Your 'best of Genesis' compilation

Surprised you missed out the Cinama Show

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As you can see I go for the complete mix-it-all-up approach, I can't bear chronological compilations:

Well, you must love A Chord Too Far, then!

I don't have ideas for a "best of" Genesis compilation, but if I did it would be a "history of" Genesis, and totally chronological. But, hey, that's how I operate.

You've made some interesting, and even potentially controversial, selections. The one I find most intriguing (especially as the last track on a disc) is:

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The Colony of Slippermen (intro)

That one might beat even "Who Dunnit" for sheer unpopularity! ( Although I'm a fan of both myself.)

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Out of curiosity, I'd be interested to know what you thought were the potentially controversial choices.

Maybe "controversial" isn't the best word, but various of the B-sides and album tracks may seem like outright odd choices for a "best of." Some songs are kind of divisive (Misunderstanding, Man Of Our Times), or not terribly popular among Genesis fans in general (It, Hold On My Heart, most stuff from CAS), or just really strange-sounding choices (Submarine).

If I were to come up with a compilation, based more on personal preference than on which would be the objective "most important" songs, it would probably look something like this:

Disc 1 (1968-74)

A Winter's Tale

Where The Sour Turns To Sweet

Stagnation

Dusk

Harold The Barrel

The Fountain Of Salmacis

Supper's Ready

Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

The Cinema Show / Aisle Of Plenty

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Lilywhite Lilith

Riding The Scree

Disc 2 (1976-80)

Entangled

Mad Man Moon

Eleventh Earl Of Mar

Blood On The Rooftops

Inside & Out

Deep In The Motherlode

Many Too Many

Behind The Lines

Duchess

Man Of Our Times

Turn It On Again

Disc 3 (1981-97)

Abacab

Dodo / Lurker

You Might Recall

Mama (long version)

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

Anything She Does

Driving The Last Spike

Way Of The World

On The Shoreline

Congo (single edit)

Alien Afternoon

The only Genesis compilation I've made, and it's one I'm quite pleased with, was a non-album track compilation from the post-Gabriel era extracting all the studio tracks from Archive Vol. 2 (minus the edited version of It's Yourself), adding the three from Spot The Pigeon plus the longer version of It's Yourself which ends with that nod to Mad Man Moon.

Some people don't like compilations that run chronologically - but I do, so it starts with It's Yourself and continues from there.

I've never done a compilation and I've never been tempted to but it's always interesting to read other fans' preferred lists. Regarding the intro to The Colony Of Slippermen, are we talking about Arrival (ie "Boppity-bop I wandered lonely as a cloud...") or the so-called Chinese jam that appears at the start of Side Four of the album? Either way, I love both and regard neither as being especially controversial.

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The only Genesis compilation I've made, and it's one I'm quite pleased with, was a non-album track compilation from the post-Gabriel era

As I mentioned a few times on the old board, I've done a non-album track compilation covering the band's whole career from 1967 to 1998, using tracks from ARCHIVE 1, ARCHIVE 2, and whatever other source was necessary. I wouldn't call it a "best of" Genesis, but it is one of my favorite "albums"!

As The Platinum Collection is what REALLY got me into investigating the band properly (coming around 15 years after IT), it's always sufficed as my playlist. But maybe I'll give this a go....

Did it cross anyone else's mind to say "the 5 boxsets" upon seeing this question, or am I the only cheeky poster here?

More seriously though, back in the day when people (including me) made mixtapes, I did this kind of thing all the time - although never with Genesis. I was always just happy with the albums as they were. I did think about making what I liked the best from the Archive sets, but never got around to it.

I like reading the versions here, though.

Quote from OneForTheVine

Did it cross anyone else's mind to say "the 5 boxsets" upon seeing this question, or am I the only cheeky poster here?

More seriously though, back in the day when people (including me) made mixtapes, I did this kind of thing all the time - although never with Genesis. I was always just happy with the albums as they were. I did think about making what I liked the best from the Archive sets, but never got around to it.

I like reading the versions here, though.

What ever happened to the days of tapes , a fine era

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i made a four cd complilation. each cd is based on each of the official live albums: the way we walk, three sides live, seconds out and genesis live. when i like a live album by any artist or band, i enjoy putting together the studio versions of those songs in the same order, with only a few replacements.

i know that the running order of the genesis live albums was very questionable, and that "longs and shorts" thing was a bad idea, but... those live albums bring me back good memories from my teen days, so they have a special charm for me even though they weren't perfect.

cd 1:

land of confusion

no son of mine

jesus he knows me

throwing it all away

i can't dance

mama

hold on my heart

that's all

in too deep

illegal alien

tonight, tonight, tonight

invisible touch

home by the sea / second home by the sea

cd 2:

turn it on again

keep it dark

abacab

behind the lines

duchess

no reply at all

follow you, follow me

misunderstanding

a trick of the tail

your own special way

paperlate

man on the corner

many too many

ripples

cd 3:

squonk

the carpet crawlers

in the cage

afterglow

firth of fifth

i know what i like

the lamb lies down on broadway

it

the cinema show

dance on a volcano

los endos

cd4:

watcher of the skies

supper's ready

the musical box

the knife

I have done this, too, but for other people either giving them songs they already like or trying to get them into Genesis a little bit. It all depends on their tastes. But it often works because I believe there is enough variety in Genesis that anybody can find something they like from the catalog.

For example, for someone who liked Zeppelin and Sabbath I tried to compile some heavier, rhythmic, and guitar-centric stuff (I try not to go over 1 hour or else it could be overkill):

Down and Out

Can Utility and the Coastliners

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

Mama

Squonk

Firth of Fifth

In that Quiet Earth

Afterglow

I think The Knife would be a good part of this but again, I kept it under an hour.

I quite liked this mix and sequence so I made a copy for myself.

Quote from Backdrifter

There was some talk earlier in this thread of chron vs non-chron compilations. I recall in about 1979 there was a Japanese compilation called The Story of Genesis, released as a double vinyl LP. From its title you'll probably guess it was chronological. It was also terrible. The sequencing was poor, as so often unavoidably happens with chron compilations, and created sides way too long for vinyl. The selections were also very skewed - their one double album represented by just one track, SEBTP by just IKWIL, other albums getting two or even three. And as usual, FGTR was ignored. As I recall, the tracklisting was:

SIDE 1 - The Knife/The Musical Box/Watcher of the Skies

SIDE 2 - Supper's Ready/I Know What I Like

SIDE 3 - The Lamb Lies Down/Dance on a Volcano/Squonk/Ripples

SIDE 4 - Eleventh Earl of Mar/Your Own Special Way/Burning Rope/Follow You Follow Me

(I'm thinking, f**k me, side 4's pretty depressing, while no doubt others here are thinking, side 4 - excellent!)

My question is, now their career is complete, what would your soup-to-nuts chron compilation be? The main rule is, one track from each studio album but with the option to use two from The Lamb as long as it's one each from the first and second half. No b-sides or live album/bootleg etc cuts.

Despite my dislike of the chron model, I've mapped one out. I've tried to imagine it as a commercial release as a 2-cd set, and to strike a balance of well-known and less so, while not going too 'obscure'. The aim would be to satisfy those who want some 'obvious' stuff, while also going slightly off the beaten track to show aspects of the band more casual listeners might not know, and keeping it as 'representative' as possible. But I accept that I've included at least one or two that are particular favourites of mine.

I reckon these would be 2 x 65-ish mins discs, dividing nicely between PG and post-PG.

CD1

The Conqueror

Stagnation

The Fountain of Salmacis

Supper's Ready

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

The Carpet Crawlers

The Lamia

CD2

Ripples

Blood on the Rooftops

Down & Out

Duchess

Dodo/Lurker

Mama

Tonight Tonight Tonight

Fading Lights

The Dividing Line

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Quote from foxtwin

I have done this, too, but for other people either giving them songs they already like or trying to get them into Genesis a little bit. It all depends on their tastes. But it often works because I believe there is enough variety in Genesis that anybody can find something they like from the catalog.

For example, for someone who liked Zeppelin and Sabbath I tried to compile some heavier, rhythmic, and guitar-centric stuff (I try not to go over 1 hour or else it could be overkill):

Down and Out

Can Utility and the Coastliners

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

Mama

Squonk

Firth of Fifth

In that Quiet Earth

Afterglow

I think The Knife would be a good part of this but again, I kept it under an hour.

I quite liked this mix and sequence so I made a copy for myself.

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These are both really good compilations.

I'll have to think about an assortment.

My collection (Part 1)

Disc 1:

Behind the Lines

Down & Out

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

Mama

Unquiet slumbers for the sleepers/In that Quiet earth

Afterglow

Mad Man Moon

Can utility & the Coastliners

Burning Rope

The Knife

Disc 2

Watcher of the skies

Dance on a volcano

Firth of Fifth

Seven Stones

Undertow

Ripples

Silver Rainbow

Horizons

Suppers Ready

Disc 3

Eleventh Earl of Mar

White Mountain

Fly on a windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974

Blood on the rooftops

Deep in the motherlode

Home by the sea/Second home by the sea

The cinema show

The Musical Box

Me & Sarah Jane

The Brazilian

Disc 4

Turn it on again

One for the Vine

Entangled

Squonk

In the Cage

That's all

Fading Lights

Los Endos

Silent sorrow in empty boats

I tend to like to keep my lists short. That said, this list is my personal "the songs that best represent Genesis' catalogue comprehensively" I guess. Like something I'd show someone who doesn't know the band, what Genesis is all about:

1. The Knife

2. The Musical Box

3. Can Utility and the Coastliners

4. The Cinema Show

5. In The Cage

6. Dance on a Volcano

7. Afterglow

8. Follow You Follow Me

9. Turn It On Again

10. Me and Sarah Jane

11. Mama

12. Land of Confusion

13. No Son Of Mine

14. Congo

But for my personal favorites ranking, it would look very different, like this:

1. Tonight Tonight Tonight

2. No Son Of Mine

3. Dance On A Volcano

4. Throwing It All Away

5. Home By The Sea/2nd Home

6. Me and Sarah Jane

7. Duke's Travels/End

8. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

9. Supper's Ready

10. Hold On My Heart

11. Turn It On Again

12. It's Gonna Get Better

13. Robbery, Assault and Battery