ARCHIVE #2 1976-1992

I find this one of almost more interest than the first box-set, although I dislike the band from Duke on . There are some interesting tracks from the Trick and Wind era but nothing really super , and and throughout the three cds there are more "gifts"as rare and unreleased tracks are are prolific in this box - not that I enjoy outtakes from Invisible Touch - as compared to the first box. But i'm glad I could rent it , because I would have never bought it.

I guess that all people at this site loves progressive music. So, I guess (almost) everybody loves the true GENESIS. And, although I guess everybody knows what happened with that once incredible band, here is my humble advice in case of somebody decides to check out this horrible monster signed by... GENESIS???

This stuff from this strange band, a sort of a Phil Collins (once a great drummer) project, includes 34 songs, and just two listenable! Six per cent isn't a good treat. Except "Ripples" and "Entangled", the rest is simply the most disgusting pop. It's an expensive three-cd set, keep your money! In addition, avoid it even if would be for free.

Great stuff all round. If you are an avid fan of Genesis then you will want this arrchive set as part of your collection. The track ' It's yourself' and it's similarity to the subsequent Los Endos song, this alone makes the archive set worthwhile along with Burning Rope live, Ripples and Evidence of Autumn

I'll admit it; I waited and waited to buy this until I found a cheap copy at a record convention. I knew that there would be little in the way of new and undiscovered finds. But, I had to get it for the following reasons: 1. "It's Yourself"; this was the B-side to the British Import 7" single "Ripples", which I had ruined through repeated plays. This is the "missing" song from "Trick of the Tail", the one that allows "Los Endos" to finally make sense ("What's that section doing in there? It's not from any of the songs on the album!"). And it's just a great song anyway. 2. "You Might Recall"; one of the studio tracks from the original "Three Sides Live". This catchy, melodic and semi-progressive song got a lot of radio airplay at the time, and I wanted a clean-sounding version. 3. Various live versions of songs that didn't appear on other live albums. 4. Surprise! Some of the studio tracks I hadn't heard are pretty good....however, I'm glad I waited for that bargain price. Too bad the damn thing takes up so much room, but it does fit alongside Volume 1, which I don't mind making room for at all.

As prog lover actually I reluctant (very!) to purchase this box set. But, as Genesis fan since seventies, I feel like being obliged to spend my money for the band that I love. And so I did. It's good to put in my CD shelf as on box set altogether with other box sets of legendary bands like ELP, King Crimson, YES, and also Genesis Archive vol. 1. Is that the only value for this box set? Not really, actually. Of course I sometime spin the CD Two that contains a previously performed live track "Ripples". What a great live record. "Ripples" from "A Trick of The Tail" album is one of my favorites Genesis tracks because I like the segment that features keyboard and howling guitar alternate work in the middle of the track. And now, it's performed live. So, I enjoy it! The other tracks that I enjoy are: "Burning Rope", "Entangled" and "Duke's Travels / Duke's Ends". This box set also contains two tracks from "Spot The Pigeons" EP. Keep on proggin' ..!

I was given this boxset as a Christmas gift back in 2000, (I was actually hoping to get Vol.1!). Upon hearing it for the first time I was extremely disappointed. I really didn't need to hear anything that came after DUKE, even if it was live. Back then it would have gotten a 2-star rating. But 5 years later I can honestly give it a solid three stars, and its mainly for the live tracks from the early tours, (Trick of the Tail, And Then There Were Three & Duke tours). I enjoy hearing "Deep In The Motherlode", "Ripples", "Burning Rope", and "The Lady Lies". But I especially like the live version of "Duke's Travels", the last song to have that Banks wall of sound. Of the many b-sides and other tracks, "The Day The Light Went Out" is my favorite. Least would have to be all the 12" singles, especially "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", godawful! The good outweigh the bad on this set, so for my money, the live tracks make up for the whole thing. Buy it if you can get it on the cheap go for it.

This is a three disc set of post-Gabriel Genesis material. Some people would despise ever owning such a thing, but I find myself enjoying some if it. In fact, I got mine for fifteen dollars used. I thought I was getting a great deal, and after listening to the whole set, I noticed that there are obvious high points and low points. In my opinion, this is a true treat for the fans of post-Gabriel Genesis or those wanting to discover deepcuts and live tracks by one of prog's most prolific and controversial bands. Now, on to the review.

The first disc is a set of deep cuts, unreleased tracks, singles, etc... collected on to one cd. The "We Can't Dance" tracks aren't very good. I mean really, who wants to hear a 12" version of "We Can't Dance?" I'm sure someone does, but it really is not my cup of tea. "On the Shorline" is a pretty good song considering it came from the same sessions. I like it more than most of the tracks on the "We Can't Dance" album. I wish I could say the same thing for "Hearts on Fire," but in my opinion, it's pop garbage. The "Abacab" songs again are overall pretty poppy, although I find myself enjoying "Naminanu" and to some exten "Submarine." "Naminamu," although it is repetitive, is one of the stronger tracks. One track from the "Invisible Touch" sessions really stands out. "Do the Neurotic" is an incredible instrumental that reminds one of "The Brazilian," but is much longer and better. It is the best track on the album. The other two songs come from "Duke" and "Wind and Wuthering" sessions, but are just ok by me.

The second disc has many live tracks performed during the Collins era. I really enjoy the live version of "Dreaming While You Sleep"; to me, it is much better than the album version. "Deep in the Motherlode" is a track that is full of energy. You can tell that the band was really enjoying performing this song live, and the audience seems to enjoy it as well. The two instrumentals, "Duke's Travels" and "The Brazilian," are great as usual. Other noteables tracks are "Burning Rope," "Ripples," and "Entangled." Honestly, I could do without the rest, although "Illegal Alien" is an extremely catchy song.

The third disc is a hodge podge of 12" versions of hit songs, some more live tracks, more deep cuts (B-sides, singles, etc...), and Mama, presented as a work in progress. The twelve inch versions here are much more enjoyable than the "We Can't Dance" 12". Some of these "remixes" are even proggier than the original album cuts. I'm not to fond of the live releases on this disc. They seem somewhat random, and in my opinion, are not performed as well as those on the second disc. The B-sides and singles aren't even that good this time around. "It's Yourself" is the only real stand-out among them. The last track Mama (work in progress) is actually quite enjoyable. It and the 12"s are the best tracks on the third disc. The third disc is definitely the least representative and interesting.

This box set is good for Genesis completists or those who are fans of the Collins era. I find myself enjoying some of the tracks, but in the end, this set is for the completist, and that is why the set gets two stars. This is for the collectors and fans (of Collins Genesis that is ).

There are some 12 inchers here, but you won't listen to them as a rule!

The second of the "Archive" box sets covers the post-Gabriel period which saw Genesis gradually move away from the fine progressive rock they had created while he was on board. Like it or not though, it also covers the most commercially successful period for the band, and thus this collection will therefore probably have a far wider appeal than volume one. The only album recorded after the period covered by this set was the 1997 Album "Calling all stations", and of course by that time Collins too had left.

It is unfortunate that the compilers chose not to present the tracks here chronologically, as it would have been significant to hear the way their sound mutated from "A trick of the tail" to "Abacab" and "Invisible touch" before the more reassuring finale with "We can't dance". What we end up with is an eclectic mix of previously unreleased recordings, non-album tracks, early studio versions, remixes, and live versions.

The rejects include those studio tracks included on the fourth side of some releases of "Three sides live", with the exception of "Me and Virgil", which was deemed by the band members even now to be unworthy of inclusion. Also included is the excellent "Inside and out" from the "Spot the pigeons" EP, but interestingly not "Match of the day" from that EP, which the band also considered sub-standard, even for this collection! "Inside and out" was recorded early in the life of the Gabriel-less Genesis, and would have fitted in well on either "Trick of the tail" or "Wind and wuthering". The first two tracks on this collection are from the "We can't dance" sessions. "On the shoreline" is a slightly faster "Mama", while "Hearts on fire" is throw away funky pop. We then jump about between 1980 and 1986. While "Evidence of autumn" is a "Duke" outtake, it would have been very much at home on "And then there were three". It is one of the few highlights of disc 1. Why on earth the reasonable instrumental "Submarine" was left off the dire "Abacab" album is a real mystery. At worst, it would have made for a reassuring instrumental break during one of the mediocre songs on that album.

The second disc consists entirely of live performances recorded between 1976 and 1992, the tracks having all originally appeared in studio format on the albums from that period. It is perhaps easy to forget that Genesis did not turn their backs on their prog roots the minute Gabriel left (in fact, it could be said that he was the first to turn). "A trick of the tail" and "Wind and Wuthering" have many fine prog tracks, and even after that, "And then there were three" and "Duke" had their moments. The live versions of "Ripples", "Duke's travels", "Burning rope", and "Entangled" which are included here, are fine reminders of that golden age. "Dreaming while you sleep" from "We can't dance" also shows how they came full circle (or at least 270 degrees!) on their final Collins era album. Steve Hackett is only present on one of the live tracks, "Ripples" (which also features Bill Bruford on drums), and only a couple of the studio tracks are from the time when he was still in the band.

There are several 12" single versions of more familiar tracks, such as "I can't dance", "Invisible touch" and "Tonight ,tonight, tonight". These add nothing to the pop driven originals, only serving to remind us of the depths this once great band sank to. It could be argued that the fact that these tracks lend themselves so readily to the 12" remix treatment is evidence enough of how far they strayed.

Apart from three of these 12" versions, disc 3 has a further three entirely disposable live tracks from 1980-81 and some older, much more interesting outtakes. "Pigeons" was the other track on the aforementioned "Match of the day" EP. "Open door" is a Mike Rutherford song very much in the vein of "Your own special way", while "The day the light went out" is a rather striking Banks composition from the "ATTW3" sessions. The excitement of finding an outtake from the "Trick of the tail" sessions rapidly evaporates as it becomes clear why "It's yourself" was omitted from the album. It is not entirely without value though, as part of the latter half went on to become the intro to "Los Endos".

The final track is a "Work in progress" version of "Mama". The lyrics had yet to be written, so Collins is improvising sounds where the vocals will eventually go. The track is interesting in that it gives an insight into how Genesis went about developing their music, but at nearly 11 minutes, it becomes tedious.

The two Genesis Archives sets are split neatly between the Gabriel and Collins led eras, thus this second volume takes us from the first post Gabriel album "A trick of the tail", up to Collin's swansong "We can't dance". Neither this, not volume one should be mistaken for anthologies as neither contains any studio material which has previously appeared on the band's official albums. They are therefore intended for fans/collectors, and not for those who are new to the music of this once seminal band.

I was quite reluctant to listen to this triple CD effort. While the previous boxset was gorgeous (at least for three CD's out of four), I was very doubtful about the need to release another of the genre to cover the period 1976- 1992. This one not being the best (to say the least). I must admit that after having listening to it carefully, it is a honest compilation.

Disc one contains outakes tracks from several album sessions and some B-side material.

Some numbers are very poor like "Paper Late", "I'd Rather" or "Naminanu". The extended version of "I Can't Dance" is also questionable: the album version was already dull, so an extended 7 minutes one is even more boring.

Some are average like "Do" (a rocking instrumental) or "On The Shoreline" (from the "We Can't Dance" sessions). Actually this song is above par with this album and I do not understand why it did not make it. Probably not commercial enough ! "Spot The Pigeon", the title track of an EP and a tentative hit (?) single is OK. The last ones in this category are "Heart On Fire" and "Feeding" which are the usual Collins oriented stuff.

Other songs are good to even very good :"Evidence of Autumn" from the "Duke" sessions (already released on the US version of "Three Sides Live" - this is also the case for "Paper Late" by the way). "Inside" comes from the "Wind" sessions and has flavour of "Your Own Special Way" : it is less poppy, and very, very quiet). My favourite track of this CD is "Submarine". This B-side is a slow instrumental and almost noinaudible during two minutes : you really have to turn up the volume to max. to hear it, but then it nicely builds crescendo and turns out to be very symphonic.

Disc two : like on "Archives - Volume I", we have a live CD. This is the one I prefer on this compilation.

I was quite happy to hear two tracks from "And then they Were Three". The band usually skipped this album from their live sets (with the exception of its supporting tour which can be heard on the unoffical "Follow You, Follow Me" album recorded at Chicago Uptown Theatre - October 13, 1978). These are excellent versions of "Burning Rope" and "Deep In The Motherlode". "Trick " is represented with two quiet tracks "Ripples" and "Entangled". This is understandable since most of the other ones are featured on "Seconds Out". One can only regret that the best song out of it "Mad Man Moon" has never been played live (this information is available on the Genesis official web-site). But they don't tell us why !

On the other hand, I was dispointed that there is only one song from "Wind "(and not the best one) : "Your Own Special Way". I know that they played "Eleventh Earl of Mar" as well as "All in a Mouse's Night" during their 1978 tour. This would have been a better choice.

From "Duke", the rendition of "Duke's Travels, Duke's End" is absolutely fantastic. The highlight of disc two, for sure. The last three numbers come from what I consider their weakest albums, so there is no big deal here.

Disc three is the weakest from these "Archives" (like disc four was for "Archives I"). A lot of 12" versions of poor songs from their less creative studio career. Some interesting moments though : A live version of "The Lady Lies" from "And Then...", an extended demo of "Mama" with a keyboard solo at the end (this is the only unreleased studio material here) . This version is quieter than the one we know, and honestly I do prefer this version. "The Day The Light Went Out" is quite rocking and very good for a B-side, sounds like it comes out of "And Then..."). Same applies to "Vancouver". The most interesting one (IMO) is "It's Yourself" : it seems to be an earlier version of "Los Endos" but with vocals during the first three minutes and a very quiet end (a bit in the style of "Dancing Out") ! I will rate this effort three stars.

It is with a lot of emotion that this closes my reviews for Genesis. I reviewed a total of twenty-four works. I have done this in the course of the last two months (writing a lot more reviews from other beloved bands which will be posted soon). I spent some fantastic moments listening again to some of their work. As you have noticed in my reviews, I am the old fan type (from "Trespass" to "Duke"). I have suffered a lot with their later work. In the early seventies, Genesis was my preferred band and probably one of the most influent of the prog rock genre of all time. Thanks a million Mike, Peter, Phil, Steve, Tony and to a lesser extent Jonathan, Anthony and John. You were integrant part of my life when I was a teenager and I remind this period of my life with great emotions. Again, thank you very, very, very much.

The second Archive box set released by Genesis covers the Phil Collins era of the group. As you can imagine, it's a mixed bag of stuff; some of it great, some of it just plain awful. The best stuff of the whole collections is the second disc containing unreleased live material. Of particular note are Duke's Travels, Burning Rope, and Ripples. The first and third discs are mainly unreleased material, although some of the tracks were previously available on Three Sides Live and the Spot the Pigeon EP. In many ways, this is basically what a fan would expect in a box set which is also why it isn't always necessarily a wise purchase unless you are a die-hard fan. Much of the unreleased material is forgettable (like the awful 12-inch single version of Invisible Touch). Some of it is slightly interesting. For collectors and die-hard fans only. Two stars.

Do the neurotic

This three disc set complies some otherwise unavailable Genesis songs, the most interesting being the non-album b-sides. The first disc is dominated by these and it starts with On The Shoreline, the b-side to the I Can't Dance single. This song is 100% We Can't Dance in both sound and quality, it sounds just like the songs on that album and it is not any worse or any better than an average We Can't Dance track. Hearts On Fire, on the other hand, which was the b-side to Jesus He Knows Me, is a much lesser song which would have been a sore thumb on the album (which has its bad moments). This one sounds more like a Phil Collins solo number, which is hardly a compliment! You Might Recall is an older song and was originally released on the 3x3 EP in 1982 together with Paperlate (also featured in this box set) and Me and Virgil (not featured here). Both Paperlate and You Might Recall are dispensable and the former is incredibly trite!

Evidence Of Autumn is a good song that was the b-side to Misunderstanding single from the Duke album. The song is very much in the style of Duke. Prog it is not, though. Do The Neurotic is an instrumental that originally appeared as the b-side to the Land Of Confusion single from the Invisible Touch album and it is in the style of The Brazilian from that album. This one is at least semi-progressive and quite decent with nice guitar and keyboard work. I'd Rather Be You quickly brings us down to earth, this is possibly the worst of the songs here even though the competition for that position is fierce! This song first appeared as the b-side to In Too Deep also from Invisible Touch, though it sounds more like an outtake from Abacab. Naminau is from the Abacab days, and it is another stinker; extremely repetitive and very annoying.

Inside And Out was one of the three tracks from the Spot The Pigeon EP from 1978 and is thus the first track here that goes back to the Steve Hackett-era and as such it is the first track here that might interest the Prog purist. It is a nice song, but very far behind the Trick Of The Tail and Wind And Wuthering material. The other song from Spot The Pigeon that appears here is Pigeons, but strangely that one is relegated to the third disc. The third track from that EP, Match Of The Day, is not featured at all. Feeding The Fire once again brings us back to the commercial period of Invisible Touch, this one was also a b-side to Land Of Confusion. The first disc is rounded out by an unnecessary 12" version of I Can't Dance and the floating instrumental Submarine, which was the b-side to Man On The Corner from the Abacab album.

The second disc consists entirely of live recordings of familiar songs from various sources. As such there is not much interest in it, with several other live albums out there. It sounds rather incoherent given that it is not a single concert, but songs recorded over a period spanning from the late 70's to the early 90's. Some nice moments, but hardly essential given what is available elsewhere.

The third disc contains further unnecessary 12" mixes of familiar songs and a few further live recordings. With the exception of Mama (Work In Progress), the rest of disc three holds further non-album studio recordings. This is very welcome with some of the most interesting selection of the box coming at the end. Open Door was the b-side to Duchess in 1980 and is unsurprisingly rooted in the sound of Duke. The Day The Light Went Out and Vancouver were both b-sides to the Many Too Many single from 1978 and is as such similar in sound to the And Then There Were Three album. However, they are far behind the album tracks in quality. Still nice, though. Then there is the aforementioned Pigeons and a track called It's Yourself that apparently is a Trick Of The Tale outtake. This one was originally intended to come just before Los Endos and you can clearly recognize the parts towards the end that were used in Los Endos. This is an interesting outtake, but it is wholly understandable that it was left off the brilliant Trick Of The Tale album (my personal favourite Genesis album!).

While this archive release might be a goldmine for hard core fans, it is really only of major interest to just such fans. For me this is a great way to get hold of the band's non-album b-sides that otherwise would require me to search out and buy many individual singles. Nothing here is essential, but surely a nice addition for fans and collectors.

This one's a very mixed bag indeed. Covering the Phil Collins- era of the band on three CD's and collecting only tracks not included on the albums, it consists of three kinds of tracks: 1) live recordings not included on Seconds Out, Three Sides Live or The Way We Walk, 2) studio outtakes from album sessions (some have appeared as B-sides or otherwise, which sadly isn't indicated in the info), 3) maxi-single versions of hits such as 'Land of Confusion' or 'I Can't Dance'. Fortunately the latter department is not big. But with these principles it's clear that this set is designed for fans of the Collins-era Genesis.

The essays are very informative about the band history during the time, with several well- known prog musicians passing by. It just annoyed me how they seem to take commercial success as proof of artistic success as well. For example: Invisible Touch is great because it had so many hits. Ouch! Another annoying thing is the total lack of logic in the running order, except that the second disc is completely live recordings. It would have been nicer to have a chronological order, for the studio material at least.

I have never been a fan for live recordings. If I have the song as the studio version, I usually don't much care about getting a live version of it. In the case of Genesis that's exactly so (but of course Seconds out is interesting for including Gabriel-era music with new lead vocalist! In this box however there are no tracks pre-dating Gabriel's departure). That's not to say these live selections wouldn't be OK, and naturally in many cases they make better listening than B- sid or left-out tracks. No surprise that I enjoyed 'Entangled' and 'Ripples' the most in the live department. Sadly the Hackett-era (76-77) offered quite a little to be collected here, studio or live.

My curiosity was mainly on the tracks I hadn't heard before. Perhaps surprisingly the most interesting ones are fusion-like instrumentals dating around Abacab (1981). 70's tracks originally appeared on Spot The Pigeon EP were not all as good as I hoped. All in all, this is a clear case of "Collectors/fans only". To those preferring Collins-era to Gabriel-era.

This 3 CD Boxed Set is good, but, with Genesis increasingly becoming a more Pop Rock influenced band since 1978, the contrasts between the tracks are more clear. So, I divide the tracks in three groups:

The Live Tracks. For me, the most interesting thing in this release, with the tracks recorded between1976 and 1980 being the most interesting. It is good to have very good live versions with good mixings of "Entangled", "Deep in the Motherlode", Ripples", "Burning Rope", "Duke`s Travels" and "The Lady Lies". The live tracks from 1981 are still good, despite being Pop influenced songs ("Not Reply at All" and "Man on the Corner"). But from the 1984 live tracks, only "It`s Gonna Get Better" is good, with "Illegal Alien" being a disposable track as I consider it as the worst song they composed. The live tracks recorded during the "Invisible Touch" tour, "The Brazilian" and "Your Own Special Way", are not very interesting, despite the latter has a string arrangement. Why they didn`t release a live version from 1977 instead? From the "We Can`t Dance" tour, there is "Dreaming While You Sleep", which I think that it is the same version which was released in the "Never a Time " CD single in 1993, and it is a good version.

The B-sides and tracks taken from E.Ps. Again, the most interesting for me are the songs recorded between 1976 and 1980 , but again, the tracks recorded in 1981 are still good. Among the best are: "It`s Yourself" (1976), "Pigeons" and "Inside and Out" (from the "Spot the Pigeon" E.P., 1977),"The Day the Light Went Out" and "Vancouver" (1978), "Open Door" and "Evidence of Autumn" (1980). The tracks recorded during the "Abacab" album sesions (1981) are still good ("You Might Recall",and "Paperlate", both from the "3 x 3" E.P., and "Submarine" and "Naminanu"). I still think that "Match of the day" (from the "Spot the Pigeon" E.P.,1977) and "Me and Virgil" (from the "3 x 3" E.P., 1981) could have been better choices to be included in this Box Set (but were not included as the band members didn`t like them anymore then) than the inclusion of the tracks recorded during the "Invisible Touch" ("Do the Neurotic", I`d Rather Be you", "Feeding the Fire") and "We Can`t Dance" album sessions ("On the Shoreline", "Hearts of Fire"), all of them very Pop tracks which show why they were released as B-sides of singles.

The less interesting tracks in this Box Set are "Mama (Work in Progress)" and the inclusion of the 12" remixes of "Invisible Touch", "Land of Confusion", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "I Can`t Dance", which could be only interesting for the most "obsessive fans" of their Pop years. I think that instead of including all these tracks it could have been better to include more live tracks, like the 1976 tour version of "Dance on a Volcano" with Bill Bruford, more live tracks from their 1977 ,1978 and 1980 tours, like "Eleventh Earl of Mar", "One for the Vine", "Your Own Special Way", "All in a Mouse`s Night", "In that Quiet Earth/ Afterglow", "Inside and Out" , "Say it`s Alright, Joe", etc.

The second of three official boxsets issued by the band, this one covers the Phil Collins era from Trick Of A Tail onwards, and, as such, invites tons of hostility and inevitable comments as to the fact that "they're not prog any more".

Well, nonsense. This boxset is too large for a detailed review of each and every track, but there are some progressive rock gems hidden in here, and, yes, some damn good commercial rock as well.

As with the first boxset, it is the live releases which attract the most interest, and, in the main, the most enjoyment. With the exceptions of No Reply At All, one of their most forgettable compositions, and Illegal Alien, their worst composition ever, there is not a bum track included. When, for instance, you listen to this version of Dreaming While You Sleep, you come to the realisation that here, in the 1990's, was still a huge symphonic prog force. It's Gonna Get Better sounds fantastic live, and the classics just roll off the tongue. Tracks such as Ripples, The Brazilian, The Lady Lies, and the symphonic tour de force that was Duke's Travels all make you sit up and notice as to how wide ranging and important this band were.

The 12 inch versions of the more pop directed tracks all add quite a lot to what were, to these ears, enjoyable tracks anyway. Dare I say it, they add a progressive element to all?

Lastly, there are also some previously discarded or obscure gems included on this, as with Archives One, except I think these are far better, although, of course, this is also due to the infinitely superior production utilised as compared to the schoolboy era. Particular highlights are Its Yourself, Vancouver, and Evidence Of Autumn.

This is not a boxset that should be purchased solely by completionists. It is something I think all Genesis fans will take huge pleasure in listening to, although the price of it might put a number off.

Four stars for this, from an unashamed Collins era fan.

"Genesis Archive 2: 1976'1992" is a three-disc box set by UK pop/rock act Genesis. The box set was released through Virgin Records (UK)/Atlantic Records (US) in November 2000. As the title suggests it's the second archive in a series, and this release covers the years 1976-1992 with Phil Collins as the band's lead vocalist. The first box set from 1998 titled "Genesis Archive 1967'1975", covered the years with Peter Gabrial as Genesis lead vocalist. "Genesis Archive 2: 1976'1992" is not a best-of type box set/compilation, but rather a rare track/B-sides/live track type box set. It includes most single B-sides from the period, two tracks off the "3x3 (1982)" EP ("Me and Virgil" was left off), two tracks from the "Spot the Pigeon (1977)" EP ("Match of the Day" was left off), some 12" remixes of tracks from "Invisible Touch (1986)" and "We Can't Dance (1991)", a work-in-progress version of "Mama", and quite a few live tracks from various albums from the period, recorded over the years. Some of the live tracks had appeared as single B-sides, while others were previously unreleased.

For fans of Phil Collins-era Genesis, "Genesis Archive 2: 1976'1992" is a bit of a treasure chest. The live tracks feature well sounding professional productions and there are a couple of pretty interesting track choices among them like "Deep in the Motherlode", "Burning Rope", and "The Lady Lies". All three tracks were originally featured on "...and Then There Were Three (1978)", but these live versions are exclusive to this release. As far as I know none of those tracks have been featured on other live releases by Genesis. Other than those three tracks, the two tracks from the "Spot the Pigeon (1977)" EP, and live versions of "Ripples" and "Entangled", which are originally featured on "A Trick of the Tail (1976)", there aren't that many pre-80s tracks featured on the box-set. So the focus is mostly on material or recordings from the 80s, although the late 70s certainly aren't forgotten either.

The 12" remix versions of the tracks from "Invisible Touch (1986)" and "We Can't Dance (1991)" and the work-in- progress version of "Mama" are probably the least interesting tracks on the box-set. They are all great tracks and the remix versions are typically longer and adds more instrumental sections, but it's nothing breathtaking and to my ears the original versions are superior, which makes these 12" remix versions a bit redundant. Including the work-in-progress version of "Mama", that's almost 40 minutes of the 3 hours and 26 minutes total box-set playing time. So it's not something you can see past completely, but on the other hand, it's still quality material. Personally I would much rather have Genesis include "Me and Virgil" and "Match of the Day", which were apparently left off, because the members couldn't find common ground and agree to put them on the box-set.

As mentioned earlier "Genesis Archive 2: 1976'1992" is still a bit of a gem though, as many of the live tracks and single B-sides are brilliant tracks. Some are a bit odd/different and it's obvious why they were left off the album releases (not that they are bad quality tracks or anything like that), while others make you wonder about the album tracklist choices made by the band. The opening track "On the Shoreline", which is a B-side to the "I Can't Dance" single from December 1991, is an example of the latter, as it's an absolutely brillant and catchy track, which could easily have been included on "We Can't Dance (1991)", and could probably even have heightened the quality of that release. Another example is "Evidence of Autumn", which is the B-side track to the "Misunderstanding" single from August 1980. Another quite brilliant track.

"Genesis Archive 2: 1976'1992" is through and through a high quality release, despite a few less interesting choices for the tracklist, but the majority of the material are high class compositions, which may not have fit on the album they were written for, but sure deserve more than just collecting dust in the vault or being hidden on the B-side of a single. The live tracks are also of great quality, and for fans of Phil Collins-era Genesis I'd go as far as to say that this is mandatory listening. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

This three-CD collection is a mixed bag in more than one respect. The quality of the tracks varies significantly, as does the type of material. Of the 34 tracks, five are dance mixes; these occupy 32 minutes, or a little more than 15% of the total running time of Archive #2. Another 43% is given to live tracks and 37% to b-sides and EP tracks. The remaining time is accounted for by an "in progress" version of "Mama." Although there were some songs which could have been included (like the EP track "Me and Virgil"), Archive #2 includes a substantial majority of the era's dance mixes, b-sides, and EP songs, and a fair number of songs performed live but not included on live albums.

Thus, this collection was destined to be a hodgepodge. But it could've been a more organized hodgepodge, ordered by pure chronology, or chronologically within categories (i.e., all live tracks could've appeared together). I understand that this may not have been as easy as it sounds, due to space limitations and the fact that categories would've had to have been split across disks. But especially on the first two disks, there seems to be no order whatsoever. Today, you'd rip the CD and listen to its tracks in whatever order you choose, but Archive #2 was actually released a few months before itunes.

I agree with what many fans have already said: the 1976-1982 material is somewhat diluted by the tracks from the following decade. This isn't required listening, even of Genesis fans. But judged on its merits as a three-disk archive for fans who already have all of the studio material, Archive #2 is certainly successful.