Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway [Live]
2. Fly on a Windshield [Live]
3. Broadway Melody of 1974 [Live]
4. Cuckoo Cocoon [Live]
5. In the Cage [Live]
6. Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging [Live]
7. Back in N.Y.C. [Live]
8. Hairless Heart [Live]
9. Counting Out Time [Live]
10. Carpet Crawlers [Live]
11. Chamber of 32 Doors [Live]

Disc 2:

1. Lilywhite Lilith [Live]
2. Waiting Room [Live]
3. Anyway [Live]
4. Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist [Live]
5. Lamia [Live]
6. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats [Live]
7. Colony of Slippermen: The Arrival/A Visit to the Doktor/The Raven [Arri
8. Ravine [Live]
9. Light Dies Down on Broadway [Live]
10. Riding the Scree [Live]
11. In the Rapids [Live]
12. It [Live]

Disc 3:

1. Dancing With the Moonlit Knight [Live]
2. Firth of Fifth [Live]
3. More Fool Me [Live]
4. Supper's Ready [Live]
5. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) [Live]
6. Stagnation [Live]
7. Twilight Alehouse [Single B Side]
8. Happy the Man [Single A Side]
9. Watcher of the Skies [Remix]

Disc 4:

1. In the Wilderness [Rough Mix Without Strings]
2. Shepherd [BBC Nightride]
3. Pacidy [BBC Nightride]
4. Let Us Now Make Love [BBC Nightride]
5. Going Out to Get You [Demo Version]
6. Dusk [Demo Version]
7. Build Me a Mountain [Rough Mix]
8. Image Blown Out [Rough Mix]
9. One Day [Rough Mix]
10. Where the Sour Turns to Sweet [Demo Version]
11. In the Beginning [Demo Version]
12. Magic of Time [Demo Version]
13. Hey! [Demo Version]
14. Hidden in the World of Dawn [Demo Version]
15. Sea Bee [Demo Version]
16. Mystery of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse [Demo Version]
17. Hair on the Arms and Legs [Demo Version]
18. She Is Beautiful [Demo Version]
19. Try a Little Sadness [Demo Version]
20. Patricia [Demo Version]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67490 in Music
• Brand: Genesis
• Released on: 1998-06-16
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: 1.15 pounds

Amazon.com
The Who needed two rock operas to reach their apex, but Genesis climaxed first time out with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. On the live version which takes up half of this four-CD box, the Peter Gabriel-fronted incarnation goes out with a bang, dressing up its art rock in black leather and brass knuckles. Disc 3's live renditions of "Supper's Ready" and "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" are nearly as powerful, while Disc 4's demos from the embryonic late-'60s lineup offer a pleasing glimpse into the group's folk and psychedelic roots. Expansive yet muscular, this compelling set shows Gabriel and company paving the way for a generation of pop explorers right up through Radiohead. All nostalgia should sound this vital. --Billy Grenier

Entertainment Weekly
On this four-CD box--a live recording of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" plus demos, live tracks and alternate versions--[Peter] Gabriel's raspy charisma elevates many songs beyond their prog pedantry.

Customer Reviews

A Motherlode For Gabriel-Era Fans
I'm a quintessential Genesis fan, and I love ALL of the band's music, whether it's the early stuff with Peter Gabriel singing lead, or the later stuff with Phil Collins at the mike (or Ray Wilson, for that matter). But for this review, we are talking about the band's Peter Gabriel era. "Genesis Archives Vol. 1, 1967-1975" is a dream come true for diehard fans of Gabriel-era Genesis. Three years in the making, this 4-CD box set is stuffed with all kinds of Gabriel-era goodies: live recordings, rare B-sides, and lots of previously unreleased songs. For the diehard Genesis fan, listening to this box set is the musical equivalent of striking gold.The first half of "Archives" is devoted to a priceless live recording of the band performing their rock opera, "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway," in January 1975 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It's a barnburning performance of this Genesis classic. Admittedly, this concert recording has been doctored somewhat. Along with a new studio remix of the concluding song, "It," included here because the original concert tape ran out during the final song (doh!), Peter Gabriel, displeased with most of his lead vocals on the original live recording, re-did the majority of his "Lamb" vocals for this box set. Meanwhile, guitarist Steve Hackett also re-did some guitar parts, as he felt his hand injury back in '75 affected his playing on the original concert recording. You may consider Gabriel & Hackett's touch-up work here to be "cheating," but their new contributions are terrific, and they're blended in SO seamlessly with the original concert tape, that you hardly notice the difference.Disc 3 continues with more terrific live stuff, including the highly sought-after live version of the band's 25-minute opus, "Supper's Ready." There had never been a live version of "Supper" available with Peter Gabriel singing lead on it, so this is yet another priceless live recording for the Genesis faithful. Then we're treated to some great B-sides, including the rare single version of "Watcher Of The Skies" (a totally different recording from the longer album version), and, what is without question a Genesis masterpiece, the thrilling "Twilight Alehouse."Finally, Disc 4 is chock full of the band's earliest of early recordings from 1967 to 1970, including vintage BBC material and previously unreleased songs. These are fabulous songs, all of them. My personal faves: the BBC version of "Dusk," "Shepherd" (featuring a rare co-lead vocal from keyboardist Tony Banks), "Pacidy," the beautiful "Let Us Now Make Love," the great piano-thumper "Going Out To Get You," "Build Me A Mountain," "Hey!", and "Try A Little Sadness." "Genesis Archives Vol. 1" is a MUST-OWN collection for anyone who digs early Genesis with Peter Gabriel at the microphone. Can I praise this superb box set any higher? I think not. :-)

The stuff Genesis' fans dreams are made of
This 4-CD box set of the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis is an embarrassment of riches for fans of "the old Genesis". The first two CDs contain an ENTIRE live performance of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" from 1975. There are some new overdubs, in fact the closer "it" was entirely recorded in the studio because sound engineers allowed the tape on both recorders to run out (note Mike Rutherford simultaneously playing rhythm guitar and bass). But overall it comes off very well, except for "Back in N.Y.C.", which is slowed down and loses some power. On the original album, the 1st CD is much better than the 2nd--here the performance is more consistent, with cuts like "The Waiting Room" and "The Lamia" (with a great solo by Steve Hackett) coming across great. The 3rd CD contains some more live tracks, most notable a Gabriel-led rendition of "Supper's Ready", which I prefer to the "Seconds Out" version. In the early days, Genesis' guitarists would use several unusual tunings, and Gabriel would tell weird stories between songs while they tuned up; here, the intro to "Supper's Ready" includes one of these stories, with help from Phil Collins.

My favorite part of the box is the previously unreleased material. "Twilite Alehouse" is a GREAT song that was written circa "Trespass" and was a staple of early Genesis shows, but was only released in the U.K., as the B-side of the "I Know What I Like" single. I've heard bootlegs of the song, studio and live, for 20 years, now I finally have a copy. "Happy the Man", an early single, isn't so good. The 4th CD contains demos and recordings made for radio shows from the "Trespass" and "From Genesis to Revelation" days, as well as several rough mixes from the latter album prior to the orchestration being added. I find these rough mixes more listenable than the completed album, and "Image Blown Out" and especially "Build Me a Mountain" are better than several songs that made the album. Another catchy song left off that album was "The Magic of Time", with drummer John Silver playing brushes on a metal cookie container. "Let Us Now Make Love" was left off the "Trespass" album, but is at least as good as "Looking for Someone" or "Dusk". "Pacidy" and "Going Out to Get You" are songs that fell between the cracks of the early albums. The package includes an 80-page book with fantastic pictures, a two-page overview of the box by Tony Banks, and informative discussions of the band's history by several associates.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Yet Another Take...
There's no way around it: the first Genesis Archives box is an essential purchase for any fan of the Gabriel era. It contains the live material that fans have been clamoring for for years, and in absolutely stunning sound quality compared to the boots of those shows. Yes, there are a few minor quibbles (and they are minor, despite what some reviews on this page would have you believe). But overall, there is enough here to appease even the most nitpicky fanatic.

First, there is the 'holy grail': a complete (sans one song) live performance of "The Lamb" from the Shrine in '75. The sound quality is amazing, and the performance certainly does not sound too slow or sluggish to these ears. Although the Wembley performance from later that year is superior (with a double-length version of "The Waiting Room"), only about half of that show is available, so the Shrine is all we have for complete, soundboard-quality performances of "The Lamb". The main controversy comes from Gabriel's vocals, about 2/3 of which were re-recorded in the 90s; while I can sympathize with purists who would have liked to have heard all of the original vocals, it is also great to hear the fortysomething Gabriel finally revisit this period, and his voice is in finer form than ever (he even reverts to some of his old vocal phrasings, for authenticity's sake). Perhaps it is strange for some fans to hear the '95 Gabriel on "The Carpet Crawlers" juxtaposed next to the '75 one in "The Chamber Of 32 Doors", but the difference is less jarring than one might imagine. Hackett also re-recorded a few of his solos ("Fly", "Lamia"), and these sound terrific, too (although again I do sympathize with those who would like to have heard the originals).

The third disc needlessly edits "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" and omits a live version of "The Cinema Show", but is great otherwise; the live "Supper" also features about 1/3 re-recorded vocals and a re-recorded guitar solo, with much the same results as on the "Lamb" material (that is to say, quite good). The other live versions are superb, and it's nice to have clean CD versions of the excellent B-sides "Twilight Alehouse" and the Cat Stevens-ish "Happy The Man". The single version of "Watcher" is interesting, it sounds like a different take.

Finally, the last disc collects BBC sessions and demos from the group's earliest years. Yes, it's formative, and yes, you probably won't listen to it more than a few times. But it's fascinating anyway to trace the group's development and this is an "Archives" box after all, isn't it? The BBC versions of "The Shepherd", "Pacidy" and "Let Us Now Make Love" are the best here, and bridge the gap between the first and second albums. Oh yes, there is also a delightful (if somewhat fragile) booklet that comes with it, featuring multiple essays, photos and memories from the time. My only real complaint is that they edited "Dancing" and did not include a live "Cinema Show"--the re-recorded vocals work fine. I was most surprised by how excellent the sound quality was on everything. Definitely worth getting, as the 1970-75 era was the peak of the band's career from an artistic perspective.