Genesis – BBC Broadcasts

Some very good stuff, but highly disappointing that they put so much stuff in the CD and the vinyl got so little.
Should have made it at least a 4LP, so they can add stuff like the 78' Knebworth show and other interesting tracks that are only on the CD.
It feels like we miss a lot here.

Also, I'm pretty sure they could have added some more songs on the existing LPs, since some of them have some space left.

And it's even more disappointing considering the hype sticker in the front promising to us stuff that are not actually on this vinyl release.

Brilliant set of recordings which are bootleg quality/fan based releases. These are not audiophile so look elsewhere if that's whatchaafta. If you're a real fan however, well, this is brilliant. A fantastic journey through the early years beginning with rare versions from Gabriel Genesis to Side 3 which kicks serious arse, Behind the Lines Complete is fat, really fat. And Then We Have Knebworth. If you love Genesis trust me, you'll love this. Designed to be played LOUD. And if you're not a die hard Genesis fan, shut ya whingeing, move on and More Fool You.

Adding to this after listening tonight. These recordings as stated early might not be audiophile however, they're damn good, damn good. Instrument separation, deep Rutherford bass n bass pedals and, you know who is drumming and when. Replete with a wide sound stage topped with sublime sprinkles of percussive fairy dust.

Nice "Best Of" from the 5 CD-Release. Song choices are great. But it has some pressing flaws. A little warp on the second record and some crackle on the first and third. Sound is decent for radio shows. Old recordings with Peter Gabriel sound great. Not a great release, but nice if you get it on a discount. After all, I would opt for the CDs.

Good, but far from perfect

Genesis fans aren't really used to getting a lot of value from their favourite band. It's been years since the last interesting release, so BBC Broadcasts came as something of a surprise, and a pretty nice one at that. But Genesis fans are also discerning and easily found ways to poke holes into this product.

A lot of the set's issues have to do with the fact that it's limited to 5 CDs. This necessitates leaving tracks off and splitting concerts awkwardly over discs. You're almost forced to listen to discs 2, 3 and 4 in one go if you don't want to take them out and re-insert them later. The other option is ripping them to files, which is necessary anyway for mobile listening or in an environment without a CD drive/player since this set, atypically, has not been released as an official or on streaming services.

Disc 1 doesn't have that issue and is a pretty decent compilation of the Peter Gabriel era, with only the weird choice to mix up the chronological order of songs sticking out. Biggest omission is "Return of the Giant Hogweed", which was played at two different sessions in 1972. Runner-up would be "Looking for Someone", especially since there isn't much Genesis with Anthony Phillips officially available.

Knebworth 1978 isn't great sounding, although the performance quality makes up for that - Burning Rope is great to have in particular.

The Lyceum show sounds good for the most part, but the sound quality gets noticeably worse near the end. By the time of "The Knife", there's a lot of distortion in the mix. "Follow You Follow Me" is the exact same performance as on Three Sides Live. Other duplicates with the Archive sets are more understandable, but that song is from one of the "canon" albums and surely could've been eschewed in favor of something else.

From the 1987 and 1992 shows, it's hard to understand why so many hits are missing, which surely would've attracted some of the more casual fans. I'm thinking of "Land of Confusion" (played both in 1987 and 1992), "Jesus He Knows Me", "Abacab" and most egregiously "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" - the latter was played at both concerts, but the 1987 version was the full nine minute song, unlike the abridged 1992 arrangement we already have represented on The Way We Walk.

The 1998 tracks are almost like an afterthought, but I guess we should be happy that the Ray Wilson era did get a little bit of recognition. Nevertheless, I would have welcomed more songs with him singing, particularly "Calling All Stations", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Carpet Crawlers". But I can see that it would've looked strange to include the latter two with Ray singing and not Peter Gabriel ("Carpet Crawlers" at least exists from the Wembley 1975 broadcast). Plus they're both already represented within the performances selected (sung by Phil).

All in all, I still recommend this release, since it's the first official release of most of these performances and its success will also show the band that there is an interest in archival material of perhaps not the highest technical standard.

Records did come dirty in need of wash. For a live record it sounds great. I would recommend to a Genesis fan.

Awful sound quality. Garbage release and a waste of money. Haven't even played it once yet. 👎

Pure garbage release and a waste of money. Can't recommend this release.

FGS Tony - Why do you always omit Dreaming While You Sleep from the official 1992 live shows??! Can you just stop pretending it doesn't exist? It's on the DVD so we all know it was part of the setlist, but it has NEVER appeared on any full official concert CD release besides on the Tell Me Why CD single...! Please can you finally just reinstate it to a full 1992 concert CD release? Just ONCE fa cryin out loud! :)

I would definitely recommend going for the CD version over the vinyl, since you're paying less for over twice as much content, seems like a no-brainer to me unless you're just interested in record collecting.

It would be nice to see a more comprehensive collection at some point though, as there's still a ton that didn't make the cut on this release.

Great shows, really mediocre mastering/pressing. Sounds like they pressed some mp3s and called it a day. Really disappointed in this one.