I Know What I Like

Marketed under the title I Know What I Like, this CD is a bootlegged release of Seconds Out minus the tracks "Suppers Ready" and "Cinema Show." Most likely, the two were not included in order to accommodate a single-disc package (Seconds Out is a double disc). Released in 1992 on the Italian On Stage label, I Know What I Like has superb sound quality. The performances, recorded in Paris in 1976 and1977, feature Collins in the role of lead vocalist for the first time on a live tour. While his voice excels on "Afterglow" and even on Gabriels "Musical Box," it is barely adequate on other Gabriel classics, most notably "The Carpet Crawl" and the title cut. Despite these shortcomings, the music is always majestic. Chester Thompson, a one-man powerhouse, handles drum duty throughout. He and Collins double up on "Firth of Fifth," "The Musical Box," and, of course, "Los Endos." Collins also performs a keyboard solo on "Robbery, Assault and Battery." As always, Tony Banks keyboards are the dominant force in the music, the backbone of the Genesis sound. The compositions on I Know What I Like are superior to anything the band accomplished thereafter. ~ David Ross Smith