Evidently, there is a campaign underway to bring Genesis back into the public consciousness. I'm all in favor of that. What I don't like is a lackluster documentary that only tells part of the story and comes equipped with a mandatory companion best-of album that does the same.
Because The Platinum Collection told the entire story of Genesis on three discs, the compilers of the new triple-disc R-KIVE (a terrible title that tries hard to be cool or something) knew they couldn't just release the same songs in a different order, nor could they condense the best of the best into two CDs (although they could, and I could show them how, as a fan). So, this collection mixes standard Genesis hits, the older art-rock classics and a plethora of solo works from each member of the "classic five" lineup.
This is actually a smart idea, because Genesis was first and foremost a songwriter's band with no intention of performing; in fact, founding guitarist Anthony Phillips left the band because of terrible stage fright once it was determined they had to perform their own songs. Moreover, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel and Michael Rutherford all had measurable success on their own, and while Steve Hackett and Tony Banks didn't come close to commercial recognition, their albums were critically received and enjoyed by fans.
The problem with such an approach is that, even spread over three discs, this gives short shrift to all parties. Collins and Gabriel fill entire double-disc hits collections; how do you cherry pick two or three songs? And which Genesis hits and prog-rock classics are lopped off to make room for these? The fact is that improving on The Platinum Collection isn't possible if one needs a thorough overview of the band, and the single-disc Turn It On Again ably covers the ‘80s hit period while the first box set brilliantly covers the Gabriel-led period.
As for what's included, the discs break down into the Gabriel years, the Collins art-pop years, and the huge hitmaking years and beyond. The first disc is almost exactly the same as the third disc from Platinum, hitting each expected highlight – "The Knife," "The Musical Box," "Supper's Ready," "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway," “The Cinema Show,” "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” and “The Carpet Crawlers,” then swapping out the superior “Firth Of Fifth” for the annoying proto-punk “Back In NYC,” which docks this half a grade out of the gate. Also missing is the near-pop “Counting Out Time” to make room for Hackett’s prog noodling of “Ace Of Wands,” which sounds like an outtake from 
Lamb.
This is some of the best progressive rock to come out of the genre, mind you, and a second disc could easily be filled with fan favorites and other great songs from the Gabriel-led years. It would have made more sense to add these songs in place of ones that were already compiled on a similar collection aimed at the same audience. I guess the goal, 10 years later, is to bring in a new audience, and hope they want to dig deeper to find gems like “Firth of Fifth,” “In The Cage,” “The Fountain Of Salmacis,” “Dusk”
and I suppose “Watcher Of The Skies.”
Anyway. The second disc covers the period where Phil Collins took over as lead singer and the band put out a series of fascinating prog-pop discs, each one slowly moving in a more pop-oriented direction in keeping with the tenor of the times. The playlist here is vastly different from Platinum, including only “Ripples” and “Afterglow” to coincide with Hackett’s departure, then touching on the big radio hits “Follow You, Follow Me,” “Turn It On Again,” the full version of “Abacab,” “Mama” and “That’s All.” The other seven songs are solo works, and the choices are predictable yet entertaining: Gabriel’s confident acoustic emancipation “Solsbury Hill” and thoughtful “Biko,” Mike + The Mechanics’ very good “Silent Running,” Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” and “Easy Lover,” Hackett’s mundane “Every Day” and Banks’ “For A While.”
It’s hard to argue with the solo selections, and kudos to the compilers for selecting material keeping more in line with the Genesis sound and spirit than the obvious radio hits like “Sledgehammer,” “Sussudio,” “Against All Odds,” “Games Without Frontiers” and “All I Need Is A Miracle.” Certainly, fans of this era of the band will feel slighted, and “Misunderstanding” probably should be here too, but the Turn It On Again compilation covers this era well enough (the Platinum Collection goes into too much detail and picks the wrong songs, but that’s another discussion).
So then, on to disc three, which is where things got ugly for the art-rock fans. Obviously, “Invisible Touch,” the full-length “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” and “Land Of Confusion” are here, as are “I Can’t Dance,” “No Son Of Mine” and “Hold On My Heart,” all of which are the band’s biggest pop hits and their final statement before Collins left in 1993. Again, these are all compiled elsewhere, and it would have been nice to explore more of this era without resorting to the overplayed radio hits. Again, seven of the 14 songs on the disc are solo cuts, including Mike + the Mechanics’ dramatic, sappy “The Living Years” and “Over My Shoulder,” Collins’ standard “Wake Up Call,” Gabriel’s raw, spacious, worldly “Signal To Noise” and Hackett’s “Nomads,” featuring some great Spanish guitar work before delving into a retro Genesis sound. Banks gets two pieces, the nine-minute orchestral composition “Siren” and the ‘80s pop of “Red Day On Blue Street,” which isn’t bad but doesn’t really go anywhere.
The collection defines the documentary title; the parts were pretty good, but Genesis was the sum of those parts and more. The concept alone of R-KIVE is interesting, not least because the members’ approaches were so different that exploring their catalogs would result in five different experiences, as will exploring the entire Genesis discography. In addition, it’s hard to argue with the selection of the solo pieces. But the collection falters in how it favors the tried-and-true Genesis tracks over lesser-known but just as good songs, ones that have not been compiled yet. Newcomers will want to stick with The Platinum Collection for the whole story and Turn It On Again for the friendly radio hits, leaving R-KIVE as an unnecessary and spotty collection of great music.