Genesis Archive #2 1976 - 1992 CD Box set

In 1998 Genesis released Archive 1967 - 1975 which contained rare material from the Peter Gabriel period of their history spread over 4 CDs. Included were such gems as a complete live performance of "The Lamb Lies Lies Down On Broadway", the 1973 Rainbow gig and lots of early rare material and b-sides such as "Twilight Alehouse" and "Happy The Man". It was a great collection of historic pieces which had never seen the light of day on CD before. Some had never been seen at all!

Two years on and we have the second box set, covering the "Phil Collins as vocalist" years 1976 to 1992. This time around we have 3 CDs containing b-sides, remixes and live tracks. It was said that this Archive would contain all the tracks which hadn't made it onto CD (the pre "Land of Confusion" b-sides) and live versions of songs they had played live in their history but had never made it onto record. This appears to be exactly what we have, except for a couple of omissions, which I will come to later.

Disc number one contains b-sides. "On The Shoreline" is the first track from the "Invisible Touch" era. It's OK, I particular like the driving verses although the chorus is a bit weak , as is "Hearts On Fire" from the time of "We Can't Dance". Good but definitely b-side quality.
The next couple are "You Might Recall" and "Paperlate", both from the "3x3 EP" from the "Abacab" years. They are the best from the EP but this brings us to the first omission. "Me and Virgil" isn't anywhere on the Archive. Admittedly it is a poor track, the reason it was dropped from the compilation. However it's omission sort of goes against the principle of the box set. I haven't got this on any CD but I think it appears on the European version of "Three Sides Live" which I will have to track down.
The next track is "Evidence of Autumn" from "Duke". This has always been one of my favourite b-sides and it is good to hear it without crackles from my 45! It is certainly good enough to have been included on "Duke" and includes a great little instrumental section and powerful ending.
The next two tracks are "Invisible Touch" b-sides, "Do The Neurotic" and "I'd Rather Be You". The former is a manic instrumental, a track I've always rated. The latter is a ditty in the mould of "That's All" and again it is very likeable.
"Naminanu" comes from the "Abacab" sessions and is another instrumental, simple but effective with one of those tunes that stay with you.
"Inside and Out" is up next from the "Wind and Wuthering" years. It was released on the "Spot the Pigeon EP" and it is a gem. This should have been on the "Wind and Wuthering" album instead of "Wot Gorilla?" Brilliant. However, "Match of the Day" from the same EP is not on the Archive. For the same reason as "Me and Virgil", the band didn't like it! Luckily the "Match of the Day" EP was available back in the 90s on CD so I've already got it.
"Feeding the Fire" from "Invisible Touch" is the next b-side followed by "I Can't Dance 12" Remix". Both are OK but again, nothing out of the ordinary.
The final track is the rare "Submarine" from the "Abacab" sessions. Its nice to hear without crackles, but it has to be said this instrumental never really goes anywhere. In fact it is as boring a track as Genesis have ever produced. Plenty of atmosphere not much else.
All in all, the first disc is pretty good, but nothing I haven't heard before. In fact I already had all the tracks somewhere in my collection, admittedly not all on CD.

Disc two consists of live tracks. It begins with "Illegal Alien" which was recorded in 1984 and is the first time a live version appears on CD although it has been seen before on the "Mama Tour" video! Next up is "Dreaming While You Sleep" which has been released before on the back of the "Tell Me Why" CD single. Both of these are pretty good live versions of tracks that I'm not particular fond off.

The next three tracks are "It's Gonna Get Better" (one of my least favourite tracks ever!), "Deep In The Motherlode" and "Ripples". The first of these is from 1984 and has been seen before on the "Mama Tour" video. The last two are from 1980 and are a couple of the highlights of the Archive. "Ripples" in particular is a joy to hear.

The next two tracks have had live releases as CD single b-sides. They are "The Brazilian" from 1987 and "Your Own Special Way" from 1986. Again, both are reasonable versions, but "The Brazilian" is a bit flat compared with the album version. Mike Rutherford's guitar sounds appalling!

The final three tracks are brilliant. They are "Burning Rope" from 1978, "Entangled" from 1976 and "Duke's Travels" from 1980. I have always thought that "Burning Rope" was a brilliant song and here it is live and played very well indeed. "Entangled" is the only track which features Bill Bruford, on glockenspiel for goodness sake! I'm not the only person that thinks we should have been treated to a lot more of Bruford playing with Genesis. It was a unique year in the band's live history and deserves to be documented more thoroughly than we have in this Archive. I've got a poor quality but brilliant bootleg of the "Trick of the Tail" tour and Bruford sounds to be in cracking form. Why couldn't they have given us a fourth CD with Bruford playing live on tracks such as "Dance on a Volcano", "The Lamb.../Fly On A Windshield/Carpet Crawlers", "White Mountain", "Supper's Ready", "Squonk", "Los Endos", "Firth of Fifth" and "Robbery Assault and Battery". This would have filled the fourth disc and would have been stunning. It is a big disappointment that none of the above may ever be heard properly. Anyway, "Entangled" is nice to hear properly after having to cope with the bootleg for years but "Duke's Travel" is immense. It is my favourite live track included in the box set.

In conclusion, disc two is perhaps better in terms of new and previously unheard stuff. The live versions are certainly well recorded and sound great. I just wish we could have had a bit more of the really rare live recordings that we all know are out there.

Disc three kicks off with the three 12" remixes of "Invisible Touch", "Land of Confusion" and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight". These were all released on the earlier CD singles and so most fans will already have them. I always thought Genesis remixes were a bit pointless but these are quite good, especially "Land of Confusion" but they all sound a bit lightweight on the bass front to me, and as a consequence I prefer the album versions.

Next comes two live tracks of which bits have been seen on the "Three Sides Live" video. "No Reply at All" is played well and sounds great, as does "Man on the Corner" which has always been one of my favourite tracks from the "Abacab" period. Its nice to finally hear both these tracks live and in their entirety and so are well placed on this compilation.

The next track is "The Lady Lies" played live. I have a copy of this on a green flexi-disc(!) so I was looking forward to this version. The quality (as you can imagine) is much better on CD and proves to be a superbly executed performance, apart from Phil Collins, whose vocals perhaps lack a bit of enthusiasm. However, as my favourite from "..And Then There Were Three" album it is one of the most welcome additions to the Archive.

The next track is "Open Door" from the "Duke" sessions. This was originally a b-side and it also appeared on the European version of "Three Sides Live". It is a lovely ballad complete with a suitably big chorus. Great stuff, and one of the best things Mike Rutherford ever wrote.

The next two tracks were originally the b-side of "Many Too Many". "The Day The Light Went Out" is a wonderful little Tony Banks song, which moves along at a fair old pace telling the story of the title! A bit daft but I like it a lot. "Vancouver" is another superb little ballad which is probably better than most things that were on the "..And Then There Were Three" album. It has a wonderful tune and sensitive lyrics which presumably mean something very personal to Phil. The two tracks together are, in my opinion, the best b-side the band released.

Next up is "Pigeons" from the "Spot the Pigeon EP". Again, this is very familiar to most Genesis fans, and is interesting due to its tune being composed of a single repeated note with changing harmony. A pleasing track but the lyrics are chronic, and to be honest I much prefer "Match of The Day" which the band hates and didn't include for that reason.

The final b-side is "It's Yourself" from "A Trick of the Tale" sessions. I was looking forward to hearing this on CD as my vinyl copy of the single is a bit crackly. It sounds OK, but the vinyl version sounds to have loads more bass than the CD. A bit of a pity 'cos its the bass pedals on this track that always appealed to me. The track is a gentle 12 string ballad which ends with the music that became the start of "Los Endos". It peters out with lots of odd noises but I like it a lot.

The final track of Archive #2 is "Mama (work in progress)". It is basically a version of "Mama" before it evolved into the version which appeared on "Genesis". It has to be said - it goes on a bit! You can see how the band took the best ideas from this version to come up with the more concise and dramatic track we all know, and so the track is interesting from that point of view. However, it doesn't really make you want to listen to it more than once, so why bother wasting eight minutes which could have been more interestingly used.

Disc three is probably my favourite of the Archive, due mainly to the fact of it having most of my favourite b-side tracks on it, and a couple of rare and wonderful live tracks. Although I could do without the "Mama" thing.

To conclude, I have to say that Archive #2 is a bit of a disappointment. The remastering is good and the production quality is generally OK, but the selection of material is a bit of a letdown. There are only a handful of tracks that I don't already have somewhere in my collection on CD (and most people who will buy this will be in the same position), and even less that I haven't heard before. It would have been so easy to give us a fourth disc with some live stuff from the "A Trick of the Tail" tour, and also the two missing b-sides ("Match of the Day" and "Me and Virgil"). I'm not alone in this opinion too. Archive #2 was recently voted one of the most disappointing releases of 2000 by the Dutch Progressive Rock Society for the same reasons mentioned above. The thing is though, no matter how disappointing it is, most Genesis fans will buy it. But they are the sort of people who will already have most of the tracks already. In other words, although overall it is OK, most people I have spoken to, me included(!), feel a bit cheated by this release.

Verdict : could have been so much better.

(Copyright David Hopton 11 February 2001)

Album design by Wherefore Art?