GENESIS

GENESIS
LIVE BOX: 1973-2007 (2009)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

The last in a series of four deluxe box sets reissuing the entirety of Genesis' catalog (excepting their all-but-disowned debut recordings, produced by Jonathan King), Live 1973-2007 contains four of the group's five live albums — 1973's Live, 1977's Seconds Out, 1982's Three Sides Live, and both volumes of 1992's Genesis Live: The Way We Walk, sequencing the two into concert order — adding an empty slot for 2007's Live Over Europe, which is not included in this set. Some longtime fans will be disappointed over the decision not to include the version of "Supper's Ready" that was deleted from Live, owing to the extra LP side it would have entailed (that particular concert album was intended to fill the gap between studio recordings, but a three-sided double LP didn't make economic sense at the time) — as is explained in the wonderfully extensive annotation, this collection is less a vault-raid than a re-configuring of the group's live history, cleaning up the sound and placing it all in coherent order, so there were no alternate takes chosen, or expansions of existing established recordings; and it was felt that the "Supper's Ready" from Live at the Rainbow — a concert already partly released in excerpts on previous sets — was superior to the long-missing rendition in question. As is explained in the notes, in addition to polishing up the audio on everything (especially Live, which does sound better than ever) the producers endeavored to release 5.1 surround sound mixes on DVD of anything not otherwise available that way and already on DVD (which is why Three Sides Live and The Way We Walk are here only as CDs). There are still limitations on the 1973-vintage material in terms of resolution, but the DVD versions of those concerts are worth acquiring — you get a real sense of stage ambience and spatial relationships on Live, and the presence of everything is enhanced in a way that fulfills what longtime fans have long known was there, waiting to be brought out. And the DVD versions of Seconds Out is every bit as impressive — what's more, the makers haven't been afraid to push the volume, which is good and loud for a change. The only complaint, apart from not seriously considering the "lost" "Supper's Ready" — which is more than made up for by the complete Rainbow show, in phenomenal sound and good photographic accompaniment on each song — is the packaging; was it really necessary to put the DVD of Seconds Out in a sleeve so tight that it will likely be scratched over time from normal use, no matter how careful the owner is? Otherwise, a lot of this will be a dream-come-true, omissions aside, for longtime fans.

LIVE (1973)
1. Watcher of the Skies
2. Get 'Em Out by Friday
3. The Return of the Giant Hogweed
4. The Musical Box
5. The Knife
Bonus Tracks
(taken from "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" 1974)
6. Back in New York City
7. Fly on the Windshield
8. Broadway Melody of 1974
9. Anyway
10. The Chamber of 32 Doors

SECONDS OUT (1977)
Disc 1
1. Squonk
2. Carpet Crawlers
3. Robbery, Assault and Battery
4. Afterglow
5. Firth of Fifth
6. I Know What I Like
7. The Lamb Dies Down on Broadway
8. The Musical Box (Closing Section)

Disc 2
1. Supper's Ready
2. The Cinema Show
3. Dance on a Volcano
4. Los Endos

THREE SIDES LIVE (1982)
Disc 1
1. Turn It On Again
2. Dodo/Lurker
3. Abacab
4. Behind the Lines
5. Duchess
6. Me and Sarah Jane
7. Follow You, Follow Me

Disc 2
8. Misunderstanding
9. In The Cage/Cinema Show/Slippermen
10. Afterglow
Bonus Tracks
11. One For The Vine
12. The Fountain Of Slamacis
13. It/Watcher Of The Skies

THE WAY WE WALK (1992)
Disc 1
1 Land of Confusion
2 No Son of Mine
3 Driving the Last Spike
4 Old Medley:
Dance on a Volcano/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/The Musical Box/Firth of Fifth/I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
5 Throwing It All Away
6 Fading Lights
7 Jesus He Knows Me
8 Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea

Disc 2
1 Hold On My Heart
2 Domino:
In the Glow of the Night/The Last Domino
3 The Drum Thing
4 I Can't Dance
5 Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
6 Invisible Touch
7 Turn It On Again
Bonus Tracks
Tracks not performed on the We Can't Dance Tour
8 Mama
9 That's All
10 In Too Deep

LIVE OVER EUROPE (2007)
Disc 1
1. Duke's Intro
2. Turn It On Again
3. No Son Of Mine
4. Land Of Confusion
5. In The Cage/The Cinema Show/Dukes Travels
6. Afterglow
7. Hold On My Heart
8. Home By The Sea
9. Follow You Follow Me
10. Firth Of Fifth (Excerpt)
11. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

Disc 2
1. Mama
2. Ripples
3. Throwing It All Away
4. Domino
5. Conversations with 2 Stools
6. Los Endos
7. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (Excerpt)
8. Invisible Touch
9. I Can't Dance
10. Carpet Crawlers

EXTRA TRACKS:
LIVE AT THE RAINBOW (1973)
1.Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
2. The Cinema Show
3. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
4. Firth of Fifth
5. More Fool Me
6. The Battle of Epping Forest
7. Supper's Ready