform well, but as the title track of his only Genesis album it deserves a place here and this version certainly delivers, further enhanced by being allowed to reach a climax rather than fading out through the final verse as on the studio recording.
The acoustic guitar is an instrument that rarely featured in Genesis's studio work, 'Not About Us' being an unusual exception, but Wilson himself is a guitarist and an acoustic section is included in this show, inspired by that featured on the 1998 Calling All Stations tour. Among these songs is a stripped-down version of Phil Collins's debut solo hit 'In The Air Tonight', which adds some amusement as the audience sing their part a little reluctantly, prompting Wilson to comment that Collins might be sitting at home watching on YouTube and wondering what he had done to his song. The minimal accompaniment really allows the strength of Wilson's voice to shine through on this track, and it sounds great even without Collins's iconic drumming. The use of strings has added even more sadness and poignancy to a stunningly beautiful rendition of the other featured Collins classic 'Another Day In Paradise' that honestly brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it.
The version of the Genesis concert favourite 'I Can't Dance' performed here is drastically different from the original, and Wilson has transformed it into a full-on country rock song reminiscent of the Eagles' later work as played live, with the addition not only of strings but also the harmonica. 'Constantly Reminded', one of the non-Genesis songs and taken from the last Stiltskin album, also has country overtones and similarities to some of the late Gerry Rafferty's work, and Wilson sounds not dissimilar to his countryman here. For the first encore, Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill' has become a great sing-along piece with its catchy guitar riff augmented by the string section, while the show ends on a high with a dramatic heavy rock rendition of Stiltskin's number one 'Inside'.
All in all, this album is a very enjoyable listen and looks set to join Wilson's unfairly maligned Genesis studio album Calling All Stations in the ranks of my favourites. It presents some interestingly reworked and very different versions of familiar songs, alongside some of Wilson's own work that is less well known, and shows what Genesis material can be like when performed outside the confines of the band with a fresh interpretation from musicians other than Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. From the tender heartbreak of 'Shipwrecked' to the shouty grunge of 'Inside', he is certainly a diverse performer with a wide range of vocal abilities, and the strings are beautifully arranged by Tobias Unterberg to complement and add a new dimension to the original sounds.
It is a shame that Ray Wilson hasn't received more recognition in the UK for this innovative project and the album remains firmly in obscurity, but for Genesis fans who have become familiar and perhaps a little bored with the band's own approach to their songs, Genesis Classic: Live in Poznan is well worth the effort to seek out in the search for fresh material. I'll be honest, I'm no musical expert but the more I hear of Ray Wilson, the more I like him, hence so much passionate writing about him, and he may even end up overtaking Phil Collins to become my favourite Genesis singer! You may never have heard of him before but I hope this piece opens even just one reader's eyes to the delightful music of Ray Wilson and might result in a purchase of this rare gem of an album. The DVD is available on YouTube if you want to get a flavour of the Genesis Classic show, but the complete album is not and can only be obtained from www.raywilson.net.
Track listing:
CD1:
- Turn It On Again (Genesis - Collins)
- That's All (Genesis - Collins)
- Carpet Crawlers (Genesis - Gabriel)
- Congo (Genesis - Wilson)
- Another Day In Paradise (Phil Collins)
- Constantly Reminded (Stiltskin)
- Another Cup Of Coffee (Mike and the Mechanics)
- Jesus He Knows Me (Genesis - Collins)
- Calling All Stations (Genesis - Wilson)
- In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
CD2:
- Shipwrecked (Genesis - Wilson)
- Ripples (Genesis - Collins)
- No Son Of Mine (Genesis - Collins)
- The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Genesis - Gabriel)
- Follow You Follow Me (Genesis - Collins)
- Change (Ray Wilson)
- Not About Us (Genesis - Wilson)
- Land Of Confusion (Genesis - Collins)
- I Can't Dance (Genesis - Collins)
- Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel)
- Inside (Stiltskin)
DVD:
- Congo
- Jesus He Knows Me
- Calling All Stations
- In The Air Tonight
- Follow You Follow Me
- Not About Us
- Solsbury Hill
- Inside
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