ARCHIVE 1967-1975

It could be considered a cop-out to include a complete live version of 'The Lamb', but given this was the final tour to feature Peter Gabriel, a live document of their most ambitious project was overdue. Gabriel had already told the other members of Genesis he was to leave at the end of the 'Lamb' tour, so they could be forgiven for sounding less than 100% (around that time, the general consensus in the music industry was that Gabriel was Genesis, so the rest of the band were less than certain of their future), but on the contrary, and on the strength of this recording, they were on top form - if anything, it is Gabriel's voice which (very) occasionally lets the overall sound down. Had this portion of 'Archives' been released on its own (in the same way as Pink Floyd released the Earls Court recording of 'The Wall'), we would all have gone away very happy indeed - but there is more.....

The first 5 tracks of disc 3 provide a suitable bridge between 'Genesis Live' and the live recording of 'The Lamb' - recorded at The Rainbow Theatre in London about 6 months after 'Live' had been recorded in Leeds, and featuring tracks from the then new 'Selling England' album, they showcase Genesis at their most confident and powerful; these tracks also show Genesis's lighter side, with the humorous banter between Gabriel & Collins - and FINALLY, we have a live version of 'Supper's Ready' with Gabriel at the helm!

The last 4 tracks on disc 3 are alternate takes of old favorites, and very welcome to hear - especially the version of 'Twilight Alehouse', formerly (I believe) only available as the B side of 'I know what I like', yet it had been a staple of the live set since the very early days.

CD4 contains all the unreleased early material you could ever want to hear, especially if you are fans of Anthony Phillips; this is, perhaps, overly completist, with some of the material, in my opinion, only there to pad out the CD's playing time; having said this however, there are gems on the disc, but I doubt you'll find yourself listening uninterupted to all of CD4, as you would with the other 3 discs.

From 1967 to 1975, from Charterhouse to the LA Forum, this collection has it all - an archive to be savoured, 'cos we all know what happened a few years later...........

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