Genesis Reborn

In the beginning, there was Genesis.

The most successful incarnation of the famed British prog-rock band is getting back together after a 15-year layoff and embarking on a summer 2007 European trek, with an eventual stopover in America.

Singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks and guitarist Mike Rutherford are reuniting for the Turn It On Again tour, which will kick off at Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland on June 11 and make stops in 12 different European countries, including Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Holland and the U.K., before wrapping up with a free concert in front of the Colosseum in Rome on July 14.

U.S. dates are also in the works following the jaunt, which marks the first time the trio have played together as Genesis since 1991's We Can't Dance album and subsequent tour.

"I think we just felt that now was the right time to have a go at it," said the 55-year-old Collins at a press conference announcing the long-rumored reunion.  "If money was an issue, we'd be playing more shows than we are going to play in Europe and America.  But I think we're all loaded enough without having to worry about where the next million or two is coming from."

Before he was known as the solo artist behind numerous songs for Disney animated movies, the bald-pated crooner started out as Genesis' drummer.  Formed in the late 1960s, the group was fronted in the early years by Peter Gabriel, who exited following Genesis' acclaimed 1975 concept album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and its supporting tour.

Collins took over vocal duties and the lineup was down to the current threesome.  The following decade saw the Collins-led prog-rock outfit reach superstar status on the strength of 1986's Invisible Touch album, which spawned five massive hits, "Land of Confusion, "In Too Deep," "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," "Throwing It All Away" and the title track.

The band returned with 1991's We Can't Dance, after which Collins, who had forged a successful career on his own, decided to quit Genesis in 1994.

The other two carried on the band without him, releasing 1998's Calling All Stations, which received only a lukewarm response from fans.

Talk of a reunion surfaced every few years with the release of a new box set, but nothing ever came of it until now.  Banks and Rutherford, both 56, launched successful solo careers in their own right but maintained their friendship with Collins. Based on that comaraderie, the trio decided the time was right to make another go of it, if for no other reason than to reclaim their place in rock and roll history.

"Genesis has a rather more complex side of music to it," said Banks. "One side gets slightly more attention than the other.  We are trying to reacquaint people.  Genesis is not particularly a group that is mentioned very much these days, in the papers I read anyhow, and I just like to remind people we did do a lot of things."

The trio acknowledged that they had talked with Gabriel about reuniting for a live performance and tour of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and he was open, if "sensitive," to the idea.  But  the fact that he is also getting ready to hit the road in support of a new album next year meant that such a production would've been a long way off, so they decided to proceed without him.

"This is just music, us getting together and playing some songs," noted Collins, adding that Gabriel was "a little overcautious to going back to doing something that's basically, fundamentally fun."

The three musicians have already spent two weeks rehearsing in New York for the tour, which will see Collins also get behind the drum kit at various points during a show that will draw on all eras of the band, particularly songs and instrumentals dating back to 1973, delighting hardcore fans of their early sound.

"I used to listen to bits and pieces at home and missed the camaraderie of it," reflected Collins.  "We want to do this for us more than anything else."

To celebrate the occasion of reunion trek, EMI Records has announced it will reissue 14 newly remastered Genesis studio albums during 2007.