Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has had a long relationship with composer and founding Genesis lead guitarist Anthony Phillips encompassing reissues of various solo albums as well as his Private Parts and Pieces compilation series.  Earlier this year, Esoteric turned its attention to another collection drawn from Phillips' prodigious vaults: the 5-CD box set Archive Collection Volume 1 & Volume 2.

Phillips' Archive Collection had its antecedent in Private Parts and Pieces (which featured both archival and newly-written material) as well as in the prolific artist's Missing Links series.  The original Volume 1 in the series was issued in 1998 on the Blueprint label collecting material dating back to the Genesis days through the early 1990s.  (Anthony departed Genesis in 1970 after recording just two albums with the pre-Phil Collins lineups.)  That version presented a full CD with a bonus EP; for this reissue, certain tracks have been restored and remixed from original multitrack sources, and the EP has been extended to an entire disc's worth of music.   Volume Two followed as a 2-CD set in 2004, spanning the period of 1971-1988.

For this 2022 edition, a third volume entitled The Masquerade Tapes has been included.  This is a collection of demos written for a stage musical version of Kit Williams' 1979 children's book Masquerade.  (The book, about a hare named Jack who seeks to bring a treasure from the Moon to the Sun but eventually loses it, sparked a real-life treasure hunt when the author planted a jeweled hare in an undisclosed location in Britain.  The illustrations would provide the clues.  The treasure was found in 1982, leading to a flurry of fraud accusations against the finder who was associated with an ex-girlfriend of Williams'.)

Esoteric's box makes for a definitive dip into Phillips' vaults, especially thanks to the detailed, track-by-track liner notes by the artist's co-compiler Jonathan Dann in the squarebound 60-page booklet.  Genesis fans will enjoy hearing a demo of "Stranger," performed by the band in concert but never recorded in the studio, as well as early collaborations with Mike Rutherford dating back to 1966 (!).  The additional material on the Archive Collection box expands the stories of such acclaimed albums as The Geese and the Ghost (with Phillips/Rutherford demos from 1969 and numerous alternate mixes and versions from the album sessions), Sides, Invisible Men, Slow Dance, and Tarka.  The multi-instrumentalist's television, film, stage, and library music work are also represented as well as intriguing projects such as a "rock Shakespeare" release from which "Scottish Suite II," based on Macbeth, has been included.  (A 1976 library composition entitled "Romeo and Juliet" is also here.)  It seems that Phillips rarely let a good song go to waste; one track, "Lucy: An Illusion," was written in 1969, re-recorded in the 1978 version heard here, and released in a different recording in 1990.

"West Side Alice" and "Quadrille" were composed for Anthony's musical Alice, a modernized take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland co-written with Richard Scott and staged in 1984 at the Leeds Playhouse.  The Masquerade demos on CD 5 showcase another musical theatre project.  Although Anthony was initially tapped to contribute additional music - his collaborator Rupert Hine and Rupert's then-girlfriend Jeannette Obstoj were to pen the lion's share of the score - he eventually wrote an album's worth of material for the musical.  Despite various rumors (including one that Kate Bush would play a role!), Masquerade never got off the ground in the Hine/Phillips version.  The Zombies' Rod Argent eventually wrote a new score, and the musical opened at London's Young Vic in 1982 starring Roger Rees (The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Cheers) and Sarah Brightman (Phantom of the Opera).  It closed after 31 performances, but this new box set offers a chance to hear what might have been.

Anthony Phillips' Archive Collection is housed in a clamshell case with each disc in an individual sleeve featuring artwork by Peter Cross.  Everything has been remastered in 2021 by Jonathan Dann.  You'll find the track listing and order links for the release below.

Anthony Phillips, Archive Collection Volume I & Volume II (Cherry Red/Esoteric ECLEC 52786, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Volume I, Disc 1

1. Back to Pluto
2. Promenade
3. Take This Heart
4. Beside the Water's Edge
5. The Geese and the Ghost
6. Which Way the Wind Blows
7. Rowey Song
8. Lucy Will
9. God If I Saw Her Now
10. In Memoriam Ad
11. Hunt Song
12. Rule Britannia Closing Theme
13. Exocet
14. Study in G
15. Holy Deadlock
16. Catch You When You Fall
17. F Sharp
18. The Geese and the Ghost
19. F Sharp 2
20. Rowey Reprise
21. Slow Dance
22. The Burnt-Out Cattle Truck Hits the Road
23. The Women Were Watching

CD 2: Volume I, Disc 2

1. KIP PJ (1978)
2. Queen Bettine
3. What Is the Meaning?
4. Farewell
5. Cradle Song
6. Master of Time
7. Lucy: An Illusion
8. Henry Goes to War
9. Sleepfall Celeste
10. God If I Saw Her Now
11. Make the Best of a Bad Situation
12. Regrets
13. Nightmare Link
14. Greenhouse
15. In Absentia
16. Stranger
17. Master of Creation
18. Pennsylvania Flickhouse

CD 3: Volume II, Disc 1

1. Guitar Song
2. The Anthem from Tarka
3. Deep in the Night
4. Bleak House
5. Our Man in Japan
6. Child Song
7. Old Wives Tale

Scottish Suite

8. Leaping Salmon
9. The Witching Hour
10. Two Truths
11. The Letter
12. Walpurgis Night
13. Sweet Reaper
14. Why Sinks This Cauldron?
15. Her Last Sleepwalk

 

16. Sally
17. Windmill
18. Tregenna Afternoon
19. Lofty Vaults

CD 4: Volume II, Disc 2

1. Highland Fling
2. Prelude No. 1
3. Siesta
4. Bubble and Squeak
5. Guru
6. Shady Arbours
7. West Side Alice
8. Vic's Tango
9. Seven Long Years
10. Romeo and Juliet
11. I Saw You Today
12. The Anthem from Tarka
13. Quadrille (from Alice)

Desert Suite

14. Sand Dance
15. Pipelines
16. End Theme

 

17. Fantomas (Opening Theme)
18. Sistine
19. Sisters of Remindum
20. Will the Last Man off the Ice Rink (Please Turn Out the Lights)
21. Finale

CD 5: The Masquerade Tapes

1. Overture
2. Moon
3. Sun
4. Tara's Theme
5. Craw
6. All Horrors of the Night
7. Penny Pockets
8. Hare B Minor
9. Destiny
10. Fire
11. Yellow Carpet
12. Masque Moon
13. Moon's Lament for the Sun
14. Last of the Heavy Hares
15. Only a Dream

CD 1, Tracks 1-23 & CD 2, Tracks 1-5 from Archive Collection Volume 1, Blueprint BP279CD, 1998
CD 2 & CD 3 from Archive Collection Volume 2, Blueprint BP360CD, 2004