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Live Over Europe 2007

Genesis - Live Over Europe 2007 Audio CD

A fair review of the Genesis "Live Over Europe 2007" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Genesis reviews here, or go back to the Genesis tabs.

Band: Genesis
Title: Live Over Europe 2007
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-11-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Duke’s Intro 2: Turn It On Again 3: No Son Of Mine 4: Land Of Confusion 5: In The Cage 6: Afterglow 7: Hold On My Heart 8: Home By The Sea 9: Follow You Follow Me 10: Firth Of Fifth 11: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 12: Mama 13: Ripples 14: Throwing It All Away 15: Domino 16: Conversations With 2 Stools 17: Los Endos 18: Tonight Tonight Tonight 19: Invisible Touch 20: I Can’t Dance 21: Carpet Crawlers

Genesis return for the fun of it.
I saw this tour in Chicago when they came through there and it was alot of fun. First off, I have all of their albums. 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.

Even After Over a Decade on Hiatus, This is Great Live Material
That particular year saw three major bands reunite on the road for tours. 2007 would go down as one of the great year for bands to reunite to go for concert 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.

Nothing Better Than Genesis Live
Darryl Strummer has always outshined Steve Hackett in concert - I can not stop listening to Firth of Fifth!. After completely wearing out my Genesis Live and Seconds Out CD's (Albums), along comes yet another masterpiece.

The end of an Era...Genesis's last concert...
I have seen them many times in the 80's and 90's. I saw Genesis in concert last year(2007), and it was a great show, and a nice way to say goodbye to my favorite Prog-Rock band. This CD is a nice farewell to all the fans. The guys are getting old, but they still put out a great bunch of tunes. I must admit that at first I was dissapointed in the musical arrangements, but after a few times listening to the CD, I realized just how long Genesis has been making music, and it was cool that they changed some things up a bit, even if it was to help Phil hit the high notes. I recommend this CD as a historical farewell from a great band. Check out Genesis "Seconds Out" (1976-77)for the guys at their peak. BEST LIVE CD EVER. Thanks Tony, Peter, Chester, Phil, Mike, Steve, and Daryl for the decades of great music!.

Genesis' best live album IMHO since Seconds Out

Since the band's 1998 breakup, Genesis fans stirred rumors of and hoped for a reunion of the "classic" line-up with keyboard player Tony Banks, singer/drummer Phil Collins, guitarist/bass player Mike Rutherford, original singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett. English prog rockers Genesis released its recent live album entitled Live Over Europe 2007 in November of 2007. However, Gabriel turned it down and Hackett backed out as well. Finally in 2006, Banks/Collins/Rutherford decided to press on with a reunion tour with longtime touring guitarist/bass player Daryl Stuermer and drummer Chester Thompson.
The band toured Europe (which this CD was taken from 20 shows in Europe) and the US last year and I flew back to my native Boston, MA to see Genesis live in September of 2007 and was one of the happiest nights of my life. I am glad I got to see this great show because, as of now, the band's 2007 tour turned out to be their last as Collins officially announced his retirement from music and performing earlier this year to be a full time dad to his two young sons in Switzerland and also retired because of some hearing damage (he's lost half of his hearing in his left ear). If you watch this tour's off-shoot DVD When in Rome, Phil made it known that he saw this Genesis tour as closure on the touring part of his life.
What we're left of on the Live Over Europe 2007 album (and the When in Rome DVD) is proof that Genesis are still a musical force to be reckoned with. The band played lots of deep favorites and hits on the tour.
The opening "Duke's Intro" combines the intro of "Behind the Lines" and outro of "Duke's End" was a great way to start the disc. We segue into a spirited "Turn It On Again". Then we have superb live versions of "No Son of Mine" and "Land Of Confusion". Next is a mindblowing "In The Cage" medley (including soaring keyboard work from Banks and included bits of "Cinema Show" and "Duke's Travels") which gives way to a beautiful version of "Afterglow". Next is the ballad "Hold On My Heart" which is a great version. Next is a stellar version of "Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea". Next is Phil singing and drumming flawlessly on "Follow You Follow Me". We then have the powerful "Firth Of Firth" (Excerpt) with great guitar solos from Steurmer. The first CD ends with an extended "I Know What I Like" (though the tambourine jig was edited off of the CD but is available on the When in Rome DVD and the various Encore Series concerts that Genesis recorded on the tour (every night in the US and Europe was recorded)).
The second disc starts with a haunting "Mama". Next is the gorgeous "Ripples" (with beautiful 12-string guitar from Mike). We follow the singalong "Throwing It All Away". The epic "Domino" follows and was a great version. Next is Phil and Chester's stellar drum duet, which they humorously dubbed "Conversations With Two Stools". They start their solo on two bar stools, before easily seguing onto their respective drumkits. It's phenomenal and segues into a thunderous "Los Endos". We close the regular set with a medley of "Tonight Tonight Tonight" and "Invisible Touch". We then have a contagious encore starting with the fun and upbeat "I Can't Dance" before closing with "The Carpet Crawlers".
Live Over Europe 2007 is a superb live album (although it's a shame that the album didn't sell well in the US) but if this is the swan song
of Genesis (as Phil Collins wants us to believe it), then they left us with a great live album.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!.

You can see a complete list of all Genesis discography, or go back to the Genesis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.