Genesis - Genesis Archive 1967-1975

Through many of the scenes of the Art Rock scene, some of them were heavily criticized of being pompous, bombastic, and of course, the ‘dinosaur rock’ bands, as if the mainstream wanted that genre to be destroyed and listen to good ol’ Rock & Roll, they were heavily wrong and fucked up in the ass. The teamwork between Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett, Genesis always remained a favorite among prog fans as a five-piece and made some great albums from 1967 to 1974. Even though they went from that from being a sell-out pop band in the late ‘80s with Phil Collins who sold the band to the devil, but the early days or the Peter Gabriel-era, have done some amazing live performances and some compilations including Turn It On Again…The Hits in 1999 and Platinum Collection in 2005 in which Nick Davis did some New Stereo Mixes on the 3-CD set, who wanted to give Genesis the green light in a 5.1 Remastered sound instead of a fucked-up quiet sound that would have make you very proud of.
52 tracks on a four disc set including an amazing booklet which featured memories from the late Tony Stratton Smith, Richard MacPhail, and Chris Welch to name a few including photos of the band in their heydays, Genesis Archive 1967-75 is one of the best box sets to tell the story of Genesis Progressive Rock which they were completely ahead of their time in a mysterious and bizarre way.
Disc’s One and Two starts off with the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour recorded live at the Shrine Auditorium on January 24, 1975 in Los Angeles, California which would be the last time in which Peter Gabriel toured with the band before going into a solo career after the tour was over. It features some amazing live sounds done by Tony Banks including an electrifying keyboard introduction to the self-titled track while the band do a twist of hard rock and weird guitar sounds and glorified prog sounds on Counting Out Time. Some of the vocals and instruments which were re-recorded in 1995 while they were doing the project because they believed they didn’t do a good job including Peter Gabriel who was in the Slippermen costume during the Colony of Slippermen, but it still kicks fucking ass. The group are very experimental also, note the twisted keyboard sounds done by Tony Banks on the avant-garde madness The Waiting Room, the shattering moogs on Anyway, and the mellotronic beauty on The Chamber of 32 Doors, Broadway Melody of 1934, The Lamia, and Fly on a Windshield. Steve Hackett’s ambient guitar and virtuoso licks are 100% positive on Firth of Fifth, Silent Sorrow in Empty Boars and the sitar live version love on the humor comedic rocker I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe). Disc Three features a short set list in which has been known as the lost live album and infamously bootlegged recorded live at the Rainbow during the Selling England Tour in October, 1973 with a darker tone introduction spoken by Peter and then segueing into the lukewarm crisp of Dancing with the Moonlit Knight. Maybe Phil Collins was taken aback including the band of Gabriel dressing up as a sunflower, a knight, or the cosmic lawnmower. And then it features some interesting B-sides including the folky hobbit-like story of Happy The Man and the 7-minute rocker Twilight Alehouse while Watcher of The Skies is a single version remixed very well, which might get your brain saying ‘What the fuck was that about?!’ Disc Four are rare demos and unreleased tracks including a BBC Session in 1970 from the Genesis to Revelation and Trespass-era which has some interesting songs including a duet from TB and PG on the ballad, Shepherd while it becomes more Bee-Gee like sound on most of the tracks, but there’s a huge variation in these lost tracks and that should keep the band going on for more before listening to this in all of its glory.