Average User Rating: 80% (42 Reviews)
4 / 5	Excellent concert DVD at a good price Dr. M. Cinnirella "Marco Cinnirella" (Surrey UK) - 28 May 2008 This is an excellent, well-priced concert DVD package. You get the entire Rome concert from the 2007 Genesis 'Turn it on again' tour, spread across 2 discs, along with a third disc containing a 1 hour and 50 minute long documentary about the tour. The package is nicely presented in recycled card and plastic with a good booklet containing concert photos. Edited versions of both the concert and documentary have been shown on BBC4 recently, but the DVD seems a lot better. From a technical point of view, the audio quality is good on a surround system - crisp, and with the mix giving a good sense of what it was like at the shows (I was at Twickernham). If I was nit-picking I would say the surround mixing could have been slightly better (sorry Nick) in that the rear channels are maybe a little too loud, but overall the sound quality is great, and you can have fun annoying the neighbours with it on a loud surround system with a decent sub. The picture is crystal clear - I am guessing it was shot on high def cameras, and it shows. The days of those grainy old 70s,80s and early 90s concert videos are, thankfully, long-gone, and even the darkest shots are vibrant and detailed. The direction, on the live material, is pretty good. Most of the time the camera is right where you would want it to be. There aren't any options to choose alternate cameras - you need to dig out earlier Genesis DVDs for that, but they had so many cameras in use that it doesn't really matter. There are some great shots of the crowd and venue, so you get a feel for the scale of the event. On the whole the boys played well that night in Rome - of course, those who were there or who are die-hard fans will know that some mistakes (e.g. on firth of Fifth) have been 'fixed' in post-production, presumably by taking audio from other shows that had been recorded. The track list for the show included something for everyone, although most Genesis fans have their favourite eras, and some only like the early stuff so groaned at the inclusion of tracks like Invisible Touch. But the older material is generally played really well, and with a sense of affection and respect for it, even if a lot of the songs have had to be taken down a key (or more) to compensate for the ageing of Phil's voice. And did Phil realise how, on this tour, he made our hearts skip a beat in the spiel before Carpet Crawlers when he said he wanted to introduce the audience to two members who had been in the band a long time - was I the only one that night at Twickers hoping that Steve and Peter would walk out onto the stage at that point? ...the crowd were...interesting...quite into the music, but not as ecstatic as I might have predicted, maybe because it was a free concert. They certainly weren't as vocal or emotionally charged as the south american crowd on Rush's live DVD shot in Rio... The documentary is OK - an interesting insight into how much work goes into a major stadium tour, but I guess of more interest for the die hard fan. So, in conclusion - this is a terrific live DVD. If you were hoping for the 2007 incarnation of Genesis to give us 'Seconds Out' part two, you will be disappointed. But if you are open-minded about Genesis and like them through all of their eras and incarnations, you should like this DVD. if you were at the 2007 shows and enjoyed them, then this is a terrific souvenir - hell, they even scanned the tour programme for you and put it on the DVD as an extra...... Read Full Review »
2 / 5	Genesis are not the band their fans think they are R. W. "Prog Dog" (Scotland) - 18 May 2008 I am a huge fan of prog rock in all it's guises, and I used to think Genesis were the bee's knees. Then one day I awoke and discovered proper prog. OK Genesis may have been in there at the beginning, and yes they were (once) fairly radical with their ideas. But they have been left so far behind in terms of decent prog rock and they are just not worth the effort any more. It simply isn't worth sitting through hours of "Eenveeseebel Touch" and "Turn it on turn it on turn it on" from Scat-man Collins to get to the few gems that lurk in their past catalogue. Save your money (I gave up after half an hour watching this on the BBC) and buy yourself some decent prog ! Genesis are no fine wine and were best drunk fresh. ps, I'm sure that no Genesis fan worth their salt will find this review at all helpful in any way, as they will stick to their knitting. There are people who say the only book you will ever need to read is the Bible, similarly some Genesis fans may claim there is no other prog rock group. "She seems to have an inveeezebel touch yeh, ye-e-eh, ye-eh"... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	I haven't seen it yet but... Cristobal "Raul forever!!!" (Madrid, Spain) - 1 December 2007 ... I was in Rome watching the show. It was the second time because I had been watching them in Berlin, as well. If the DVD is hlf the wonderful the show was, it will be the best DVD in history.
5 / 5	Fantastic! A. Conn "oznod" (Brighton) - 26 May 2008 If you only buy one Genesis Live DVD, you will not get much better then this. The boys are looking a little older, but they prove yet again that they are one of the best live bands ever. I think the overall the set list was spot on, good blend of old and new songs. Phil's voice is still very strong, and no one can doubt the professionalism of this band, and the respect they have for their audience. Sound and picture quality of this DVD is also superb. ... Read Full Review »
2 / 5	Painting by numbers Jonathan Brown "jonf277" (uk) - 30 May 2008 This is a dull concert. The sound is good but the band(?) look about as enthusiatic as stick insects and Phil spends most of his time employing his limited acting and gurnning skills to try and inject some life into the corpse of this once great band(he has just anounced his retirement from all music activity and having watched this I am not surprised!!) Unlike peers such as Yes who have continued to make new music and keep things vital this is drab, lifeless and mundane. Even the stage is poor. As for the explosive climax why choose the lame Invisible Touch to end with fire works!!!? surely Los Endos would have been better? For those blind to this cynical release then you need to know that the set list is just about right, sound is good but not great and the qulaity of picture first rate.... Read Full Review »