Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Genesis
Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1993
Rating: 3/5
The second live release from the “We Can’t Dance” tour, following “The Way We Walk – Volume One – The Shorts” (1992), is also the band’s fifth live album, and it collects their longer pieces. These are the progressive, more complex compositions, including their legendary prog epics, which will grab the attention of fans of their classic work, their old-school diehards and prog rock lovers alike. It’s nice to realize the band could still play their better stuff brilliantly when they felt like it. But don’t expect too much from the setlist, because this was “that” Genesis, after all.
The pick of these longer, mostly progressive pieces isn’t exactly inspired, since it mostly focuses on the long tracks from their “pop” era (from their three commercially biggest albums: Genesis (1983), Invisible Touch (1986) and We Can’t Dance (1991)), while their best work gets squeezed down into a lump of songs called “Old Medley”. Even though it manages to conjure up some of the old magic, “Old Medley” still leaves a bitter aftertaste when you listen to it, because this “glue-together” of their legendary work fails to satisfy the average fan of the band. It does contain individual, central parts of masterpieces like “Dance On A Volcano” (A Trick Of The Tail, 1976), “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” (The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, 1974), “The Musical Box” (Nursery Cryme, 1971) (I have to praise Collins’s surprisingly good vocal take on this Gabriel classic in the closing verses), “Firth Of Fifth” and “I Know What I Like” (both from Selling England By The Pound, 1973). In the last part of the medley we even hear bits and verses from hits like “That’s All”, “Illegal Alien” (both Genesis, 1983), “Your Own Special Way” (Wind And Wuthering, 1977) and Follow You Follow Me” (And Then There Were Three, 1978), which is bound to confuse plenty of fans, prog and pop alike. In its own way, “Old Medley” is a nice proof that the band hadn’t forgotten how to play their best material, but turning it into some kind of collage feels almost like blasphemy. A clear sign that the band was tired of its mighty past and, rather than putting in a bit more effort, just wrapped it all up neatly into a “glue-together”. The band shines more on its longer prog-pop numbers from the ’80s and from “We Can’t Dance” (1991). This live version of “Driving The Last Spike” (We Can’t Dance, 1991) has excellent drums from Chester Thompson and is better than the studio one, even though Collins sings the closing verses in a lower key. “Domino” (Invisible Touch, 1986) is improved as well, because instead of the electronic drums on the studio version you get the live sound of Thompson’s excellent drumming, although the middle of the song still has a part on the drum machine, which is simply an integral part of this track. Most of all, though, the superb version of “Fading Lights” (We Can’t Dance, 1991) blows you away, Collins’s farewell epic, glowing in all its melancholy. The central instrumental section is phenomenal, especially Collins’s drums (that is, the part where he leaves the mic and sits down behind the kit) and Banks’s excellent keyboard solos. And when Rutherford wraps up his guitar part, Collins steps back up to the mic to sing the closing verse, which is the high point of the whole recording. “Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea” is also played better than the studio version, since it features “live” acoustic drums. The instrumental section on “Second Home By The Sea” is especially impressive, along with the great interplay between Collins’s and Thompson’s drums. The closing “Drum Duet” is really a drum composition, with the credit shared between Collins and Thompson. Unlike similar drum duels, “Drum Duet” is an actual composition, with some drum parts played in the same sequence by both drummers and others where they “answer” each other, if you will, in a kind of drum showdown.
Of course, for all the prog rock and classic Genesis fans, the real meaty stuff is missing, like (the full versions, naturally) “The Knife”, “Watcher Of the Skies”, “Cinema Show” or “Supper’s Ready”. Still, of the two live “The Way We Walk” releases, this one is undoubtedly the better. It has the band’s better, more creative compositions, which prove how magnificent they could still be when they felt like it. The album is also a fitting plaster for all those fans who don’t like to smear their ears with the pop creations from the previous live album and have been longing since the early ’80s for the band to go back to where they belong: progressive rock. “The Longs” is of course far from what the average fan would wish for, but it’s still a decent closing chapter to the Collins era and proof that the trio never forgot their roots, after all. Who would have thought that Collins’s time with the band would end with a live album of more complex compositions?
Lineup
Phil Collins – vocals, drums, percussion
Mike Rutherford – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
Tony Banks – keyboards, backing vocals
Guest musicians:
Daryl Stuermer – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
Chester Thompson – drums and percussion
Production
Nick Davis, Robert Colby and Genesis
Track list
1. Old Medley (19:31)
Dance On A Volcano
The Lamb Lies Down On
Broadway
The Musical Box
Firth Of Fifth
I Know What I Like
2. Driving The Last Spike (10:17)
3. Domino (11:20)
part 1 – In The Glow Of The Night
part 2 – The Last Domino
4. Fading Lights (10:54)
5. Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea (12:16)
6. Drum Duet (6:06)
Album length: 70:27
