Genesis - The Way We Walk - Live In Concert (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Characters / Performances	Good
Soundtrack	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	Generally good concert, 'Old Medley' is great .
Disadvantages:	Bonus features could be better .  Needs less pop and more prog !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Filmed in 1992, 'The Way We Walk' DVD shows concert footage from one of Genesis's later tours. By this time, all the big albums had been released - only the lesser known 'Calling All Stations' with Ray Wilson was still to come.
As it stands, this is a pretty good concert - as expected, most of the hits are there - 'Land Of Confusion, 'Invisible Touch', 'I Can't Dance', etc. They are all pretty similar to the album versions, though there a few alterations - 'No Son Of Mine' enjoying a notable extension and some dramatic guitar-work to finish it off. 'Jesus He Knows Me' has got real pace and excitement, and Phil Collins really brings it to life as he comically assumes the role of a TV evangelist. The song is also rounded off with a superb guitar solo from long-time session player Daryl Stuermer.
In Turn It On Again, the final track, the riff is also used as a backing for Collins to give thanks to the rest of the band, which adds some alteration, but I wouldn't say the closing track necessarily stands out from the rest in any way.

Some of the older Gabriel tracks make an appearance in the 'Old Medley', which is about 20 minutes long and features fairly generous sections from classics such as 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', 'The Musical Box' and 'Firth Of Fifth'. Other than that though, most of the material on this DVD is the more commercal 'pop' hits, although there are still at least some good renditions of longer, more proggy songs such as 'Fading Lights', 'Home By The Sea' and 'Domino'.

The sound quality is generally good, and the visuals are ok - not as fine as a DVD filmed and released nowadays would be though.

As for the 'bonus features', for much of the concert there are 4 camera angles available to view - this obviously leads to much more footage and the concert has to spread out across 2 discs - slightly annoying if you prefer to go back and fourth between tracks for whatever reason. The camera angles makes a nice addition - sometimes you may wish to focus on the keyboard playing of Banks for example, or whatever - but I don't think it's really 'that' necessary. With some DVD players it can just be awkward to keep changing between camera angles anyway. It's not a feature I use very often at all - you're better just leaving it on the 'main film' which gives you the best bits of everything.

Other bonus features include some slide shows of the tour programme, etc, and some interviews with the 3 main band members which are quite interesting but annoyingly don't run together - you have to manually select every question from a big list. There's also a 'Live Commentary Track' where you can hear the band's reactions on watching the DVD through - to be honest, it's pretty pointless - nothing particularly interesting is said, there's a lot of silence, occasional phones going off - you're betting off just watching the concert and enjoying the music!

Overall, like I say, this is a pretty good concert. Highlights for me include some interesting versions of the 'Musical Box' and 'The Lamb', and 'Firth Of Fifth' is always pretty awesome to see. The other songs are good, well played, but I'd possibly advise people to go for the latest 'When In Rome' DVD instead - it's got exactly the same member lineup, but with better quality visuals, and a set list which includes epics such as a 'In The Cage' and 'Cinema Show', as well as better bonus features. Still, for a true fan, 'The Way We Walk' is worth a purchase.