Genesis are probably as equally mocked as they are revered these days, but there would be few who would deny the band’s great battle with adversity to become one of the U.K.’s most successful progressive rock bands of all time. Coming together in the late ’60s with founding members Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Chris Stewart, Anthony Phillips, and Mike Rutherford, the band ended up going through more line up changes than Van Halen and Faith No More combined. Major international success didn’t come until the mid-to-late ’70s when Phil Collins went from his position of drummer to lead vocalist. At this stage none of the founding or previous key band members remained, and yet their popularity as performers only increased.
As Phil Collins got a bigger name for himself in his solo career the profile of Genesis also elevated, increasing their popularity and record sales. Invisible Touch reached number one in the United States with the following four singles thereafter all making the top five. I Can’t Dance was released five years later with equal success, confirming their position as one of the greatest rock acts from the U.K. as well as one of the toughest and long-lasting ‘dinosaur bands’ of all time.
After this major success leading man Phil Collins decided to leave the band, wanting to concentrate on his solo career which also had equal, if not greater, worldwide success. He was replaced by Ray Wilson in 1997, but the band never attained the same acclaim again, and as such folded after making only one more album.
As a live act, Genesis were always regarded as great performers, no matter what the line up happened to be, and this disc is a brilliant testament to such a statement. Performed in 1992, this concert was recorded at the peak of Genesis’ success and contains all of their greatest hits spanning the entire career of the progressive band. If you’re a Genesis fan from any era you are bound to find at least a couple tracks on this disc that you are sure to enjoy.
Track Listing:
Land of Confusion
No Son of Mine
Driving the Last Spike
Old Medley
Fading Lights
Jesus He Knows Me
Dreaming While You Sleep
Home By the Sea
Hold on to My Heart
Domino
The Drum Thing
I Can't Dance
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Invisible Touch
Turn it on Again
The footage for this concert was taken in 1992, and yet even a decade on it still looks fantastic. Presented with an aspect ratio of 4:3, this is a full screen non-anamorphic transfer, but don’t be too disappointed, back in the dark times before DVDs it was only theatrical releases that were afforded widescreen recording, so this was to be expected.
Lighting is always the biggest bitch of live performances, with poor shadow detail, over-saturation and colour bleeding being the usual result. Luckily though The Way We Walk has been filmed very well on a fantastic looking and perfectly lit stage. This isn’t to say that the above problems don’t occur at all, but for a live performance they’ve been transferred with such finesse that even a hardened critic would be impressed.
Both discs are dual layered with the RSDL layer change being terribly obvious on both. A touch disappointing although to be expected, there aren’t many places where one could hide a layer change in the middle of a concert. Overall this is a stunning transfer, the detail is quite sharp and grain is close to non-existent. Colours are well rendered and the transfer itself is almost faultless.
What a grand era we are in, where ten year old concerts can still be blessed with a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel audio mix. Not to be outdone though, they were also kind enough to throw in a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix as well, just to keep everyone happy. Some people take a while to get adjusted to 5.1 channel audio mixes on concert discs, normally this is because each channel loses a little bit of ‘oomph’ and instead spreads the music over all the surrounds. The Way We Walk suffers from this a bit as well, but luckily enough the stereo mix is easily available for those that prefer that old-school, two channel sound.
Both soundtracks perform very well, with the 5.1 mix having a good use of surrounds to really make it sound like you’re in the middle of it all. There are no major problems with either soundtrack and audio synching is spot on, although I did question Phil’s lip synching to No Son of Mine – but I could be wrong. The subwoofer is put to good use throughout the concert, although it never really thumps out anything amazing... but then again this is Genesis, not Green Day.
For a two disc set we’ve been dished out a fair bit more than just the concert itself. We have Animated Menus, Track Selection, Photo Galleries, Interviews with the band members, Multiple Angles for the entirety of the concert, and an Audio Commentary with Phil Collins and the rest of the Genesis gang.
Most of the extras speak for themselves, but the last three are worthy of an extra mention. The interviews are a series of short snippets from longer interviews and star band members of the time Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks. The multiple angles are pretty self-explanatory, with 12 cameras being used to film this concert covering almost every aspect imaginable. The multiple angles function on this DVD lets you flip between particular camera angles allowing for a more interactive viewing experience. The most interesting addition is an Audio Commentary with the band which is available during the concert itself as a third soundtrack. This is an interesting addition, and not something I’ve come across on many other concert discs. Some may find this a little boring and trivial, although Genesis fans should be able to find enjoyment in it, even if only once.
Overall this is a packed double disc set, which contains arguably one of their better live performances at the peak of their internationally successful career. The extras themselves are a worthy addition and the transfer itself is very impressive considering its age. For fans of Genesis or the big, bald man Phill Collins himself this is a must have disc and contains more than enough tracks to make repeat viewings always entertaining.
