LIVE - THE WAY WE WALK VOLUME TWO - THE LONGS

I can't say Genesis hasn't been an impressive band over the years, but you wouldn't think it judging by what made it onto their longs "shortlist" (poor joke I know.). There's not much more to say, but this isn't the Genesis I remember listening to.

Where's "Watcher of the skies" and "Supper's ready" from Foxtrot (1972)?

"The Knife" from Trespass (1970)?

Or "The Cinema Show" from Selling England by the Pound (1973)?

What I don't understand is why "Driving the Last Spike" (We Can't Dance) was even considered. "Fading Lights" has a sobering if not curtain-drawing effect and the "Old Medley" is understandably extremely good. "Domino" has perhaps earned its place as a taste of the new Genesis, but I don't think "Home by the Sea" did the same.

Overall a disappointment, yet at the same time the end of the true-Genesis aeon that needs to be distinguished in some way. Nevertheless, not all these songs are distinguishing.

A limited edition companion to the first volume, featuring the longer works from their live show. Vintage material is an afterthought at this stage, relegated to an opening catch-all medley that spins through their catalog so quickly it may give some listeners aural indigestion. Clearly the band still has the chops to play the old tunes, regurgitating familiar chunks of "Dance on a Volcano" and "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", but for some reason they put things on spin cycle at the end, which only whets the appetite for a meal that never arrives. (A snippet of "Follow You, Follow Me" is tasty enough to make me wonder why GENESIS didn't draw anything from that album.)

The bulk of the music here is drawn from their last few releases, long in execution but not the sort of songs you'd light a candle for. "Driving The Last Spike" and "Fading Lights" are featured from "We Can't Dance", both sides of "Domino" from "Invisible Touch" (woo-huh?), and the band fuses the halves of the "Home By The Sea" series from their eponymous 1986 effort. As with the first volume, the live versions of the recent material are right on target. But the limited edition release reveals what Atlantic already knew: there's a limited audience for live versions of what to many originally constituted album filler. You can convince yourself that there's something of merit in this, even strain tiny pieces of gold from the atmospheric arrangements of their long-winded latter-day songs, but it'll soon find itself slipped back into the rack, its temporal power having waned to a faint glow after a few listens.

There are fans who will enjoy this -- presumably the same people whose delighted squeals usher in "Home By The Sea" -- but even they should be careful about spending too much for this now out-of-print disc. It is the least essential of the GENESIS live albums (including Volume One from this series), and they were a weak crop to begin with.

Fading lights

This is much more like it, at least the Phil Collin era Genesis went out with a decent live album, with plenty of prog leanings. It's almost as if this album was issued by way of an apology to Genesis traditional fan base for losing the plot so badly.

While the "We can't dance" album is once again given plenty of exposure, the tracks selected are the best ones from it. "Fading lights" was a superb prog swansong for the Collins era band, sounding as good if not better in a live environment.

The "Old Medley" has a good number of the classics, but it is a bit disappointing the hear them in extract format, rather than as their original complete masterpieces. "Home by the sea" is as ever terrific, and given a fresh lick of paint here.

It is debateable whether it was better to extract the "Longs" and gather them together without the "Shorts", as this album is infinitely better than its volume one predecessor. Had they kept the entire concert intact though, the shorter tracks would undoubtedly have benefited from sitting alongside their illustrious peers.

It's good to know Genesis could still deliver when they made the effort.

Don't get me started with Volume Two! If you thought there wasn't anything as unpleasant as the Volume One. well, you were completely, absolutely wrong. "The Longs" is not only the continuation of the already famous "The Way We Walk" set, it is indeed a tedious, long album. I insist, the arrangements for a live album cannot be overlooked the way they were and specially, when it's all about a huge, renamed band of the prog world like GENESIS. Now I can see why Peter GABRIEL wisely decided to quit the band when he still could, so he can never sign up his name on a sloppy production like this and so I can never misuse his good name on a review like this.

The best part of this Volume Two comes when we're slowly approaching to "Drum Duet". Not because of the song's impeccable instrumentation or its incomparable execution, just because it is indeed the last song of this mid-nineties two CD set nightmare (that's entirely the reason of why I'm giving it one lonely star). Don't get me wrong, and don't you dare pointing your finger at me; it was a bad moment. Whether you got this album as a birthday present from a friend or it just mysteriously appeared underneath the Xmas Tree last Holidays, don't blame yourself for it, and mostly, don't hate that person that thought of you. It's not their fault they discovered the prog rocker in you and then mistook your likes for the "versatile music listener" ones you certainly do not have. There's nothing time won't heal, isn't it? The first step to get over it is getting rid of it. And by "it", I mean both CDs.

This repesents Genesis only real prog rock tracks post Duke.Domino and Home by The Sea are mighty live tracks and Fading Lights has it's appeal.Driving the Last Spike sounds at first a bit laid back but actually has some nice lyrics and good playing.The Old Medley is a bit pointless and will irritate most prog fans while the Drum duet is plain boring.There is some good stuff here though so just worthy of 3 stars although no doubt you can live without this if you are a fan of seventies Genesis.

This is better than the "Vol.1" CD. The release of this CD was announced with a note in the "Vol. 1" CD as a "Limited Edition" release. But I don`t think that it really was a "Limited Edition" release, because since it was released in early 1993 I still have seen several new copies of this CD in the record shops. So, this "Limited Edition" announcement was more a marketing strategy done by their record labels (Virgin and Atlantic).The recording and mixing of this CD is as good as in the "Vol. 1" CD. This "Vol. 2" has more "Progressive songs", and it could have been more intereresting for Prog Fans. The "Old medley" is good, but it shows that the band was tired of the past, so they played some old songs as part of a medley. This live version of "Driving the Last Spike" has very good drums by Chester Thompson, and it is better than the original version, despite having a change to a lower tone in the last verses of the song, as maybe Collins didn`t feel comfortable singing this part of the song in the original tone. "Domino" is also better in this live version, with excellent drums by Thompson, and without electronic drums as the original version (but it still has the drum machine, a basic part of the song). "Fading Lights" is the best song in this CD, with an enegetic live version played as a trio by Banks/Collins/Rutherford, a live version with a few changes, as it has a few additional instrumental parts to give time to Collins, who was singing in the front of the stage, to go to play his drums in the back of the stage. The main instrumental part is very good, with Collins`very good drums, Banks`very good solos and a very good lead guitar by Rutheford (who plays guitar and bass pedals in all the parts of this song). As Rutherford ends his solo and the instrumental part is finished by the band, Collins returns to the front of the stage to sing the last verses of the song. "Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea" " is another song which I don`t like very much, but this live version is better than the studio version as it is played with acoustic drums, and it has some "power" added in the mainly instrumental section called "Second Home by the Sea", with very good drums by Collins and Thompson. The last musical piece in this CD is the "Drum Duet" by Collins and Thompson, which credites both drummers as composers of this "drum duet", which is really a "composition" (as other "drum duets" by them) because it has some basic parts played in the same order in the drums by both drummers, and some parts on which they "answer" each other, playing "complements" to each other`s drums playing.

I bought the album when it came out.... yes, of course it's not genesis" live" (1973) or the better Second out, but if you go further (and forget a bit progressive music) in this album you'll find GOOD MUSIC, damn good music, superbly played by a bunch of Extraordinary musicans..... So to enjoy this work the only possible thing is to forget the lenghty, hipnotic suites of the seventies and face A fusion\like (american) style..... not so different from the Marillion Style..... If i have ti be sincere i always loved Phil, he's a great vocalsit, an excellent drummer and brilliant at writing songs.....C'mon folks, times they're a changin'..... I'm italian, and I loved bands like PFM, Orme, but now (despite genesis they still play real prog. especially at concerts) but sometimes they sound a bit pathetic........ Genesis, as well as Pink Floyd, Yes and the demi-gods King Crimson went ahead....Miles Ahead (understand the joke!!! ehehe)

This is quite good (but nowhere near the early live albums). I do like the old section and it is played well but as someone has already said it is seconds out played in twenty minutes. Home by the sea is ok but this album is not essential for prog fans. Maybe Genesis collectors will want it just to complete their collection.

I'm gonna put it in a few words: this CD has the proggest songs the BCR trio has made. They sound just great (much better than the studio version, specially 'Home by the sea/ Second home by the sea') and check the drum duet. Phil is great on vocals as usual. Forget about Abacab, Mama, Invisible touch and We can't dance. Buy "Three sides live" and this CD and you'll have the best these three guys have done toghether. Great stuff!!!!

This later live release comes out the "We Can't Dance" tour from 1992. At that time, the band was an industry : filling up stadiums night after night. The opener of this CD is a medley from their earlier work. These 19'32" are really nostalgic ones. I wonder who knew those songs in the audience. I can't believe old fans (like I am) could stand a whole Genesis concert at that time just to hear this. Most of the transitions between numbers are well done : smooth and well rehearsed. The vocal section from "The Musical Box" is not very much inspired though (Phil did a better job on "Seconds Out"). The best moment is the guitar solo from "Firth Of Fith". If only this medley could have lasted for longer ! We could have get some more notes from "Your Own Special Way" and "Follow Me, Follow You" which appear just after a short "That's All" section at 16'40" or so. There are also a short "Stagnation" segment (around 17'40"). None of these four moments are mentioned on the sleeve (you have to know some of their repertoire to catch this). The drum duet with Chester and Phil is another good drumming moment. I saw them live in 1977 in the supporting tour for "Wind & Wuthering" and it was quite an experience to watch them playing together (the climax being the dual song "Dance On A Vulcano/"Los Endos" available on "Seconds Out"). "Domino" and "Driving the Last Spike" are also good tracks, although I prefer the studio versions. I never liked "Fading Lights" nor "Home". My opinion will not change with these live renditions. Three stars.

Unlike the terrible "The Shorts" in vol. 1 of Genesis Live, this has some interest for progressive rock fans. Compared to the group's other live albums, this one doesn't match up in quality, skill, or significance. This is chiefly because the selection consists mostly of material from 1983-1992. Admittedly, it was their most progressive sounding stuff from that period, but it just pales in comparison to the amazing creations the group made back in the 1970s. The only really worthwhile song on this CD is the "Old Medley," consisting of excerpts from Dance on a Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, The Musical Box, Firth of Fifth, and I Know What I Like.

I would have to say that overall this is an enjoyable listen, but it is far from being essential. Thus it seems deserving of three stars. I you really want a great live album from Genesis, get Seconds Out and then consider getting Three Sides Live. They are both far superior to this, with a much better selection of material.

What a nice surprise.

This album has live versions of some of their best stuff released in the eighties. Hearing the songs shortened and out of context in the medley is hard at first, but it is superbly done. The strongest section is the "Firth of Fifth" one. Despite how people feel about Daryl's solo, I like it a lot. Sure, it's a lot flashier and isn't as powerful as Steve's version, but Daryl is one heck of a replacement. I wouldn't want to see anyone else, except for mabye Anthony Phillips (and obviously Mike plays guitar too), playing guitar with them, if Steve isn't there. I wish on the "Lamb" section Tony played his piano intro, but that's ok, you can't have everything.

The other songs are as good, if not better, than the studio versions. "Home by the Sea" and "Fading Lights" are the best of the next four tracks. Then there's the drum duet. Finally, one that wasn't the beginning to "Los Endos" made it on an album. Phil and Chester are both so great, especially together. Overall, "The Longs" is very good and well worth multiple listens.

Muche better than the volume 1, this volume 2 contains only long tracks - included a drum duet between Phil Collins and Chester Thompson, very good ! You can hear a medley of old songs, about 20 minutes which includes Dance On A Volcano, I Know What I Like, The Musical Box (closing section), Firth Of Fifth's guitar solo, or Illegal Alien.

But my personal favorite moment here is the suite Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea, which is really beautiful. I also love Driving The Last Spike and Domino. And, of course, Fading Lights, beautiful.

This live album isn't as great as Seconds Out or Genesis Live, but it's a very good and interesting one, largerly better than the volume 1. Almost a must-have.

Contrary to most reviewrs here I don´t rate this second part fo /the Way We Walk as better then volume one. Ok, it does include one of their best latter day songs (Home By The Sea), but it´s just that. And, besides, the old medley may work well live, but here it sucks. It only makes me want to hear the old stuff as a whole instead of a bunch of little pieces put together. Only four tracks in total!

I can see they still can play a lot (and I like DAryl Stuermer´s guitar playing a lot, even though he has little chance to shine in Genesis). that´s what saves this record from being a total turkey. If I want to hear Genesis as a prog band I´d rather put the Genesis Live CD and if I want to hear their pop side I´ll get Three Sides Live or The Way We Walk vol 1. This mixed bag gives me frustration than anything else. two stars because they´re really talented even when they failed (in my opinion).

Part two of the discs that document their 1992 tour, this consists of "The Longs", GENESIS songs of a more epic scale.

It starts of with an old medley of their 70s output, songs that really shouldn't be played in medley form. It really annoys me when they only play segments of these tracks.

Otherwise the album consists of the longer songs from their albums between 1983 and 1991. Not their best epics but good compared to the rest of these albums.

All Live recordings I've heard by GENESIS, at least those recorded after GABRIEL left, ends with their "Drum Duet" and then "Los Endos", sometimes with bonus tracks afterwards. This is an exception though as it ends after "Drum Duet". That could be a nice break from the formula but something is amiss, "Drum Duet" is not a fitting ending track. Sure, they don't have to pick "Los Endos" but maybe "Afterglow" or "As Sure as Eggs is Eggs", given the time of the recording "Fading Lights" may have fitted. Of course all these three songs can be difficult to segue into from the energetic "Drum Duet".

The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs was the second of two live albums released after the tour supporting the We Can´t Dance album. The other album is called The Way We Walk Volume One - The shorts and as the name suggests it contains the short songs performed on the tour while The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs contains the long songs performed on the tour. I haven´t yet reviewed volume one and haven´t really listened to it either but I´ll get to that one in time. Volume two is definitely worth a listen though and I´m happy I took my time to review this one.

I´ll be the first to admit that I haven´t been very impressed by anything Genesis released after ...And Then there Were Three, but there have been some good songs on most of the later albums even though the majority hasn´t been to my liking. Those good ones are almost all here on this album and that makes The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs a worthy purchase IMO.

The album starts with a medley of seventies Genesis songs. The medley is 19:31 minutes long and consist of parts of Dance On A Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box, Firth of Fifth and I Know What I Like. It´s a good medley but I can´t say that it´s above average. The performance is good but I just don´t enjoy medleys much. I want to hear songs in their entirety or not at all. This medley was actually the reason I purchased the album in the first place, but today I normally skip the medley and go straight to song number two.

Driving The Last Spike is one of two 10 minutes epics from We Can´t Dance and it´s a great emotional song that I enjoy very much. The performance is flawless and passionate.

Domino is one of the highlights for me on The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs. It´s one of the few good songs on the weak Invisible Touch. This live version is better than the original.

Fading lights is the other 10 minute epic from We Can´t Dance and it´s of an equally high quality as Driving the Last Spike. Tony Banks could still make beautiful things with his keyboards when he wanted to.

Home By the Sea/ Second Home By The Sea is probably my favorite post ...And Then There Were Three Genesis song. It comes from the 1983 self titled album which by the way is a pretty good album. The original is hard to beat but this version is also good.

The album ends with the classic drum solo and I´m bored. It´s very seldom drum solos interest me even when I´m at the actual concert and listening to them on album is almost always a trying experience for me. Drummers might find this exciting but to us regular folks this is a waste of time. And for six minutes! That´s way too long.

The musicianship is flawless. Genesis was always very professional on stage and there are no errors in the performance here. The two hired musicians Daryl Stuermer ( Lead guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals) and Chester Thompson ( drums, percussion) are accomplished and professional.

The production is excellent. Clean and alive.

This is one of the best releases Genesis have made post ...And Then There Were Three IMO. This is due to the fact that the best songs from that period of Genesis career are here. I think The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs deserves 3 big stars from me. This is a very enjoyable album even though there are some obvious flaws that I already mentioned.

1.5 really!!

Okay. So Genesis released two volumes on their live album The Way We Walk. This volume two contains the longer songs, though none of them are great. This is the better of the two discs, but is still pretty lousy. All but the first song is new, and I don't like any of their new stuff, so that only leaves the first medley for me to talk about. The medley compresses a bunch of older songs from Genesis into a song shorter than just two of the actual songs combined. While I realize this is a medley, they really can't slop all these songs together and expect a good result. I hate almost all medleys of songs that I've come to love, and this isn't an exception. Bad album overall. Better of the two discs but still awful.

I had long since given up on Genesis by the time this album was released. But the idea of new Genesis playing long songs sounded promising, so when I received this promo in my record store, I gave it a listen. Good ol' Evolver, taking the bullet for the rest of the team.

The opener, and best part of this live set is an almost twenty minute medley of classic (read good) Genesis. Here we get pared down and watered down versions of what once made Genesis enjoayable. But too pared and watered.

As for the rest, someone should have told Collins Rutherford and Banks that when you take an uninteresting song, and stretch it out to over ten minutes, you don't get an epic, you get a long, boring song.

And there's a pointless drum "duet" at the end of the album.

Why?

Discography of confusion

This live album compiles the longer and more progressive tracks from the We Can't Dance tour in 1992. There is also a companion album subtitled "The Shorts" that compiles the shorter and more commercial tracks from this same tour (plus a few tracks recorded on the previous tour). In addition, there is also a DVD called simply The Way We Walk holding the whole set list over two discs. In my opinion, the DVD is preferable over the CD albums partly because this was just what the audience saw that night and partly because the longer, more progressive, tracks sound better side by side with the shorter, more commercial, songs. Still, the longer tracks are the best ones from that show and here we have them all in one place. This album should silence those who think that Genesis turned into a strictly commercial Pop band after album X (insert album of your choice; some say it is Foxtrot, others say The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, yet others say Wind And Wuthering and some say Duke).

First out is the brilliant Old Medley which is a near 20 minute medley consisting of bits and pieces of older songs. Some of these songs are from the Peter Gabriel-era and I think that Phil sings those songs originally sung by Peter perfectly. The whole medley is indeed excellent and features bits of songs from the early 70's to the early 80's including Dance On A Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box, Firth Of Fifth, I Know What I Like and others. The Firth Of Fifth-section contains that brilliant, classic guitar solo originally played by the great Steve Hackett here played excellently by Daryl Stuermer who makes it his own. Simply wonderful!

Next out is Driving The Last Spike, a very moving song from the We Can't Dance album. This one is perhaps only moderately progressive, but definitely one of the better songs from that album. The two-part Domino from the Invisible Touch album follows. This one too is only moderately progressive, but without doubt the best song from that otherwise weak album. Then comes the excellent and certainly progressive Fading Lights. This song features a superb instrumental break (the best they did at least since Duke!) and it sounds even better live than it does on the studio album which indeed is true of almost all of the songs here. The sound is a bit less "artificial" and the songs have more of a Rock edge when performed live.

Finally, we get to hear the great Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea. Again, this song is the best one from the album it is taken which is the self-titled one from 1983. Like Invisible Touch, this album is uneven but this particular song is outstanding! Strangely, the album ends with the Drum Duet between Collins and Chester Thompson. I strongly feel that this otherwise nice drum solo should have been left off this live album and that it fits much better on the DVD where you can see the two great drummers in action. I would have preferred having Dreaming While You Sleep in its place here, but you can't have everything. Or can you? Well, actually you can if you get the DVD!

There is no need for you to buy this live album if you already have the DVD. But on the other hand there is no great need for you to buy the DVD if you already have this live CD. Make your choice! You do need one of them!

The Way We Walk - The Longs is one of Genesis best live albums. Only Seconds Out and Genesis Live being even better.

Long yes....Prog not

A Peruvian proverb says that the human being is the only animal that trips twice with the same stone, well, I found by own experience that this piece of popular wisdom is true. Some years ago I decided not to buy any GENESIS album without "Gabriel" and/or "Hackett", but each time I read a review in which a fan of the best band ever is able to appreciate some trio albums, I feel some nostalgia and envy, so give them a new chance.

The editors of the album made the right choice of words when they decided to call it "The Longs", because the songs are relatively long, but that's all, length is not a synonym of Progressive Rock or quality and this less than average album proves it.

They start with "Old Medley" as a trap to capture some of the old fans and that was precisely the reason why I bought the Live compilation, a decision I regret. I love each and every song in the Medley, but the performance is horrendous, not even "Dance in a Volcano" which is a "Collins" era track sounds remotely as well as in "A Trick of the Tail", "Daryl Stuermer" is an outstanding guitar player, even when is clear he was not born to replace "Steve Hackett". but it doesn't stop there.

I never thought I would say this, but Tony Banks abuses of the Mellotron in this song, because this wonderful instrument played in short passages is impressive, but used to replace the original atmosphere gets tedious.

If "Phil Collins" and company can ruin a "Collins" era track, you must imagine what they do later, this version of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is simply bad, Phil's s voice is flat and boring, plus that cheap trick of repeating the last word of the phrase as "Lies down..down, down, down", makes me want to thrown the stereo against the wall.

The rest of this "Old Medley" is not better, I never heard a so emotionless performance of "Musical Box" ever, the "Touch me" closing section is slow and anti-climatic. For God's sake, Tony Banks" ruins he "Firth of Fifth" intro with a terrible selection of electric piano which sounds like a Casiotone (not one of my favourites), and please, somebody tell "Stuermer" that he's not able to even try to re-create "Steve Hackett's" amazing solo, it's the worst attempt I ever heard in my life, sadly by a great musician who should limit himself to Jazz where he's outstanding.

The "Old Medley" ends even worst when "Collins" dares to introduce pieces of bland POP tracks as "Illegal Alien" and "Follow You Follow Me" blended with "I Know What I Like", simply distasteful.

They managed to ruin almost perfect music written by the band in their most glorious days...What could I expect from the rest? But let's continue until the experience becomes too painful to continue.

I don't now who may believe that "Driving the Last Spike" is a Prog song, it's the most repetitive, predictable and boring song I ever heard, and "Phil Collins" with his voice makes it even worst.

Just when I thought this could only get better because they reached the bottom, comes "Domino" and proves me things can always get worst, won't talk about all the track and will only mention the horible vocal closing passage, "Phil Collins" should never try to sing fast sections, because he's more annoying than usual.

I must accept that this version of "Fading Lights" is not worst than he one in "We Can't Dance", always saw it as a cute Pop ballad, not bad at all, but has no place in an album that pretends to rescue some of the Prog days of Genesis.

Never understood why people always mention "Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea" as a highlight of three men era GENESIS, yes I agree both tracks are good examples of POP GENESIS but have very few interesting moments (Specially the instrumental), sadly is just an average and a bit boring track with no interest for this reviewer.

The album ends with a "Drum Duet", would be a lie not to admit that both "Collins" and "Thompson" are great drummers, but if the band needs to close an album with a drum solo it's not hard to guess how poor is the album.

Believe it or not, rating a release of my favourite band with one star is painful, but I can't give them more, the trio plus two, destroyed six of the best early GENESIS tracks and filled the album with less than average tracks, I can't rate it higher.

I'm sorry for the fans of this era, but this is my honest opinion.

Live - The Way We Walk Volume One - The Longs is the companion to the 'The Shorts'. As the title indicates these are longer Genesis pieces.

The Longs opens with an almost 20 minute medley that includes Dance on a Volcano, Lamb Lies Down On Broadway ,Musical box, Firth Of Firth (great guitar solo Daryl!) and I Know What I Like (that also includes a further medley of other Genesis tracks including Stagnation from 1970's Trespass).

The medley is then followed by Driving The Last Spike (10:17), Domino (11:20) , Fading Lights (10:54) Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea (12:16) and finally closing with a overly long Drum Duet (6:06)

Total time : 70 minutes.

The tracks are all well executed with good production and include the best (most proggiest) tracks from Genesis "Shapes", Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance.

If you get this then there is no need to consider Genesis "Shapes", Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance.

It is unfortunate that too many so-called prog fans (and Genesis fans) have dismissed most of Genesis' 1980's/90's product without giving it a chance. "The Longs" compares favourably with any prog album over this period.

4 Stars

I guess it could be said that 'Live' albums are offered up strictly for the fans, those of us who couldn't make the dates of the tour or just living in places our favourite band never performed. This particular release recorded on the tour in support of the WE CAN'T DANCE album, is the 2nd part of a 2 volume set called 'The Way We Walk', this being sub-titled 'The Longs'. The single LP release of this clocks in well over an hour, almost giving Todd Rundgren's 'Initiation' a run for its money !! Thought I'd bring that to your attention.... The album features a selection of some longer tracks of theirs : opening out with a medley (dang it) of older tunes including Dance on a Volcano, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Musical Box, Firth of Fifth and I Know what I Like, condensing some 35 minutes of awesome prog in the space of just under 20 minutes. At least it shows us proggers that they can still play their more complex material with a degree of ease. The instrumental section of Firth of Fifth is an exhilarating display. Elsewhere, we have the 2 'epics' off We Can't Dance, which Driving The Last Spike (10.17) tells of a heart wrenching story of those who toiled and passed on whilst constructing the old railroads in Britain. The tune itself is more like an extended pop-song with a prog leaning. The track 'Fading Lights' (10.55) feels more like a truly 'Progressive' piece with a slow intro, an instrumental passage to give Tony Banks room to impress us with his magical playing on his synths once again (like the good old days, may it be said), and winding down with another verse continuing from the intro. Great track, especially in the Live setting. The other 2 extended pieces are Home By The Sea - Parts 1 & 2 (12.14) from their eponymous album from 1983 and Domino - Parts 1 & 2 (11.21) from Invisible Touch (eek !!), the strongest part of that rather 'plastic' offering. Both benefit from sounding more 'natural' thanks to the live setting, but in reality are just fairly enjoyable tracks falling into the 'Crossover' category. For me, I settle on 4 - despite me loving what they do, and this featuring some very strong 'progressive' material, a marginal 4 it is.

Genesis return to their prog roots... but still manage to ignore what made them great.

The Longs is an accompaniment to the Shorts which featured a bunch of ballads and 80s singles. Well, obviously this live collection of longer songs is a progger's delight. Every track on this is a killer classic and wonderful to indulge in. The Old Medley is a 20 minute piece with gorgeous versions of Dance On A Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, The Musical Box, Firth Of Fifth, I Know What I Like - all jammed into one non stop classic that I played more than the rest of the album. Unfortunately it does not hold a candle to the original songs and even has some tacky pop offerings at the end which ruins the experience.

Nevertheless, surely this track would have shocked the teenage set that would have bought this after loving Invisible Touch and Abacab albums. I hope they got a pleasant surprise too as this is the Genesis that we all know and love, those of us who know Genesis is far more capable of more that I Can't Dance and Hold On My Heart. I just wish if they are going to play old classics that they would do them justice. I must admit their recent Live In Rome DVD does just that, but not here on the tour.

The next track is a great version of Driving The Last Spike and I was also quite enamoured of this live take on Domino with both parts clocking 11:20. Perhaps this is better than the Invisible Touch version. Fading Lights is an unusual choice, rarely heard live these days but it is always a delight to hear the ominous Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea and this 12 minute attack is followed by a 6 minute Drum Duet that does nothing for me. All in all this Cd captures imperfectly why we all love the prog era of Genesis, and it typifies that the band have no idea what to do with this great music. It is just a shame they reverted to the 80s pop kitsch instead of remaining true to their progressive roots.

This companion album to The Way We Walk Volume One as the title suggests captures some of the longer pieces from Genesis. In other words, the ones that are likely to be of most interest to prog fans. Whilst superior to volume one, it lacks the greatness of earlier live albums and still features plenty of their eighties output.

You can't help feeling that the band was visiting their seventies output somewhat reluctantly here. Whilst we get great songs such as Dance On A Vocano, The Musical Box and Firth Of Fifth they appear in heavily abridged form as part of a medley. They're all played competently enough though lack the spark that other live versions and indeed the original studio versions had. Apart from that the rest is made up of less inspiring moments like Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea from the 1983 Genesis album and Domino from Invisible Touch.

Overall a bit of a pointless release then being an album that's unlikely to satisfy the bands eighties pop audience or their seventies prog fans despite the slickness of the performance.

The first CD that I bought in my life, so it has some special place for me. The comparison with The Shorts is almost inevitable, and as I think that this last one was a mistake and it is only for fans, The Longs is a great live rendition of the 80's and 90´s prog side of Genesis. It has some great moments and other not so great.

Starting with the not ones, I could say that The Old Medley has good moments but as an overall thing I prefer the classic medleys like In the cage-Cinema Show, with a couple of sections jointed together and not five pieces pasted between them with little parts of hits inside it. By the way it has its moments. Starting with Dance in a Volcano, the version is superb and of course you become disappointed when it flows to the following section, The lamb lies down on Broadway, longer but shortened, even good. The closing section of Musical box sounds amazing even with Collins histrionic representation. Firth of fith is the keyboard and guitar solos and as always sounds really great. I really enjoy Stuermer work there, though it is rahter different than Hackett. I know what I like is complete but shortened once more, withouth the "parapaa no no no" section. But it is ruined with this little pieces of different songs in the middle, and not because the songs, it's ruined just because the alteration of the song integrity. The other shadow is the Drum duet. IMO the band had some options to complete the album, like Dreaming while you sleep (edited then on Archive II) or the complete version of Tonight tonight tonight. Yes, Drum duet never was edited live on a CD before (well, we have something in Seconds Out), but we had enough with the Videos and DVDs.

The good moments, luckily take up the biggest part of the album, and there are these long tracks. Home by the sea, well done as a whole piece, really shines with Second Home, in a stunning version, very powerfull and rougher than the original and other versions. Perhaps, the best one ever, with the rhythm guitar well in the front, and this monstruous drum sound. Domino is another one, a favourite of mine from this Genesis era. Very powerfull and dramatic, sounds far better than the studio recording, but can't reach the best version ever, the one of Live at Wembley Stadium IMO. By the way is a great rendition. Driving the last spike is well performed, but I prefer the studio one. Equally for those who like the track is a valuable version. Finally Fading Lights, sounds great, and maybe the instrumental section surpasses the original section, with Banks at his best.

The way we walk The Longs, collects the live versions of these prog tracks of Genesis from their last three albums with Collins, songs that never were edited live before. They could put some one more there, but this not devalues the recording. IMO is a great addition.

There is two ways to look at this. One is to think that it is about 1980 and realize that with the Old Medley, Genesis chopped up your fav songs, with many from the Gabriel era, into tiny snippets. In doing so they removed the soul of the songs and while they were at destroying the songs of your youth, Genesis also pissed on your cornflakes while you were distracted. The other way to look at is to realize that its 1992, and 90% of the people at the shows have no idea what many of those songs are, have no desire to seat through a 5 minute keyboard solo, or listen to songs about mythical animals. I'm sure there is a significant part of the crowd who doesn't know Peter Gabriel was once their frontman and they actually once recorded a 23 minute song!

So there is a problem, which is it, a sellout or a reworking of too many songs to play at one concert. I believe it is neither and its a compromise. A well done compromise. When I first heard it in concert, i was pretty mad, So many of my alltime fav songs were chopped up and put into one 20 minute track. I heard more than one complain and say 'What the Hell was that?' It was from both the older crowd, and the newer Genesis fans. When I bought the CD, I realized what Genesis had done. They knew that the days of playing something like Supper's Ready and the like were over. The themselves wee shocked that the last time they played it, they did not get a good reception. So they took the best of the past and made the Old Medley. It sounds very good and this was the closest you are ever going to hear those longs songs again. The long time fans were given mostly what they wanted and the attention deficit fans had a constantly changing long song that had parts that they recognized.

The rest of the album is even better. All of the tracks sound better and with more muscle here than they do on their studio albums of origin. Struemer is a better guitarist than Rutherford and Thompson and Collins are stellar on drums. They even have a drum duet that ends the album. I am not a fan of most drum solos but these two always make it special.

For the crowd that wants to here the older tracks in their entirety, they can always check out the previous two live albums.

A very strong 4 rounded to a 5.

'The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs,' as the title suggests, sees Genesis performing their longer pieces of music live. In fact, outside of the six minute drum duet at the end, every track is over ten minutes long. I would argue that the second volume is superior to the first solely because of the song selection. Critics may say that just because a song is ten minutes or longer doesn't necessarily make it prog, and while that may be true for some of the songs on this live album, the music is still good and is more consistent than the music found on the first volume.

The live album opens with the near twenty-minute "Old Medley," which consists of parts of "Dance On a Volcano," "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway," "The Musical Box," "Firth of Fifth," and "I Know What I Like." Overall, it's quite good except for when the band inject "Illegal Alien" into "I Know What I Like," which I find to be unpleasant. In that same section of the medley, "Stagnation," as usual, makes an appearance in the music, which is beautiful. I would've much preferred it if the band played "Supper's Ready" in its entirety rather than hearing a medley of the same duration. Nevertheless, I will take any bit of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis that I can get in a Genesis live performance, as it is certainly better than anything from the first volume. "Driving the Last Spike" is almost identical to the original in how the band perform it live. "Domino" is more punchy in a live context, and I might actually enjoy it more than the studio version.

"Fading Lights" is one of my favorite Genesis songs, and hearing it played live is very enjoyable. "Home By the Sea / Second Home By the Sea," like "Domino," has even more energy when played live. "Drum Duet" oddly closes the live album and it doesn't do much for me, though it is impressive that Phil and Chester can play those rhythms together in synchrony.

In conclusion, 'The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs' is good, but non-essential. When I listen to a live album, as the listener, I want to feel like I am at a concert. This album is incomplete and doesn't make me feel immersed in that environment, hence the three star rating. 6/10