ARCHIVE 1967-1975

I sought this album because I wanted to hear the complete "Lamb Lies Down" in live form. Not knowing much of the Genesis bootlegs going around the net, or about the creation of this set itself, I just wanted it for the first three discs. Luckily, I was able to obtain an almost-new set off of eBay for less than $30.00! What a steal!

Anyways, the live "Lamb" is just as good as I had imagined, if not better. However, it wasn't until recently I learned about all the redone vocals, and the fact that "It." is the studio version remixed (which answered my question as to why it was faded out!). I would have rather them mix in "It." from a medley form to the end of the show (such as the "It./Watcher Of The Skies" medley from "Three Sides Live"). This doesn't detract much from the over-all performance however, and I do agree that the fixing up was rightly needed, and done very well.

Now, on to disc 3, this is a great selection of songs from the "Selling" tour, but I still question the absence of "The Cinema Show". I would have rather gotten that over, say, "More Fool Me" and "Stagnation", but the latter of those two is a great recording. Over-all, these performances are outstanding, and recorded well. I enjoy these songs very much, but the "Seconds Out" version of "I Know What I Like" is still my favorite!

Disc 4 isn't of much interest to me, but I have listened to it, and it's some good material from the band's earlier days and it's a good precursor to what's about to come for them. I must say, that, this is a great boxset for EVERY Genesis fan, especially those of the Gabriel-Era Genesis and earlier, because this covers the complete concept album performed live, and songs from their most popular progressive-rock release, Selling England By The Pound, plus some great lost gems from the past.

If you can get this, at any price below $60 (or at $30 if you are lucky like me!), by all means, please get it! It's a great set and it's a shame they didn't make 3 sets like originally planned (instead of cramming the 76-92 years into one boxset, robbing us of some great performances of the Quartet-Genesis). 4 Stars for a great set of CDs!

-Marc.