Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Genesis
Label: Virgin Records
Release: 2007
Rating: 3.5/5
The reunion of three Genesis members was without a doubt one of the biggest music events of 2007. After their solo careers gradually faded in popularity, Messrs. Banks, Collins and Rutherford realized they had never forgotten their first love, the one that gave them their musical standing and worldwide fame. So they revived the legendary band that had helped shape the golden age of progressive rock in the 70s and then ruled the world pop charts in the 80s and early 90s. To the disappointment of many fans of their classic, i.e. progressive rock, era, though, original singer Peter Gabriel and guitar master Steve Hackett (temporarily?) sat the reunion out. While Gabriel wanted to get on with his solo tour in peace, Hackett never even got an invite from the other three, so the full, proper reunion will have to wait a bit longer, if it ever happens at all. For now, Genesis got back together in their most commercially successful lineup, the one that gave the pop rock world hits like “Follow You, Follow Me”, “Mama”, “Invisible Touch”, “Land Of Confusion” and “I Can’t Dance”. That alone was reason enough to draw hordes of fans from all corners, with all kinds of musical tastes and ages, to the new tour. What followed was the “Turn It On Again” tour, which kicked off in Helsinki and stayed in Europe only. It wrapped up in typically pompous fashion at Rome’s Circo Massimo, which will be immortalized on the new DVD, “When In Rome”.
The quality of the individual performances is nicely documented by the latest double live album, “Live Over Europe”, their first live release since 1993, which in my opinion does a good job of capturing the energy and atmosphere of this historic tour. Even if, of course, it didn’t come without some studio fixes this time either. Collins’ between-song banter was cut, and the crowd noise was left in just enough to let you know it’s a live recording. Some people might find that annoying, I would too with certain bands, but with Genesis what matters most to me is a good performance. Most fans took the reunion very well after seeing the shows anyway, since the band’s well-chosen setlist managed to please lovers of both of their eras, the progressive and the pop rock one, and that comes through on this recording too (the setlist was the same at every show). Yours truly also went to their show near Vienna, which got a detailed report. Sadly, no performance from that date made it onto this live release. As expected, most of the performances picked for the release come from their home turf in Britain (mainly Manchester), and the rest are from other European venues.
Once again, the inseparable trio called in two longtime buddies for live backup, who have been almost permanent Genesis touring members since the late 70s, though never studio ones. Hackett’s spot was filled, as tradition dictates, by American virtuoso Daryl Stuermer (besides Genesis he’s best known for working with Jean-Luc Ponty and with Collins solo), who by the way put out an excellent jazz rock fusion solo album, “Go”, this very year. Behind the drums, Collins’ stand-in during his trips up to the mic was jazz fusion legend Chester Thompson, best known for his work with Frank Zappa and Weather Report. Thompson, as tradition dictates, drums alongside Collins during the longer instrumental pieces. The two also stage the unforgettable drum duel captured here as “Conversations With 2 Stools”, where both jazz rock fusion masters prove they’re not past it yet. Collins’ vocals have held up a little less well, though they’re still very solid. Naturally his range has shrunk over the years, so where needed he sticks to the lower registers. Banks long ago stopped using the traditional Mellotron and organs, and besides electric piano he mostly works with various synthesizers, using fitting effects and sounds on them, especially on the older material. The polished, almost always serious gentleman simply got used to a lot of technological comfort over the years, which might only bug the hardest of retro 70s sound purists. Rutherford is just Rutherford, always more skilled and more distinctive on bass than on guitar, while Stuermer pleasantly surprised by adding a few ideas of his own here and there, or a new solo or two. The two complement each other well again and trade off on bass and electric guitar.
As for the individual performances, Genesis mostly stuck to their studio originals, as expected, and only in the longer progressive rock pieces did they work in bits of older songs from the Gabriel era, which woke nostalgia in plenty of fans and a longing for an early Gabriel and Hackett return. The prog rock highlights include a very solid “In The Cage”, even though Collins will never be able to replace Gabriel there, with sections of classics like “Cinema Show” and “Duke Travels” skillfully woven in, the “Firth Of Fifth” section with Banks’ classic, excellent solo, and their first hit “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”, in which you can even catch a few seconds of the ancient “Stagnation”, from the album “Trespass” (1970), back before Collins joined the band. That last one is a bit of a surprise, since on this tour they otherwise played nothing from before 1972, or rather before “Selling England By The Pound” (1973). I probably wasn’t the only one who missed at least “The Musical Box” from the prog rock era, which once, even in the pop days, was a must at their shows. Of the prog rock treats, as expected, the anthemic “Afterglow” and the jazz rock fusion masterpiece “Los Endos” work out best, with Collins and Thompson showing off their technical mastery and still undiminished, razor-sharp sense of rhythm. This time they steered clear of the medleys that used to be quite annoying, with as many as five different pieces crammed in, usually lasting only until the first chorus or transition. So there are no big surprises on the setlist. The biggest might be the excellent performance of one of their most beautiful ballads, “Ripples”, where Collins proves he’s still a fine singer who easily makes up for his technical shortcomings with great emotional expression.
The pop rock performances are all more than decent and, thanks to Banks’ modern keyboards, sound quite updated, which might only bother a few retro 80s fanatics. Of these, the standout is a very good version of the ever-energetic “Turn It On Again”, which was also the main anthem of this tour. From their commercially most successful album “Invsible Touch” (1986) they played five songs, as expected, and thankfully the sappy ballad “In Too Deep” isn’t among them. The traditionally mushy Collins pulled a little prank, swapping the line “she’ll mess up your life” in “Invisible Touch” for “she’ll fuck up your life”, which speaks volumes about how he felt after his recent divorce. So thanks to the rascal Collins (the older he gets, the sillier the ideas in his head), the famous four-letter word turned up at a Genesis show, one of the last rock bands where you’d expect it. Quality-wise, “Land Of Confusion”, where Collins’ lower register is clearly noticeable, and the art rock hit “Domino”, one of the best and most energetic performances on the whole recording, stand out again. They also couldn’t forget the hits from the album “Genesis (1983) like “Mama” and “Home By The Sea”, and from “We Can’t Dance” (1991), where they simply had to play mega-hits like “No Son Of Mine”, “Hold On My Heart” and of course “I Can’t Dance” (with extensive vocal improvisations), which the vast majority of pop-era fans would have missed. And of course no Genesis show can pass without their first hit of the Collins era, “Follow You, Follow Me”. The second half of the recording is quite predictable as far as the setlist goes. The biggest surprise is the closer, the romantic anthem “Carpet Crawlers”, a Gabriel-era classic that, in Collins’ words, best represents the essence of the band.
“Live Over Europe” is a superb live document that neatly presents the successful comeback of these prog/pop rock giants, and as such it belongs in the collection of every true fan of the band, the kind who don’t split into pointless, often mutually hostile progressive and pop rock factions, or into bickering Gabriel-era and Collins-era diehards. In my opinion it beats both “The Way We Walk” releases in quality and holds its own against the excellent “Three Sides Live” (1982). It’s definitely not their best live recording, though, as both “Genesis Live” (1973) and “Seconds Out” (1977) top it, the latter being one of those 70s live classics and the closest thing to that perfect Genesis live document. Of course I’d personally have liked to see more progressive rock pieces in the setlist, especially from the two post-Gabriel albums, “A Trick Of The Tail” (1976) and “Wind And Wuthering” (1977), but as long as Steve Hackett isn’t (yet) in the lineup, maybe it’s better this way. It could also have done with a bit less studio polish (though there’s still less of it than on the “The Way We Walk” releases), but that’s standard practice for most big bands. The production, handled by their longtime collaborator Nick Davis, is excellent again, which, with the possible exception of “Genesis Live”, is the tradition for most of their live recordings. So all the doubters who didn’t catch a single show on the tour can use “Live Over Europe” to see for themselves that the Genesis reunion, even without Gabriel and Hackett, was worth it, and that the future is wide open for new studio ventures too.
Lineup
Tony Banks – keyboards
Phil Collins – vocals, drums
Mike Rutherford – guitar, bass guitar
Daryl Stuermer – guitar, bass guitar
Chester Thompson – drums
Production
Nick Davis
Track list
CD1.:
1. Duke’s Intro (3:49)
2. Turn It On Again (4:26)
3. No Son Of Mine (6:57)
4. Land Of Confusion (5:11)
5. In The Cage (13:30)
6. Afterglow (4:28)
7. Hold On My Heart (5:58)
8. Home By The Sea (11:59)
9. Follow You, Follow Me (4:19)
10. Firth Of Fifth (Excerpt) (4:40)
11. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (6:45)
CD2.:
1. Mama (6:57)
2. Ripples (7:58)
3. Throwing It All Away (6:01)
4. Domino (11:34)
5. Conversation With Two Sticks (6:49)
6. Los Endos (6:25)
7. Tonight Tonight Tonight (Excerpt) (3:49)
8. Invisible Touch (5:35)
9. I Can’t Dance (6:12)
10. Carpet Crawlers (6:00)
Total running time: 114:14
