Detailed Reviews [Security Project – 2016 – "Live 1" / Security Project – 2016

Prolusion. These respectable and experienced musicians gathered in 2012, in the year of the 30th anniversary of Peter Gabriel’s album Security, with the sole purpose of paying tribute to the ex-Genesis member’s solo works, with a focus on the first four of them. Later, they expanded their repertoire into the Gabriel-era Genesis, and afterwards the inclusion of a new singer, Happy Rhodes, also allowed them to cover Kate Bush. The album under review is a double CD released in 2016 and representing live material from a European tour in February-March 2015 and a US tour in 2016. Most of it is focused on Peter Gabriel’s first four solo albums, with a few songs from Peter’s other works and Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

Analysis. I have to admit that, outside Genesis, I have given little attention to Peter Gabriel, and except for the famous duet Don’t Give Up with Kate Bush, I heard him long ago, and only ‘in passing,’ mostly when I visited some of my prog-loving friends. So, thanks to the guys from the Security Project I, firstly, (re-)discovered the work of this talented musician, on the other hand, this fact allowed me to take a fresh view on the original and the tribute. Do not let the 4.5 stars mislead you: for me, ideas are extremely important, and they were not Security Project’s, but Peter Gabriel’s, so I’ve deducted 2 points from Peter’s strong 6 stars and added then 0.5 stars for creative approach to others’ ideas. Apart from that, the guys did a flawless job. This live concert covers most of albums 3 (1980) and 4 (1982), some part of album 1 (1977), a couple of songs from album 2 (1978) and 1 song from each So (1986), Passion – Music From The Last Temptation Of Christ (1989) and OVO (2000). The guys approached very carefully the selection of songs, as they seem really very best from Peter’s discography. There are also three tracks from Genesis’ 1974 The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, but let’s first talk about Peter Gabriel. There are two cds of enjoyments varying in mood, tempo and theme, yet very integral and uniform: some are laconically and almost minimalistically expressive (such as Lay Your Hands On Me, The Family And The Fishing Net), others inspiring and calling (Here Comes The Flood, Biko, San Jacinto), while the third are quiet, beautiful and somewhat sad (Mercy Streets; Father, Son)… Certainly, these are mostly Peter’s merits, but Security Project managed to accurately convey the original ideas (this, perhaps, was to a great extent thanks to Jerry Marotta, a drummer who took part in most of Peter’s early albums, and, of course, Brian Cummins, whose voice is very similar to Gabriel’s and who managed to imitate the latter’s every intonation, as well as to the rest of the team) and did much more: they made it all sound very modern and up-to-date. On the other hand, they did not restrain themselves from improvising and experimenting. So, while some compositions are almost exact copies of originals (No Self Control, The Family And The Fishing Net), others feature some minor changes, which are always reasonable and made for the better. Track 9 from CD2, for instance, is a nice and clever blend of two songs from different albums. The quality of the live sound is very high, too, and leaves no questions. The topics addressed in the faraway 1970s and 1980s by Peter Gabriel remain important as ever: they range from very personal (Mercy Streets; Father, Son) through to globally important, raising questions such as friendship between people (Games Without Frontiers), as well as cruelty, injustice and struggle for freedom. With the current global situation in mind, calling for peace and addressing important global problems by big artists such as Peter Gabriel seem very important. As for the Genesis songs, all the three are very close to the originals, played with the same accurateness and skill, only somewhat more slowly.

Conclusion. So, which of the two – Peter Gabriel or Security Project? I’d rather choose Peter, who sounds somewhat nostalgic, reminiscent of the old 1970s and 1980s, yet very, very original, authentic and like no one else, including his former band, Genesis. But in fact, both are brilliant. So, if you are a fan of Peter Gabriel, be sure to buy Security Project’s cds or come to their concert – given that since recently they have Happy Rhoades with four-octave range on vocals, I’m sure it will be sheer enjoyment! If you are not familiar with Gabriel’s works, again, listen to both bands, no matter in what order – although there are mostly the same notes, you will get different emotions. Enjoy!

Proguessor: March 2022
The Rating Room