Posts by WinstonWolf

    My "perfect" assortment uses the 1994 DER's of A Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering, Duke, and Abacab, with the 2007 remixes of Three Sides Live up through Calling All Stations and And Then There Were Three.


    I really like the 2007 remixes of Trespass through Selling England by the Pound, and though there are a few errors on Foxtrot that bug me, it's not enough to kick it out of the club. The Foxtrot DER is really good too, in case those problems are too much. Likewise, if the extra drums on Trespass bother you the DER is miles ahead of the original CD version but the same original mix.


    I'm currently re-discovering the original CD mix of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, so it is my current go-to version. Once again the DER is really good too, and the 2007 remix is nice, but some the changes bug me and this is the one album in the entire catalog I think I prefer the grittier sound of the original mix or the DER more than the pristine sound on the remix.

    Yeah, I'm not a fan of the extra drums. I'm also not sure if radio really ever adopted it, in spite of it seemingly being made specifically for radio. I think of the hundreds of times I've heard In The Air Tonight on the radio I've heard that remix twice, maybe three times...in 35 years?!?

    Not to sound too harsh but I think Hearts on Fire is my single least favorite Genesis song ever, so it isn't in any version of We Can't Dance that I actually listen to. It is the only B-side/non-album track I haven't re-sequenced into a Genesis album for my playlists.


    Personally, I'm of the opinion that 13 out of 14 good songs ain't bad when recording an album, especially a band on their 14th album... But it didn't do anything for me when I heard the song back in 1992, and revisiting it when the boxed sets came out didn't change my mind. There's something about that one that just doesn't connect with me.

    I found the original mixes of The Longs and The Shorts to be shrill and trebly, which was in vogue as a mixing style at the time, much like the original version of Serious Hits Live. The 2009 remixes toned that down a lot, and I prefer the sound and consider the return to concert order a big upgrade. Some of the missing overdubs in the remixed versions make a few of the songs sound a little different but nothing too troublesome.


    Three Sides Live sounds great to me, but perhaps less of a huge revelation compared to the rest. I thought the original mix of Three Sides Live sounded great already. There is some improvement, for sure, but I don't think it was as lacking as the others.

    It's funny to me the lengths some Genesis "fans" will go to "improve" things Genesis has done. For a long time it was just the "check out my re-sequenced playlist" or "come see how much better the album is after I left off the songs I don't like."


    But now we've "progressed" to the point we're replacing the singer?


    I suppose it's interesting from a "well, there's something I've never heard before" standpoint, and I prefer how Not About Us turned out more than Shipwrecked, but it's still kinda weird.

    I've not done an A/B listen in years, but at the time I didn't notice much of a difference between the original mix and the 2007 mix of Calling All Stations.


    I didn't notice a difference in We Can't Dance either. Both of those albums were recorded and mixed in the same studio by the same guy using the same equipment and being the most recent albums already had (imo) pretty much flawless production the first time around.


    I'm assuming we're talking about the stereo mixes. The surround mixes of both were nice and put a little more air and separation into the sound that brought a fresh take to albums that I nearly wore out when they were first released.


    Of the four red box albums both Genesis and (especially) Invisible Touch were the most noticeably and dramatically improved.

    Mike actually proposed to take Paul Young and Paul Carrack as new Genesis singers, which Tony opposed of because that would have become a Mechanics feat. Tony Banks project.


    Tony's not wrong about a Paul AND Paul situation, but I DO think Paul Carrack would have been a good choice to bring in.


    Obviously that PC didn't have quite the same level of exposure as the PC he was replacing, but I think Genesis could have benefited from having a singer people would have recognized.

    Thanks for posting! It's always fun to see the songs that were short-lived and missed being professionally released!


    Hearing that, I'm not surprised at all that was the last time it was performed. That song is quite a workout vocally and Phil was already making a lot of choices designed to make sure he could get through it, but it was still pretty clear even with shortening the song and dropping a few high notes down it was too much for a long tour.

    I agree it would be nice if they'd just re-release the previous sets. The Lamb especially had a lot of nice content.


    I'd love to see some kind of anniversary release with new content but I'm not sure what more could be done...realistically.


    A new remaster of the original stereo mix?


    Am I remembering correctly that a different (and complete) live show multitrack was discovered since the Archive 1 release? My only hope there is that the band would deem any live versions good enough to release without feeling the need to re-record things as was done for Archive 1.

    The only way to make the band (or record company) understand that there is a market for more releases is to support what they do put out.


    For everyone that takes the high road and doesn't purchase a particular item it makes it even less likely that whatever "perfect" release you're holding out for will actually be considered.


    I also recall how many people loudly let everyone know how they passed on the 2007 boxed sets for similar "not perfect enough" reasons. I guess they're the ones now paying four or five times the original price for them because they didn't, for whatever reason, get them back when they were $50...I have no doubt this BBC box will have a similar trajectory.

    One thing I will ask is what does 2nd Home By The Sea sound like to anyone else. Specifically during Mike's guitar solo. Can't make my mind up if the CD is glitching, if there is a glitch on the recording or there was glitching as Mike performed the solo?


    Gave it a listen, and I hear what you're hearing.


    It sounds to me like Phil is either trying out some fills he usually doesn't play or (more likely) his electronic kit is mis-triggering in a couple spots, making some hits sound out of time.

    The lengthy introductions to songs was always something I found strange. They could have played another track (or two) instead indeed!


    Something a lot of folks don't realize is that those bits of banter give everyone a minute or two to catch their breath, take a sip, and get ready for the next song. Those little gaps are a necessary part of managing stamina and endurance to play through a show like theirs.

    I have mixed feelings about all of this. On the one hand, sure, I've absolutely enjoyed the heck out of seeing this old footage. Living Forever is one I was especially surprised didn't make the final setlist on the Dance Tour. The whole song seemed custom made to be played live, right down to the short break between vocals before the drums came in. Being able to finally see and hear that they did intend to play it live is incredible.


    The bigger chunk of 1992 rehearsal footage was also interesting to see as well. But none of this seems (to me at least) to be material worthy of an official release or paying for it.


    So when it comes down to it, I'm fine with these bits being unofficial bootlegs. I fully understand why Phil, Mike, and Tony don't want to put an official stamp on this kind of stuff. The fact that it isn't immediately getting pulled off of You Tube means that there is at the very least an intentional blind eye from the band allowing it to stay up. Which seems like the best of both worlds to me.

    I do feel like someone connected to the band is watching activity on YouTube... The current weekly releases of songs from Phil's No Ticket Required and now the Serious Tour means someone has been tasked with increasing their online profile. It may point to nothing, but it also may be how they will gauge how much interest there is in Phil/Genesis and guide what/if something moves closer to becoming an official product.

    I really think that in spite of what we, as fans, may think are viable products for release that the metric that the band and/or record company follow is significantly different.


    There are also VERY different reasons at play for what does and doesn't get released. It is VERY clear that the band really has absolutely no desire to release anything for the sake of completeness. It either meets their definition of quality or it doesn't get released, and with at least three or four members having veto power we've seen a lot of things get the axe or seemingly never be considered.


    But the final arbiter really is the record company. They are the ones paying for the work and expect to see a profit on any release, and the budget set might not even quite match the amount of material the band is willing to release. That is exactly the situation with the '07-'09 boxed sets, where the white and black boxes had significantly smaller budgets because the the blue/red/green boxes had underperforming sales.


    That's why I'm a little frustrated by some of the comments I've read here about the upcoming BBC box set, how many are going to skip it entirely because it doesn't quite live up to their "throw the archive doors wide open" expectations.

    The way I see it is (1) many fans don't have the same exhaustive collection of bootlegs, and that official set is still a significant release, in spite of the number of "would be nice" songs that aren't in it. And (2) EVERY chance of more Genesis releases is based on how well the last Genesis release sold. So every "huge fan" that doesn't buy an official release is directly affecting how large the budget is for the next release, or even deciding if there is a next release.


    Now there is a new owner of the publishing rights for the whole catalog they might be more motivated to try more releases to try to make that investment earn them some money, but I'm afraid if the more "fan friendly" releases (of which I'd put the BBC box firmly in) don't do well, we are a lot more likely to see just re-release and re-packaging of the same studio albums over and over again and fewer (if any) odd bits from the archives.

    Great write up and it's nice to see what we're getting in context with what there is available.


    To one point:

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    Why they didn't just make a decent box set with all available recordings and complete shows remains a mystery.


    I'm certain the answer comes down to the budget for the project and the desired price point. Even though it's far from complete, five discs is still a lot of content. I'm sure the record company also sees $60 as a tipping point. That price and volume of content will appeal to a wider array of buyers. I'm sure they're correct to believe that if they had pushed the price up to $100 and included 8 or 10 discs the sales would have seen a sharp drop.