Review Summary: Lacking in soul and devoid of spirit, "Live Over Europe 2007" disappoints...
Disappointment.
That single word was the exact feeling every single Genesis fan had when they heard Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett would not join the group on their 2007 tour, which most likely due to the retirement of Phil Collins in 2011, is their final tour and the final death of Genesis as a band. Heading into this album, there isn’t much to look forward to as the set list consists of the usual greatest hits from 1983’s “Genesis” to 1991’s “We Can’t Dance”.
Not much from the Gabriel-era is present here with the exception of the obvious songs: “In the Cage” (a pleasant inclusion to say the least) and “I Know What I Like”. A surprising choice was the use of the guitar solo from “Firth of Fifth” and “The Carpet Crawlers”, but that doesn’t change the great disappointment this album is. Yes, there’s the story that Phil wanted to include “Supper’s Ready”, but was vetoed by Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, but that just makes the disappointment even more daunting when deciding to listen to this record. This time around, there wasn’t even a little medley to even it out, but just three songs. The performance by the band is not their greatest with Tony’s keyboards sounding out right terrible and Phil not giving his best vocal performance (considering his further deepening vocal range and the constant touring). Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson both make a return as members of the group and do an astounding job filling their respective roles. Mike does great as part of the rhythm section, particularly on “In the Cage” and “Domino”.
Without complaining about the absence of earlier material, this album holds up well as a live album, but when compared to earlier Genesis live albums, such as 1973’s “Live”, 1977’s “Seconds Out” and 1982’s “Three Sides Live” (The European version, as in the true TSL), “Live Over Europe” just doesn’t have the best set list and instrumentation going for it. It lacks the soul and charm that was present in those respective albums and fails to live up to Genesis’s live standards.
