Genesis was a staple of 1980s pop rock, with lead singer Phil Collins providing the vocals for a long list of hit songs. Genesis: Live at Wembley Stadium showcases the group in 1987, at the start of their Invisible Touch tour; by rights it ought to be an excellent show, but it turns out to be surprisingly bland. It's not bad, but it's far from the outstanding musical experience that you might expect from Genesis.

We can look first at the play list for some reasons for the generally insipid tone of the show. Some Genesis "classics" appear here, notably "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," "Throwing It All Away," and "Invisible Touch," but many of the others are just not what I'd consider top-notch Genesis material. The live performance doesn't really add all that much to the interest value of the songs, either; in fact, several of them are rendered less effective by having sections drawn out for too long.

Still, Genesis fans may enjoy hearing live performances of some of the less familiar tracks. But what makes Genesis: Live at Wembley Stadium fall flat even with this in mind is the live performance itself. The question to ask with a live performance compared to a recording is "What does this performance add to my experience of the music?" In this case, nothing... in fact, Collins' audience-participation stunts are downright tedious. He draws them out into pointless shriek-fests, as in the introduction to "Domino," or gets them to sing along. In one particularly peculiar bit of showmanship, before "Home by the Sea" he spends quite a while getting the audience to raise their hands and attempt to collectively levitate the stadium. I couldn't help but wonder if Collins had made a bet with some of the other band members regarding just how foolish a stunt he could pull with the audience. In any case, while it might have been fun for those 288,000 concert-goers, on DVD it's just yawn-inducing.

That's not to say there aren't some excellent pieces here: the middle of the show is reasonably solid. But as an overall viewing/listening experience, it just doesn't hang together very well, making this more of interest to completists than to more casual Genesis fans.

The show runs slightly under two hours, with the play list as follows:

The DVD

Video

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Genesis: Live at Wembley Stadium is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen transfer. The wider scope of the image is more filmlike and does a good job of creating that desirable "you are there" feeling. I can't guarantee that this is the original aspect ratio of the program, but the image composition looks as though it was framed for widescreen; there's no evidence of cropping or zooming, so I think we can all be happy with the aspect ratio here. As for the image quality, it's reasonable for a 1987 concert program, meaning that it's not perfect but it looks very good. The image is a bit soft and lacking in detail, especially in the longer shots, but the close-ups look good, and the print is clean and offers good colors and contrast.

Audio

Three audio choices are offered here. The default is a lackluster, flat-sounding Dolby 2.0 track, but fortunately viewers have the option of a Dolby 5.1 and a DTS 5.1 track as well. There's not much of a difference between the DTS and the Dolby 5.1 tracks; both offer a pleasant listening experience with nicely full sound, and a touch of surround usage. The surround doesn't spread the actual music out much, as both tracks are heavily focused in the front channels, but we do get the audience noise placed appropriately to the sides, creating the impression that the viewer is part of the audience. The DTS track is slightly louder than the Dolby 5.1 track; after compensating for the volume difference, the two sound very similar, with the DTS perhaps offering a bit more richness in the sound.

Extras

The main special feature here is a documentary that was made at the time of the concert. The 16-minute "The Invisible Touch Tour" documentary is a mix of short interview clips with the band members and behind-the-scenes footage of the concert. It will be of moderate interest to Genesis fans.

That's about it for bonus material. The only other special features are a reproduction of the tour program and a photo gallery.

I was only sent the DVD to review, without the case, so I can't say whether or not any insert booklet was included.

Final thoughts

As a casual Genesis fan, I was disappointed in the Live at Wembley Stadium program. While there are a few excellent songs with decent performances, the overall concert is weakened by some less than exciting song choices, and by spending too much time on pointless and dull audience participation. It's probably worth watching, if you're a Genesis fan and you enjoy live performances, but I wouldn't recommend it as a purchase. Rent it.