Search - Genesis :: Way We Walk II - Live

The Trio Hasn't Morphed Completely into a Pop Band

L.A. Scene | Indian Trail, NC USA | 11/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When it comes to the rock band, Genesis - I think this band is often unfarily criticized for going "commercial". Yes, the band did move into more of a pop-music direction in the 1980s, but I think they added a breath of fresh air to the pop music and paritcularly 80s landscape. As a result, Genesis picked up a lot of new fans - many of whom probably went on to appreciate many of their earlier works. The album, "The Way We Walk - Volume 2: The Longs" presents a collection of 6 "longer" live tracks of over 6 minutes long.



When I look at Genesis as band, I see four distinct phases the band has gone through. Phase 1 is the Peter Gabriel Era. This spans from 1969 ("From Genesis to Revelation") to 1974 ("The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"). It was during Phase 1 that Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist and Genesis could easily be categorized as a progressive Rock band. Phase 2 is the Early Phil Collins Era spanning from 1976 ("A Trick of the Tail") to 1982 ("Three Sides Live"). In this era, Phil Collins took over as lead singer. The band was still very much a progressive rock band, but as the progressive rock landscape would change - so would Genesis. This might indirectly have led to Phase 3 which is the Late Phil Collins Era from 1983 ("Genesis") to 1993 ("The Way We Walk Volume 2: The Longs"). This is the commercial/pop era that I referred to earlier. At this point, there would be a lot less progressive rock flavor to Genesis' music. The fourth phase, Phase 4 is the Ray Wilson Era. This was when Ray Wilson took over as lead vocalist for Phil Collins. There would only be one album in this era - 1997's "Calling All Stations" and it seemed like Genesis tried to recapture some of their progressive rock roots - but 90s style. "Calling All Stations" would do poor commercially and Ray Wilson would take the fall and be asked to leave the band.



In Phase 3, Genesis would grow more and more successful commercially with each album release. Some of this probably would do to the fact that Phil Collins' solo career was also taking off. The last studio album that Phil Collins would do with Genesis was "We Can't Dance". It was a huge commercial success and resulted in a hugely successful World Tour. Naturally, the band decided to capitalize on the success of that World Tour by releasing a live album and video. Genesis had done live albums before ("Three Sides Live", "Seconds Out", "Genesis Live"). On each live album, the focus of the live material would on the studio releases that had not been done live up until that point. Genesis had not done a live release for Phase 3, thus "The Way We Walk" would have a focus on this material. For this live release, Genesis would employ a unique formula - they would release the material in a two volume set called "The Way We Walk". Volume 1 would focus on the shorter (normal) length songs. Volume 2 would focus on Genesis' trademark longer songs. This review focuses on Volume 2.



Normally when there is a live release, I prefer the album to be a live recording from a single concert performance. I prefer it to be delivered in the order in which the songs were actually delivered. By having things from a single night and in order - I feel there is continuity and the magic of the concert is captured perfectly. Since Genesis took this unique approach to the way they were presenting this live material, this was going to be very hard to do. However, the material was strong enough to overcome this. Yes, I still would have preferred a two volume CD that contained a night from the 1992 "We Can't Dance" Tour in its entirety, but I do like the unique two volume approach. I find it very convienient to listen to either the "short" songs or "long" songs (depending on my mood)".



Four of the six songs come from Phase 3. The first song is a 19+ minute medley of songs from Phases 1 and 2 called "Old Medley". A unique thing about "Old Medley" is that it features a medley within a medley - namely "I Know What I Like" also has a mini medley of "That's All", "Illegal Alien", and "Follow You Follow Me". This medley will help the new Genesis fan appreciate the older material. The band does a terrific job delivering emotional performances of the newer classics - "Domino" (from "Invisible Touch") and "Driving the Last Spike" (from "We Can't Dance"). There is a terrific version of "Home By the Sea" which includes "Second Home By the Sea". (I always prefer listening to "Home By the Sea" and Second Home By the Sea" together - so this works). "Fading Lights", a song from "We Can't Dance" is also included. I think this isn't the strongest Genesis tune, but the band does a nice instrumental which gives the song a boost. Finally there is a terrific "Drum Duet" featuring Phil Collins and Chester Thompson in a double drum "solo" performance. Because of the copyright date listed for "Drum Duet" (1989), I wonder if this was actually recorded on the "We Can't Dance" tour or if this was when it was written?



The liner notes are weak. There are no lyrics and nothing to provide insight into the Tour - or when and where these songs were recorded. The production credits are pretty light as well. There are some decent photos from the Tour included. There may be some "old-time" fans who don't like the newer material by Genesis, but these longer performances still show that Genesis hasn't completely morphed into a pop band. These performances will appeal to the old Genesis fan as well as the newer fan."

A last glimpse into the greatness of Genesis

Manny Hernandez | Bay Area, CA | 04/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It was all downhill for the band after this album. After the tour during which it was recorded, Phil Collins would leave the band, they would record the infamous "Calling All Stations" and not too long after that, they split for good. But the "Longs" installment of this 2-volume set of live material was a glimpse into the greatness of Genesis.



The premise is pretty basic: six songs exceeding the 6-minute mark (in fact, five of them go over the 10-minute mark), showing off some of the band's most ellaborate work, to balance off volume one, which focused more on the singles and short songs. Starting off the album, standing tall at almost 20 minutes of duration, is a medley of reaaaaaaaly old Genesis, where 1975's "Dance on a Volcano", 1974's "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", 1971's "Musical Box" and 1973's "Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like" all are brought back to life, if at least for minutes at a time each... reviving the spirit of one of the world's best progressive rock bands ever.



Following the opening track come two tracks from their "We Can Dance" production, along with the "Domino" bundle (from their "Invisible Touch" album) and the "Home By the Sea" bundle (from their self-titled 1983 album). Taking it all home is their classic Drum Duet, featuring Phil alongside Chester Thompson, delivering a massive drum discharge that will electrify you.



If you ask me, this last glimpse at their great work is a good as it gets... I am thankful I had an opportunity of catching them during this tour, back in Knebworth, in 1992. They don't do them like this any more. ;)"

This CD is worth buying!

Adam Greenberg | Long Island, New York, United States of America | 11/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"People-This CD is definitely worth buying!First, the all-time best part of it was "The Old Medley". It was great having "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Dance On A Volcano", "The Musical Box", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", "Follow You, Follow Me", "Fifth Of Firth", and one or two others in one track. I love the old stuff.This also has new stuff. I like the old stuff better though. Don't get me wrong, I love all Genesis (except maybe the "Calling All Stations" album), I just like the music from the Peter Gabriel era better. This also has songs from the "Invisible Touch", "Genesis", and "We Can't Dance" (of course) albums.If you are looking for live stuff from this performance, I strongly suggest you to get "Genesis - Live: The Way We Walk Volume I (The Shorts)". That has more newer stuff. I happen to like this one better because of "The Old Medley".Although this is a great CD, you still have no idea of what is happening on stage. I suggest the video of this called "Genesis - The Way We Walk In Concert" to all of you Genesis fans. You cannot possibly capture the feeling of the performance by listening to an audio compact disc. You definitely need to see it to feel it.This is a great CD!- Adam"