The Way We Walk, Vol. 1: The Shorts (Live)

Album Review

The first of two matching live albums pulled from Genesis' 1992 tour, The Shorts is, as its title suggests, a compendium of the band's shorter (and generally more hit-oriented) material. The longer pieces for which the band are more appropriately renowned were then held over for the equally aptly titled The Longs, gestures that might have widened the albums' appeal among those people who only wanted a souvenir of their favorite moments of the show, but which left fans wanting to experience the entire concert with no alternative but to purchase the accompanying The Way We Walk Live VHS. Such pandering ensured there were few surprises on this particular disc. Essentially a greatest-hits album with added applause, it marches resolutely from "Land of Confusion" to "Invisible Touch," but reminds us of the tour's own purpose by dwelling especially heavily on the recently released We Can't Dance album, with "I Can't Dance" a particularly strong performance. "Mama," too, is excellent, although few of the other songs meet those standards; there are moments, in fact, where the live arena seems positively overcome by the lifelessness of some of the music. At the same time, however, one cannot take the album's billing too seriously as it emerges that only one of four tracks exceeds six minutes in length — indeed, only "Tonight Tonight Tonight" clocks in at anything remotely approaching its familiar vinyl length, rendering The Shorts short only in comparison to its companion piece.