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Some of the compositions on these CDs date back to the early days of Genesis. The oldest recording, however, is from 1971. A special focus is on eight recordings from 1973, three pieces from the Sides period, four songs from a 1979 Library project, five pieces from the Invisible Men sessions and as a sensational add-on, the first official releases from the context of the Alice musical. There is not material from 1975, 1985 to 1987 and the time after 1988’s Tarka project. Nine pieces were mixed especially for this release.
The CD contains few Library pieces, among them Romeo & Juliet, a number from Ant’s first Library project in 1976. Seven pieces that could be labelled “soundtracks” have very different quality. They include music for Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a surrealist student film called Fantomas, a documentary about the Middle East and for Alice. Some of the instrumentals could be called “songs without words” because they are, except for The Anthem From Tarka, instrumental remixes of previously released songs. Three further pieces have to make do not only without words but also without a melody – they were never really finished. The collection features only two real songs; Ant sings on them as well as on a piece labelled “experimental”. The rest consists of various instrumental pieces.
Seventeen people worked on 28 pieces, be it as musicians of assistant sound engineer. The best-known are Michael Giles of King Crimson and John G. Perry (Caravan, Quantum Jump) on Sisters of Remindum, producer Rupert Hine, long-time collaborator Joji Hirota, Andy McCulloch (of King Crimson), Richard Scott on the material from the Invisible Men and Alice projects and two members of Genesis: Mike Rutherford is credited for bass, 12-string guitar and co-writing on five pieces, and, surprisingly, John Silver.
The degree of rarity differs between the individual elements of the Archive Collection II. Nine pieces are remixes of previously released material with something important, e.g. vocals, left off. The Child Song is known from a bootleg (the In The Beginning pentalogy), but it is much more complete and in better quality on this album. Four songs are alternate recordings. Seventeen (or 16 and a half) songs are completely new.
 Deep
In The Night was written by Ant and Mike and developed in 1969 in
the same session that produced Beside The Water’s Edge (on Archive
Collection Volume One). Ant later recorded it for Wise After The Event,
but did not use it. Though it is not finished, this song (and its contemporaries)
enchants with its peculiar beauty. The
Old Wives Tale is not only a solo version of what was to become
a duet with Enrique “Quique” Berro Garcia on Private Parts
& Pieves III: Antiques, but also the instrumental version of the early
Genesis song Little Leaf (1968). The
Scottish Suite II contains almost all the material from 1976’s
Macbeth project that Ant had not used for the Scottish suite (I; on Private
Parts & Pieces II: Back To The Pavilion). The suite is almost as enjoyable
as its sister. Walpurgis Night in particular offers very spooky effects. Windmill
is the oldest recording on this double CD. It is from 1971 and it received
special praise by Peter Gabriel who, at the time, stated that the piece
“moves well”. Tregenna
Afternoons features additional instruments like a wah-wah guitar and
a special ending. It is a real alternate version of the classic number.
In the introduction to this release, Genesis founding drummer John Silver
mentions that he has not managed to get this song right on the guitar
whenever he tried to in the last thirty years. Picardy
Pictures has a very impressionistic sound. Why has this number been
gathering dust in the last 32 years? The
instrumental mix of Falling For Love, performed by the Anthony
Phillips Band, is a fine ending for the first CD. Note the additional
lead guitar parts by Ant. Siesta
is one of three piece for solo guitar from 1981. Interesting chord progressions
there. West
Side Alice never became part of the musical, but it is an excellent
piano piece. Vic´s
Tango is a stylistic curiosity in Ant’s repertoire. The drum
box does not play any tango rhythms but a straight four-four with a double
beat on the four. Quadrille
(an old French formal dance) is the first release from the Alice musical
and it makes us wish for more ... Desert
Suite: The Pipelines work exceptionally well. Don’t
miss the opening theme from Fantomas. First of all, it is not
typical Ant, but you’d also miss John Silver playing the brushes
on the drum kit – his specialty, as can be heard on The Magic Of
Time (Genesis: Archive 1967-75). Volume
II follows Volume I in the peculiar circumstance that, again, the shortest
number has the longest title: An experimental Will The Last Man Off
The Ice Rink (Please Turn Out The Lights) (1973) surprisingly resembles
…Maybe I’ll Lend You Mine After All, a number Phil
Collins would record four years later with Brand X.
The informative booklet contains comprehensive notes for all pieces including many anecdotes, introductions by orange farmer Chris Stewart and Alan Hewitt (of the official Anthony Phillips fanclub) and extensive thank-yous from Ant. We would also like to mention Jonathan Dann who played an important role in sighting Ant’s reels and in creating this archive. We feel confident that there is enough material for Volume III – maybe something from the 90s…? Author: Andreas Lauer, September 2004 Translation by Martin Klinkhardt 2005 Foto: Helmut Janisch Order Archive Collection Volume II 2CD at amazon.com | amazon.co.uk | play.com |
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