Search - Genesis :: Live Over Europe

Even After Over a Decade on Hiatus, This is Great Live Mater

L.A. Scene | Indian Trail, NC USA | 01/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"2007 would go down as one of the great year for bands to reunite to go for concert tours. That particular year saw three major bands reunite on the road for tours. These bands included Van Halen (with David Lee Roth), The Police, and Genesis. I had the privilege of seeing all three bands. While I didn't have doubts about Van Halen or the Police, I was a little concerned how Genesis would do. However, Genesis would not disappoint - delivering as good a live performance as I've seen from any band. Of the three bands, only Genesis would publish a DVD and CD of the performances from the tour. "Live Over Europe" would be the release of material from Genesis' 2007 tour.



When I look at Genesis as band, I see four distinct phases the band has gone through. Phase 1 is the Peter Gabriel Era. This spans from 1969 ("From Genesis to Revelation") to 1974 ("The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"). It was during Phase 1 that Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist and Genesis could easily be categorized as a progressive Rock band. Phase 2 is the Early Phil Collins Era spanning from 1976 ("A Trick of the Tail") to 1982 ("Three Sides Live"). In this era, Phil Collins took over as lead singer. The band was still very much a progressive rock band, but as the progressive rock landscape would change - so would Genesis. This might indirectly have led to Phase 3 which is the Late Phil Collins Era from 1983 ("Genesis") to 1993 ("The Way We Walk" - a two volume live CD from the 1992 tour). This is the commercial/pop era that I referred to earlier. At this point, there would be a lot less progressive rock flavor to Genesis' music. The fourth phase, Phase 4 is the Ray Wilson Era. This was when Ray Wilson took over as lead vocalist for Phil Collins. There would only be one album in this era - 1997's "Calling All Stations" and it seemed like Genesis tried to recapture some of their progressive rock roots - but 90s style. "Calling All Stations" would do poor commercially and Ray Wilson would take the fall and be asked to leave the band. While Genesis didn't disband, it wouldn't be until the 2007 tour where they would perform again - this time reuniting with Collins. No material from Phase 4 would be included on this tour.



Here are ten points to look for one this collection:



1-This does not represent a single concert, but a collection of performances from Europe that made up the typical setlist on an evening on the tour. Normally, I prefer a live CD to be a performance from a single night as this showcases the "magic" and "energy" from the evening's performance. However, "Live Over Europe" does a great job at creating an an illusion that this is a single performance. Most live CDs that are conglomerations of performances from a tour do not do a good job - "Live Over Europe" does. It is also worth noting that for the most part, the typical setlist is represented on this collection.



2-Most of the material on the CD is from the second half of Genesis' career (Phases 2 and 3). However this tour did a better job of incorporating older material than the 1992 Tour (featured on "The Way We Walk" live CD series). The 1992 Tour only featured a medley of the older material.



3-The collection is a little weak on spoken material from Collins. Collins is a master at interacting with the crowd. This is not heard on the CD.



4-I would have liked to have heard at least one song from Phase 4 (Ray Wilson Era). There was some pretty good material here and I think Collins would have adapted well to it.



5-Every concert has it's great moment. For Genesis on this tour, it was the performance of "I Know What I Like". When I was at the concert, everyone was singing along to this song. It's nice to hear the magic of that song captured on the CD.



6-I like how "Tonight Tonight Tonight" is a prelude that has a segue into "Invisible Touch". Genesis did this on their 1992 tour (and it's like that on "The Way We Walk Volume 1"). If you haven't heard Genesis do "Invisible Touch" live, you are in for a real treat. Genesis slightly rearranges some stuff and this song proves to have so much more of an edge when done live.



7-I like the fact that "Home By the Sea" is followed up by "Second Home By the Sea". A friend of mine once told me "Home By the Sea" isn't "Home By the Sea" without "Second Home By the Sea". My friend proved to be right.



8-Some people may say that Collins' voice isn't what it was two decades ago. It still is very good, but it's interesting to see the rest of the band really step things up. Perhaps the best example of this is on the song "Domino". On "The Way We Walk Volume 2", Collins voice is really the star of "Domino". On "Live Over Europe", the rest of the band (Rutherford, Banks, Daryl Steurmer, and Chester Thompson) really kick it up a notch. Don't get me wrong, Collins is still great, but the band really shines.



9-At first I was a little disappointed, "The Carpet Crawlers" was the last song. However the live version of this song from this CD would grow and grow on me.



10-The liner notes include musician and production credits. There also is a list of the European Tour dates. Also included is a montage of photos from the tour. I would have liked to have had a write-up on the 2007 reunion.



Overall, Genesis gets the job done on this tour - and this album is a great representation of the Tour. It is a great live collection. Highly recommended."

Genesis return for the fun of it.

Darth Shaak | 04/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I have all of their albums. I saw this tour in Chicago when they came through there and it was alot of fun. Now, I don't care about the key changes to accomodate Phil's voice. Personally, I wanted to see Phil there rather than Ray Wilson who took over for Phil when Phil left for the Calling All Stations album and tour. The energy of the band as a whole however I think was a bit lacking. Musically they were dynamite though! This 2-disc album is the entire setlist. They do not include Phil's between song banter though. For those wanting that, pick up any of the band's shows from this tour. They are available unedited as official recordings. The sound for Live Over Europe is quite solid. I had one problem with this set though. They list the song Turn It On Again as being from Amsterdam. This is entirely incorrect. It is actually from Manchester. While this is a minor mistake, thanks to that, you cant trust any of the other songs as far as where the recordings were taken from and that bothers me somewhat. You would think they could get something as simple as that correct you know?? Anyway, I recommend the set as a whole for a look at their reunion tour taken from different venues throughout Europe. You just won't really know for sure the source for each song. Ughhhh"