This was an odd little stop in the path of Genesis. After making the 'Wind and Wuthering' album, there were a few songs leftover that the band felt worthy of release, just not on an album. So this EP was released, with some success in Britain.
Of primary interest with this album is that it is the final studio release of the band with guitarist Steve Hackett. He felt his work wasn't being given enough consideration by the band; in particular, he felt the song 'Inside and Out' belonged on the album, and he felt put off that it was relegated to an EP. It is definitely the strongest song here, Hackett's style of presenting a very atmospheric, layered feel to his songs is always a treat for Genesis fans.
One song that was not a treat for the band is 'Match of the Day', an honest-to-Goodness soccer song. It was an attempt to to appeal to a different, wider audience, but the results were closer to embarrassing than popular. It was based on the TV program of the same name, and basically describes a soccer game... Just what you want from your prog rock megagroup. This was left off the second Genesis Archives collection because the band hated it so much...it sounds cheap and quickly thrown together compared to their other work at the time. But it also make this a sought after album, since the song is such a rarity.
There really is a reason these songs were kept off of the LP. While they aren't terrible (even Match of the Day is pleasant enough, just not by their standards), they aren't very memorable either. This is for completists and hardcore fans only, skippable for the casual or prog fans.