Happy 25th: Genesis, LIVE: THE WAY WE WALK, VOLUME 1 – THE SHORTS

25 years ago this month, Genesis released the first of two live albums from their highly successful WE CAN’T DANCE tour.

The first volume of the band’s LIVE: THE WAY WE WALK albums was subtitled THE SHORTS, and for a very good reason, although you might not think so when looking at the length of the tracks. Yes, several of the tracks are over five minutes in length, and one of them – “No Son of Mine” – actually tops out at seven minutes and six seconds, but you have to keep in mind that Genesis’s earlier work, i.e. before they began to rule the pop charts, was very much in the progressive rock realm. As such, the material on the second volume, cleverly titled THE LONGS, often ventures above and beyond 10 minutes in length.

Not that the length of the songs mattered one whit to the band’s fans: Genesis scored a gold album in the US with VOLUME 1, which climbed to #35 on the Billboard 200, and in their native land, it made it all the way to #3 on the UK Albums chart.