genesis archive 2 download zip Genesis archive 2 download zip. original releases and leftovers. When you compare the versions on Archive #2 with the original releases you will find that some of the non-album tracks sound better than before. No details were made available as to how far the songs were reprocessed for the Archive. Unless Nick Davis, Geoff Callingham or members of the band talk about it we won’t know whether some of the tracks were remastered or if they just had their levels raised. Two of the studio tracks differ in more than the audio quality from their originals. The only version of Submarine that was known before had a sort of proper ending at 4:32 while the Archive version fades out fourty seconds later without any sort of ending. It’s Yourself had been officially released in two different versions and also, unofficially, on the Trick Of The Tail Outtakes bootleg. The version of the box set does not match any of those three. The version on the Italian Ripples 7” single is some 25 seconds longer and ends in a keyboard line that resembles the beginning of Mad Man Moon at the very end followed by two seconds of studio noises. The Archive version fades out before that. The fadeout occurs even earlier on the German Your Own Special Way single. The version of It’s Yourself that is listed as Beloved Summer on the Trick Of The Tail Outtakes bootleg is circa 60 seconds longer. It would have been more interesting than any other official version. The “work in progress” version of Mama is the only previously unreleased studio recording. It provides a fascinating insight into the jam-based songwriting approach Genesis took in the studio. One wonders why there is not more of this on Archive #2, particularly since it was mentioned several times that Abacab demos were considered as possible material for Archive #2. Tony Banks himself raised hopes for that in a 1995 “it” interview. There would have been no lack of material (Said Banks: “Phil was always good at having a recorder run in the background.”) but perhaps rather a lack of courage to release “unfinished” and possibly less commercial material. The live tracks on CDs 2 and 3 were picked with more care. Not all of these versions are released for the first time, but most of them are songs that were rarely played live, e.g. Man On The Corner and It’ Gonna Get Better. Nick Davis apparently remixed the songs and he did a great job. He even succeeded in cleaning up Your Own Special Way, a song that was terribly hissy when it was first released on the Hold On My Heart CD single. The booklet does not tell what repairs were done on which songs. Entangled, for example, sound much more like a studio job than like Bingley Hall because Phil is singing in close harmonies with – himself. Bill Bruford’s drumming still makes it a fine version. It would have been much appreciated, too, if some of the older versions like The Knife and White Mountain that returned to the tour repertoire in ’76 and ’77 had been included on Archive #2. The various live medleys, a couple of songs that were only played on single tours and Phil’s unique introductions to some of the pieces would have enriched the set. As far as sound is concerned, the songs could have done with stronger bass ends. It should also be mentioned that Duke’s Travels includes Duke’s End – an apparent oversight (?). T E X T & D E S I G N. A few words before we start. The third use of the I Can’t Dance walk on a Genesis album cover (after The Way We Walk – The Shorts and The Longs) is not all that original. On closer examination of the contours of other album artworks on the cover one might also ask just what the ellipses from Calling All Stations are doing here. They merely indicate that the design was either developed by people who did not know much about Genesis or that it was done in a hurry. The text in the booklet indicates a rush job, too: There is a short introduction by Tony Banks and an essay by Hugh Fielder that stretches all the way through the booklet. The essay covers Collins’ time as the lead singer with Genesis, and it contains hardly anything new (except for a couple of mistakes). A few words about this era by Steve Hackett and Bill Bruford and certainly by Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson would have been much more relevant. Then there are the credits for each song and brief comments from which album sessions the B-sides were taken and on which concerts the live tracks were recorded. It would have made sense to mention when and where the songs had been released before. A discography and tour dates from 1976 to 1992 would have been a welcome addition. The photos consist mainly of well-known images that have been used too often for all kinds of publications. The handful of unknown photos cannot really reconcile the die-hard fans. As far a bad choice of images is concerned, the photo on the bottom of page 56 really takes the prize. The quality of the photo is so bad that one cannot even make out who is on stage. One could almost excuse that – but one can clearly recognize the venue. It’s the Waldbuhne in Berlin – and Genesis never performed there! There was really not much efford to produce an interesting text and design for the box set. It does not take long to notice the weak points and flaws about Archive #2. More material and a fourth CD would have made the box set more attractive for fans. The booklet has lots of room for improvement. We still owe some thanks to Genesis for putting out this product, though, because Banks, Collins and Rutherford certainly did not need the money, and the box set won’t make the record company rich, either. It is, in fact, a release for us fans. Even if you have a nearly complete collection you will want to buy the box at least so that you have those songs on CD that you only had on vinyl before. For fans with a smaller collection this is a treasure chest. The only sad thought about this box set is the question what will happen with all the material that was not included on Archive Volumes 1 and 2. Since the original plans were for three archive box sets of 4CDs each, there must be loads of material in the area of demo and live tracks – recording we will probably never hear. Genesis Archives, Vol. 2: 1976-1992. The first Genesis Archive made sense. It covered the Peter Gabriel years, an era that was not only supremely creative for the band, but filled with rarities, forgotten tracks, outtakes, B-sides, BBC sessions, and live performances begging for a collection. It was a box set for fans and it filled its purpose splendidly. Its sequel, Genesis Archive 2: 1976-1992, attempts to fill the role for the Genesis Mach II, otherwise known as the Phil Collins years, but the problem is, the Collins era was completely different from Gabriel's. It wasn't just that the band became progressively more pop oriented during these 16 years -- besides, they never totally abandoned their prog roots -- but the late '70s and '80s simply were not conducive to the kind of rarities that made the first Archive valuable. They didn't need to do BBC sessions, they didn't do non-LP rarities live, and their B-sides were often devoted to extended mixes for the dance club or live cuts. If there were outtakes, they were often left in the can because they simply didn't meet quality-control standards. All of this is borne out by the three-disc Archive 2. Although there are some nice moments scattered throughout the record, it all winds up feeling rather unnecessary. None of the remixes are particularly interesting and the live tracks, while listenable, are never revelatory -- and those wind up forming the bulk of the set. There's some value in the outtakes, but most of them are historical curiosities; only a handful, such as the Abacab leftover "You Might Recall" and an early version of "Paperlate," are truly worthwhile. For anyone other than hardcore fans, this can easily be overlooked. Genesis ​– Archive #2 1976-1992. I personally could give a crap about the live recordings. I just wanted all/most of the studio B-sides. And they are nicely collected here. Also--the mastering is spot on, as this was released before the "Loudness Wars". rltjr33. Retrospective box sets are such troublesome things. There typically isn't a ton of complaint about things being included that maybe shouldn't have; more often, the complaints are about what was left off. I know the first box set's potential omission of "Twilight Alehouse" sparked a fair amount of handwringing (or at least complaining) among the band's fans. I personally wished a live Gabriel-era version of "The Cinema Show" had been included as well ("Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like" were there - why not that classic?). There were probably even a few who wanted a live rendering of "More Fool Me". Anytime a band leaves something off that was previously released or is known to be widely available, that will tend to cause some angst.