The Watch is the aftermath of the breakup of The Nightwatch, a promising Italian group that released a CD a few years ago that caused a bit of a stir in the prog rock community. Their combination of influences ranging from Genesis (the Gabriel years), Marillion (the Fish years) and the firepower of Red-era King Crimson caught the attention of listeners who dig the classic prog retro trip.
Lead singer Simone Rossetti found some new musicians, shortened the bands name, dropped the Crimson influence, and dug out all the old Genesis riffs for this one. I will admit that there is not much of originality on Ghost, but being a fan of vintage Genesis, I can’t help but find this CD enjoyable. Rossetti’s vocals are amazingly like Gabriel’s, and even Fish at times. Keyboard players Gabriele Manzini and Sergio Taglioni manage to use every Tony Banks trick in the book using a wide assortment of classic keyboard sounds. Like Moog, Mellotron, piano, Hammond? Well, there’s much to feast on here. It’s scary at times listening to these songs, as the tone is very serious most of the time, occasionally giving way to some tongue-in-cheek sections like Genesis used to write. Certain passages in a few songs like “DNAlien”, “The Ghost and the Teenager” and “Moving Red” could have been leftovers from Selling England By the Pound. The lyrics tend to be very complex, practically mini-stories unto themselves, and make for good reading.
If you can get past the almost “copycat” nature of this CD, this is really quite an enjoyable recording. For all who miss the Gabriel era of Genesis (like I do) this will be a welcome addition to your music collection.
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