It isn’t difficult to imagine the many faces
in disbelief when the media announced that Ray Wilson had replaced Phil
Collins in Genesis. It was almost the same shock as when Trevor Horn
replaced Jon Anderson in Yes. But just who was Ray Wilson ? Wilson had been
the leadsinger with the band Stiltskin but it was only because one of their
songs was used for a commercial that they got known by the general public,
not because of their musical merit. In the end, just like Trevor Horn with
the Yes album “Drama”, the Genesis album “Calling all stations”
featuring Wilson isn’t the bad album the media made us think it is. It’s
different but certainly not bad. That’s why this current Wilson live album
is such an important release because it gives Ray the chance to illustrate,
in an unplugged setting, what he’s really capable of. Recorded at the 2001 Edinburgh International
Festival, Ray not only delivers some original compositions but also some
Genesis highlights whether band or solo efforts. The album starts with a
rendition of the Phil Collins classic ‘In the air tonight’ featuring the
extra soulful voice of Amanda Lyon. It’s followed by the Stiltskin megahit
‘Inside’. There’s the unexpected version of Peter Gabriel’s
‘Biko’ and a selection of Wilson’s alltime favourites ranging from
Dylan’s ‘Forever young’ to Springsteen’s ‘Born to run’ before
tackling the Eagles’ ‘Desperado’. Next to six Wilson originals
musiclovers will be interested to hear how Genesis material translates
itself to the unplugged formula. First up are ‘Shipwrecked’ and ‘Not
about us’ from the “Calling all stations” album, still Ray’s one and
only album with Genesis. Scottish born and bread Wilson even throws some
humour in the set when he asks the audience if anyone out there is into the
‘old’ Genesis only to see of these people are still alive ! His slight
harsch voice slightly remembers us of Gabriel during ‘Lover’s leap’
from ‘Supper’s ready’, ‘The carpet crawlers’ and ‘Mama’, all
sounding remarkably different without keyboards. Reviewed by John 'Bobo' Bollenberg |
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