Listen to rock playlist #057 from ‘LP’
An hour or so of music you may not have heard for a while, or at all
The YouTube playlist uses the same artists and songs, but some versions are played live, and there’s a bonus track - dive in and explore …
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Listening Guide #057
Genesis, ‘Watcher of the Skies’ (live at The Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, 24/01/1975) [from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: Deluxe Edition, released 26/09/2025]
After several delays, the new edition of The Lamb is out next week. Yesterday Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford gathered for a Q&A session and Dolby Atmos playback (Phil Collins is recovering from knee surgery, according to genesis-news.com), so it is really happening this time. This is the latest preview, an older classic Genesis track and an atmospheric live performance, one of the encores after the entire live performance of The Lamb.
Big Big Train, ‘Black with Ink’ (live) [from Are We Nearly There Yet? - Live Around the World, released 03/10/2025 and streaming from 03/11/2025]
Reviews of most BBT records make a comparison with Genesis, and clearly there’s some merit in that, but BBT are so much more than a tribute band. The new live album promises to be something special and an indication of how well they have grown since the passing of David Longdon – new lead singer Alberto Bravin made the role his own rapidly and now plays a leading role in the band, compiling this live album with Gregory Spawton. If you enjoy this, the other preview track so far available is an 18-minute version of ‘Beneath the Masts’.
Nick D’Virgilio, ‘In the Cage’ [from Rewiring Genesis: A tribute to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway released 28/11/2025]
This has become one of the better years for Genesis. The Lamb’s 50th anniversary edition, a massive leak of soundboard quality bootlegs (nothin’ to do with me, gov., just reporting that it happened), and now BBT drummer Nick D’Virgilio is reissuing his Lamb project. Covering whole albums has a small but respectful niche (other examples include an entirely a cappella version of The Who Sell Out by Petra Haden and Thea Gilmore’s reading of Dylan’s John Wesley Harding). D’Virgilio sticks closely to the original arrangement on ‘In the Cage’, but the project started differently. “Mark Hornsby and I had the crazy idea to get a bunch of Nashville’s top musicians together and record ‘The Colony Of Slippermen’. We thought it would be fun to put a country-fied or bluegrass twist on that classic progressive rock song.” That experiment was sufficiently successful for them to go for the whole album. This reissue (the first version was released in 2008) sees the addition of strings, used to great effect in the middle instrumental section, and Steve Hackett. The biggest drawback when covering Genesis is there’s only one singer who can match Peter Gabriel, and that’s Phil Collins. The vocals here do the job without being overly inspiring. See also another cover of The Lamb, Dave Kerzner & Sonic Elements It - A Celebration of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, including Nick D’Virgilio on drums. I don’t think it’s the same record …
Van Der Graaf Generator, ‘The Undercover Man’ (from Godbluff)
Greg Spawton of Big Big Train knows what he thinks about this album: “For me, Godbluff is Van Der Graaf Generator’s finest ever album and therefore one of the greatest prog rock albums of all time. It is okay to disagree with this opinion, but if you do, you’d be wrong.” (Facebook post). FDGG are a band I want to like but have never quite got into. BBT are one of my favourite bands. The only option was to listen again. I’m yet to find the time for the whole album, but I did enjoy this track more than I thought I might, so I’ll be back. By the way, if I had a ‘web throwback of the week’ award VDGG would win it.
Lunatic Soul, ‘The World Under Unsun’ [from The Word Under Unsun released 31/10/2025]
Lunatic Soul is the solo studio music project of creator, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mariusz Duda, the lead singer of prog-rock band Riverside. This track doesn’t try too hard, and yet there’s plenty going on over a persistent rhythm and deep, Nick Cave-type vocals.
Tanita Tikaram, ‘Lover Don’t Come Around’ [from LIAR released 10/10/2025]
All of the preview tracks from LIAR (Love Isn’t a Right) have been outstanding, so I’m very much looking forward to hearing the entire album. This one is the most upbeat so far. Tanita Tikaram is back.
The Pogues, ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ [from Rum, Sodomy and the Lash - Expanded Version]
Written by Scottish singer-songwriter Eric Bogle, this moving song is perfect for the reflective side of The Pogues. Shane McGowan’s voice brings out the cracked heartbreak of the lyrics: “I never knew there were worse things than dying.” I’m writing this guide on the International Day of Peace. I posted the official anthem by Dave Stewart and Daryll Hall in Substack Notes yesterday, and you can also find it in the YouTube playlist for this issue of LP>Play.
Jon Tyler & His Virginia Choir, ‘(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding’ [single]
It was almost compulsory to include this great new version of Nick Lowe’s song to follow. Jon Tyler is member of the Americana band Melodime and a seasoned session musician, according to his press pack.
Weather Systems, ‘Do Angels Sing Like Rain’ [from Ocean Without a Shore]
Finally, let’s raise the noise levels a little with Weather Systems, who are the new band from former Anathema mastermind and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Cavanagh and former Anathema drummer and producer Daniel Cardoso. Melodic, powerful and cleverly constructed.
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Coming next on LP
LP>Play #058 will be with you in a couple of weeks. Before then … THE LAMB …
Some great picks, Ian! I loved hearing the '75 "Watcher of the Skies" Genesis, as I attended the Houston leg of "The Lamb" tour, so I must've heard "Watcher," always a fave, as it's the first song I ever heard by them, when my lead guitarist played me "Foxtrot" upon its release in fall of '72 (I was 17). Of course, I was 20 feet away from Peter and "Watcher" the year before in Austin, at their Armadillo World Headquarters in spring of '74 (I've written about it, and meeting Peter after and getting his autograph....readers can search FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE for "Peter Gabriel" and find it)!
Curiously enough, my guitarist was into all things prog at the time, and I know Van Der Graaf was one of his "oddball" curiosities he tried to turn me onto! Camel, King Crimson, Gong, Greenslade, and a couple others he also ran across his turntable in my direction, but, as soon as I heard that riveting mellotron opening on "Watcher," I was hooked!
I really enjoyed D'Virgilio's arrangement on "In the Cage"! Loved the full orchestra, and the strings all over the chorus and that mid-song instrumental break! I've always wanted to hear Genesis rendered with strings and horns, not unlike this! I just saw what I guess was a recent Hackett and full orchestra on "Supper's Ready" (was that thru you somewhere?).
I also liked the Jon Tyler Wiley take on "What's So Funny"! Talk about wild abandon....I think his arrangement is a little quicker tempo than EC's!