Genesis
Genesis Archives Vol. 2 – 1976-1992 (Atlantic 83410)

The second collection of live and rare material from Genesis is overall a satifactory collection. I'm more impressed with the musical content than with the packaging. Unlike all of the folks at alt.music.genesis who have a lot of this stuff plus tons more live stuff on bootleg, I'm not too upset at what was omitted (namely "Me & Virgil" from the 3X3 EP and the American 3 Sides Live, and 'Match of the Day' from the Spot the Pigeon EP).

I do agree that the four 12"s (three from Invisible Touch and one from We Can't Dance) were a waste of space and that perhaps some more live material – especially from the tour Bruford played – should have been included.

There are plenty of never before seen (by me) pics in the booklet, but the liner notes revealed very few things I didn't already know (one exception being an original list of potential replacements for Gabriel), and a promised explanation by Tony Banks about why certain tracks were omitted apparently never materialized. The booklet in the Peter Box was much more fascinating in terms of content.

But after listening to the whole thing, I rediscovered that, in many ways, the post-Gabriel lineup was just as strong and vital a group. I also rediscovered that although I think the Gabriel lineup came up with the more brilliant music, I think that Phil is by far the stronger vocalist.

The track by track rundown.

Disc 1

• "On The Shoreline" - B-side from We Can't Dance. Not too memorable, but not bad. A solid song. Strong performance and production. Better than many of the songs that made that album. B
• "Hearts On Fire" - Another b-side from We Can't Dance. Somewhat mindless dance-pop which Genesis doesn't quite pull off. Sounds more like a Phil solo track - a major complaint amongst fans about much of the We Can't Dance material. Tony and Mike are just session players on this. C
• "You Might Recall/Paperlate" - Now we're starting to get to the meat of the material. Always been two of my favorites, and until recently, unavailable on CD after the first pressing of 3 Sides Live. A+
• "Evidence of Autumn" - Still like this one. Not one of Banks's strongest tracks, but still nice. Sounds much warmer on CD. B+
• "Do The Neurotic" - Pop/progressive instrumental track from, surprisingly, the Invisible Touch era. A showcase for Rutherford and especially Banks. A
• "I'd Rather Be You" - Somewhat bland 80s pop doo-wop. C
• "Naminanu" - Intersting l'il instrumental from the Abacab sessions. Not very vital, but interesting enough to warrant inclusion. B
• "Inside and Out" - A lost classic. Excellent soloing by Banks and Hackett (his swan song moment in the group). From the Spot the Pigeon EP. A
• "Feeding The Fire" - A strong, almost heavy track from the Invisible Touch sessions. Should've been on that album instead of "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," but would have sold less Michelob. Love the bass line in the verses. A+
• "I Can't Dance (12")" - Eh, who cares. I'd be surprised if even the group would sit through this. F
• "Submarine" - An interesting idea that mainly doesn't go anywhere. It's prolly a demo. Just a series of chords building up, but interesting chord progressions, at least. Apparently it's cut off at the 4 1/2 minute mark (according to someone in the Genesis newsgroup), but perhaps that was for the best. We get the idea, guys. B-

• "Illegal Alien" - An MTV Classic, but they should've included the beginning part where Phil tunes the radio to other stations playing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and Van Halen's "Jump." B+
• "Dreaming While You Sleep" - One of the more interesting songs from We Can't Dance (the others being "Driving the Last Spike" and "Fading Lights"). Very atmospheric and drawing from some of their old bag of musical tricks (circa early 80s). Love the chorus! A
• "It's Gonna Get Better" - One of my all time favorites! The full version (for some reason, the song is cut in half on the Genesis album). Daryl Sturmer's solo is his shining moment - proof that he's the more vital guitarist than Hackett! Great Sandwich.' A++
• "Deep In The Motherlode" - Track from And Then There Were 3, performed on the Duke tour. Much stronger live. The band play a dirty trick in the beginning of this - they start with a heartbeat bass drum which makes everyone think they're about to play "In The Cage!" Brilliant.' B+
• "Ripples" - Performed the next night on the same Duke tour. The box wouldn't be complete without it. Someone should really cover this. Other than me, I mean. A
• "The Brazilian" - Not as powerful a performance, but at least we don't get the fade ending. It has its place in the box set, I suppose. B
• "Your Own Special Way" - Rutherford favorite from Wind And Wondering (1976), performed a decade later with a string arrangement, which is a very nice surprise. Very bewtiful. A+
• "Burning Rope" - another from And Then There Were 3. Not a favorite of mine. Not a favorite of Phil Collins's either, I'm sure. Just kinda plods along like Snuffleupagus, but not as endearing or potentially non-existent. (?)C-
• "Entangled" - The only live track with Bruford (who plays glockenspiel and maracas). Not the best placement on the box set…the CD starts to drag at this point with this being the third slow or drawn-out song in a row. B-
• "Duke's Travels/Duke's End" - Okay, I'm awake again.' Genesis' last great progressive rock moment! Banks is God!! Crank this fucker up!!! Need more exclamation points!!!! A+++

• Three 12"s from Invisible Touch - Why? Why? Why? The "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" remix is 11+ bloody minutes! Christ on a stick! Skip, Skip, Skip. F-
• "No Reply At All (live)" - Ah, now that's more like it! What a good pop song. Sturmer plays the EWF horn parts on guitar. A
• "Man On The Corner (live)" - Not much different from the studio version, aside from Phil's vocal performance and Rutherford's guitar. Again, it has its place in the set. A
• "The Lady Lies" - An adventurous l'il epic from And Then There Were 3…one of the few tracks from that album that really gels. Collins plays it up a bit in this performance. As close as the Phil band got to emulating the spirit of Gabriel-era Genesis. Strong build up to the end. Sturmer and the double drums are all over the place. B+
• "Open Door" - Rutherford song that was on the 4th side of 3 Sides Live. I used to not like this song too much (a bit too ballad-y) but now I think I "get it." A very fragile piece, and a nice contrast after the franticness of the preceding track. B+
• "The Day The Light Went Out" - A three minute prog-rock masterpiece. A+
• "Vancouver" - As with the previous track, a b-side of "Many Too Many" from ATTW3. Rutherford and Collins come up with a nice contrast to the usual Banks "heavy" b-side. Lyrically inspired by Phil's marital problems at the time (like every Phil Collins song ever written, as far as I can tell). One of the best melancholy Genesis songs. A
• "Pigeons" - A tedious bit of silliness (akin to "Harold the Barrel"). Not significant; maybe should've been left off. D
• "It's Yourself" - From the Trick of the Tail sessions. A bit spacey…you almost expect Jon Anderson to start singing. "Notable" only for the fact that the middle section became the beginning of "Los Endos." Lots of sitar and some backwards vocals near the end. B-
• "Mama (work in progress)" - From a musician/songwriter's standpoint, this track is a fascinating study. This was the point where the band started recording albums with no material written … they'd come in the studio cold and just start jamming and developing ideas into songs. They have the first half pretty much sussed out on this. After a while Phil starts to know where to go vocally and Banks starts to play diminished chords on the electric piano. At over 10 minutes, though, it does drag on a bit. Archival value - A; interest value after a couple listens - C.