ARCHIVE #2 1976-1992

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.

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