INVISIBLE TOUCH

One thing I do want to say, however, is that Invisible Touch is not, by any means whatsoever, a progressive rock album. It's a pop/rock affair, with only slight instances here and there of progressive-oriented material. But this is where I'm lost: as a pop album, Invisible Touch is an absolute masterpiece, one of the exemplars of the genre. It's almost like a greatest hits record for the band, containing more than its share of cheesy, bubblegum tracks. Lyrically, it's somewhat prolific (in moments), as well. "Land of Confusion" is one of Mike Rutherford's greatest lyrical achievements (although he ain't Peter Gabriel); songs like "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (despite being a good song on their own terms) have exceedingly poor lyrics, however, which detracts a lot from the album's artistic value. And that's another issue: I'm not ragging on Phil Collins, he's a great musician, but by the mid-'80s, he seemed more concerned with pleasing the unwashed masses than the fans...by the time Abacab was released, Genesis undoubtably lost thousands of hungry listeners. To sum this all up, Invisible Touch is absolutely fantastic as a pop album.

However, as a progressive album (a title which, as I mentioned earlier, doesn't fit it at all), it's a horrendous failure. The few tracks that are reminiscent of the group's past glory ("Domino" comes to mind) are absolute atrocities, and the radio-friendly pop-oriented songs that fill the meat of the album would likely make any prog addict's stomach flip over. In other words, I don't recommend this if you're a King Crimson freak. However, if you're a big fan of new wave and synthpop groups, I think you'd like this record.

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