INVISIBLE TOUCH

I rate this 80s Genesis album higher than some reviewers have, but below others, because I feel it's a middling effort from one of my erstwhile favourite bands. No, it's not classic Genesis, but neither is it absolute "pop rubbish" or "crap."

As with most of the band's output from the post-Gabriel and Hackett era, there is no overall sound to this recording. There are radio-friendly pop songs ("Invisible Touch," -- yuck! -- "Anything She Does" and "Throwing it all Away" -- which I think is a FINE song in a sad vein; the fact that it's by Genesis perhaps makes many deaf to its strengths), some that strike a middle-ground (the undistinguished "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," and the very good "Land of Confusion"), and two attempts to recapture the old prog sound. It is in this latter category that I think the band has been most successful: for my ears, "The Brazilian" is a strong instrumental that can hold its own with forerunners like "Los Endos" and "Wot Gorilla," while "Domino," with its over ten-minute, two-part structure, is as good a piece of progressive as anything the band did after the departure of P.G. This one must be played loudly, with the lights low. I was fortunate enough to catch a concert from this tour, and let me tell you, "Domino" was one of the absolute standouts of the evening -- perhaps even the highpoint of that memorable show!

Thus, I don't write this album off; I believe that the aforementioned last three tracks are reason enough to add INVISIBLE TOUCH to your Genesis collection.

I propose that we start a petition for a -1 star rating and that this one is the first one to become the rock bottom of all albums reviewed on this site. I think this album is much worse than Abacab but somehow hate this less because I was not expecting anything from Genesis anymore,

Again I am exagerating a bit but this is to drive a point home, because Land Of Confusion and its amusing Spitting Image video did make me smile and I never zapped when I heard it. But the rest is much worse than dreadful although there are some interesting rythmic patterns , and there were many different dance versions of some of these tracks. We have here Genesis reaching the complete pop realm and obviously having turned away completely the progressive page a long time ago , even if they had given us a slight hope with the first side of their previous album.

But really, we are really lower than the Marianna Trench here. Best avoided if you are a prog fan.

3 DESERVED stars. "Is he nuts?!" some whispered. No, not nuts, but realistic. Could these guys survive the 80's by doing all over again Supper's Ready or The Knife? No, and the bands who do it are targets for laughs and yawns. (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, BTO, Sex Pistols, Moody Blues). Wonder why? Maybe because the 80's brouhgt MTV. MTV brought more people into music. More people means more boys but also lots of girls. But girls don't like much prog. 80's Girls liked dancing (and still do). Girls just wanna have fun, right? I'm not possessing the answer but one thing is sure: Genesis had to grow to survive...and progressive rock died with the end of the 70's anyway.Too bad? Not really. It could be seen from far away. Prog is an underground movement loved by college students (at first) just like ambient, acid, drum n' bass or jungle (90's electronic frenzyness). Often, underground stuff is less to have a long life. Doesn't mean it's bad, au contraire. But the market is not made for progressive rock and today, read the papers, people don't want others to know that they love prog (Jack Black for instance). How many people make their family live with an income of underground-du-jour music? Not much or very very few. It's good, because they do what they like and I respect that. But it doesn't mean in any way that Invisible Touch is crappy because it's Pop (even with a capital P). Once again, prog lovers are (too often) stuck in this kind of thinking: "Man, 1975 was the best! Wish it never ended!" Perhaps, but time's passing. And music is marching on too. And what the heck is that 80's bashing's all about? What's wrong here? Okay, this album sounds very 80's, but what's wrong with that? At least the 80's innovated in some ways. Today's just the same over and over again. Hugh Padgham made this album sound very good, even to today's production. If you spit on the 80's, maybe you follow too much what people say? It's hip to laugh at that time. The 80's had good stuff and bad stuff just like every decade, period. And you who nags, do you write music? Do you know how hard it can be to create a good 4 minute song? Well, Collins-Rutherford-Banks did something amazing here. Many catchy songs in one single album. Songs that makes you move. Why not? Prog is so static, cold and technical. It's fun to vary! Yes, the 80's had their share of lame stuff, but so did the 90's and today's stuff is more violent, gory and recycled than ever. In conclusion, Invisible Touch is great in the car or to do chores around the house. Gives pep in your day too. Don't vomit yet or play freesbee with it, just adjust your optic.

Few acts have the good fortune to release an album as popular and pervasive as "Invisible Touch". More than half of these songs ended up on regular radio/MTV rotation (noting, as I write this, that "Land of Confusion" might be the most visually unappealing video I've ever seen). This reached a saturation point for some, who found little distinction between Phil COLLINS' solo music and the work of GENESIS (as ballads like "Throwing It All Away" and "In Too Deep" would have felt at home under either moniker).

At this stage, the band was working from a set formula that included downbeat ballads wrapped in seductive melodies, longer instrumental works that suggested vaguely exotic dreamscapes, and songs with a social conscience. In fact, "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is little more than a mix of "Mama" and "Man of Our Times". If the first side of music runs smoother than a Japanese train (i.e., like a Phil COLLINS record), Tony BANKS exerts his influence on the second side with the two-part "Domino" and the closing instrumental, "The Brazilian". As clever as BANKS can be, his growing interest in percussive and nonmusical sounds (heard on "Land of Confusion") contributes to what can be a dry and brittle-sounding record. With Phil often playing electronic percussion and Mike RUTHEFORD reduced to random bass lines and snippets of guitar, it's on Tony's shoulders to champion the softer side of GENESIS; a challenge he sometimes accepts ("In The Glow of the Night") and sometimes declines ("Invisible Touch").

GENESIS started on this path with "Abacab", and cultivated a new audience in the process, while alienating some old fans. Professionally, the trio was at the top of the mountain, their inevitable descent evidenced on "We Can't Dance" and completed with "Congo". The notion that "Invisible Touch" is product occasionally haunts me, but all records are product in some sense, and any one that makes millions of people happy must be a good thing.

Never the title for an album fitted so well the music it must illustrate. Genesis touches nobody indeed, except cash. But if for obvious reason, we must not consider this one as a progressive album ("Domino" is as fake as "Dodo/Lurker" was), it handles nontheless some pleasant pop songs, and i think about "Throwing It All Away" (no pun intended). And i do enjoy the atmosphere of other songs like "Tonight Tonight Tonight" and even "The Brazilian". Ok, it's true, it's been a while i didn't really make the effort to put the disc on my cd player to listen to it. But those melodies are still in my brain. Somehow. Somewhere.

How could i say that and appreciate in the meantime something like "Musique pour l'Odyssée" from Art Zoyd ? Well... I never said i was rational.

Invisible talent

The title of the seventh track "Throwing it all away" is so appropriate here, since that's exactly what Genesis were doing. While the music they were making by this time was unquestionably popular, the band appearing to have had the ability to create hit singles at will, all the credibility the band had worked so hard to acquire was being unceremoniously abandoned.

The title track is not for me at all, it might have been OK performed by Collins & Bailey ("Easy lover"), but as a Genesis track it's entirely inappropriate, bordering on the sacrilegious. The dance beat and banal lyrics would have been laughed out of the studio just a few years previously.

Of the two longer tracks "Tonight, tonight, tonight" is pleasant, but it's little more than an extended 3 minute song with little in the way of development beyond the basic form. "Domino" comes across as the best track, but even then, it does not stand up well against other Genesis pieces of this length. The track still has a very pop orientated basis, both lyrically and musically.

The only other track worthy of mention is "The Brazilian", which is very much in the "Los Endos", and "Duke's travels" mode, but falling someway short of their standard.

In all, a very disappointing album which signified once again that the days of Genesis as a credible prog rock band were seemingly well behind them, (or were they.?).

As much as I supported my taste toward Genesis being more commercial sounding I have always battled to love this album. I love all the others but this I just like. It just does not warm to me. Tonight, Tonight and Anything She Does along with Domino probably the best tracks but for me The Brazillian is one of Bank's weakest moments.Sure a commercial monster but for me the least pleasing.

Their worst, without a doubt. Why? Because of its commerciality? No, not specifically. The previous three albums had been fairly commercial but still had the Genesis trademarks. You could still hear that some thought had gone into the songwriting. Invisible Touch is abysmal by Genesis standards. Everything from the cheap packaging to the poppy pop production, confirm that Banks, Collins & Rutherford had finally lost it. This is essentially a Phil Collins album riddled with silly love songs, drum machines and predictable brass sections, most natably on 'Anything she does' This horrendous piece of music makes 'No reply at all' from the 'Abacab' album look like 'Suppers Ready' The title song is perhaps the most bland piece of music I have ever known a 'rock' musician to put their name to. A predictable chord sequence, inane lyrics and a crap unimaginative chorus. The 'epic' on IT has to be 'Domino' This is the intellectual prog blockbuster on the album. In two deeply meaningful parts, the trio attempt to apologise to all those fans who have enjoyed the music of Genesis over the years, stuck by them, and kept them in the lifestyles they enjoy, by offering up this token obituary to their prog roots. With open arms Genesis welcomed a new generation of fans and stuck their fingers up at their old ones. IT is one of those albums that could have been played at a wedding reception at the time, and your granny would have known the words to 'Throwing it all away' perhaps the most apply titled track on the album. This is sorry album, and I was embarassed for some time after its release to admit being a die hard fan. I felt let down. I'ts hard to find anything good to say about this album. I suppose 'Tonight tonight tonight' has its moments, but is essentially boring and over long for the sake of it. Rubbish.

This album is much, much better than their 1983 "Genesis" album. Even if this album has a lot of electronic drums, which I don`t like very much, it has some good songs. But it is mainly a Pop album, with songs composed by all members of GENESIS, not only by Phil Collins, who is the favourite "scapegoat" of old fans as the reason because GENESIS changed "prog" by "pop". The song "Invisible Touch" is very good. "Tonight..." is almost "prog", but with electronic drums. "Land of Confusion" is pop with "serious" lyrics, and a very good video clip. "In too deep" is a mellow ballad, with a mellow video too (this song also appeared in the British movie "Mona Lisa"). "Anyhing she does" has interesting drums. "Domino" is the most "prog" song, but the sound of the electronic drums is not very interesting for me. "Throwing it all away" is a good ballad, with a good guitar riff by Rutherford. The instrumental "The Brazilian" is not very good, in my opinion, as it`s boring.

Edited 10/7/2005!

From the poor cover art alone it's quite obvious that this was a commercial Pop Rock album by them. The times that the musical ideas have been brought in by Steve Hackett had been definitely gone by then. Some reviewer said "DOMINO" is still the best track. In fact I have to admit it's a rather good Pop Rock song but the fact that it has a ten minutes clocking doesn't make it more progressive than the rest. "LAND OF CONFUSION" is great somehow and became famous as well for a good reason. Although being mere Pop Rock, this song is at least well done, I have to admit. IMHO the album has its best moment at the end, I mean not in this sense that it's great when it's finally finished, no I mean the last track "THE BRAZILIAN", in my impression they are TRYING to sound a bit more like in the old days with this one, but it's really just a weak trial. I'm a big fan of this band but sorry to say but everything what came after WIND AND WUTHERING and the live album SECONDS OUT (with Hackett and Bill Bruford on drums) is almost not worth mentioning in terms of Progressive Rock. They were still quite fine after Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins took over the lead vocals (nothing against his voice,he's a great pop singer, but even a much greater drummer), but the demise of Steve Hackett as the inspiring mastermind was too much for the band. And it's quite obvious that none of the remaining members was able (or willing due to commercial demands) to bring in a similar input. So that's how a great Prog Rock band became a rather successful Pop Rock band. Having one ear closed I can still rate this one with 2 stars!

It's hard for a Genesis fan to rate this kind of albums and be forced to place a 0 or 1 star rating besides the name of our favorite band, but we also must know that this band of three guys more worried for the big bucks than for real art is not the Genesis we know and love.

From the start the album is less than mediocre the title track is not rock or even good pop, it's a caricature of what Genesis was one day, simple chords, foolish lyrics and the terrible voice of Phil Collins to complete the crime.

Tonight Tonight Tonight is a track that Phil Collins should have kept for his solo albums, but included in this album because of the greed of the other two members, a soft and boring ballad that has no place in Genesis discography.

Land of Confusion is another poppy track heavily supported by MTV and local radio stations that was created only to make the band more popular and easy to listen by pre teens who bought this album massively when released.

In too Deep and Anything She Does are only fillers so don't even deserve a word.

Now we come to the track that was supposed to be the Piece of Resistance, Domino, but this song proves that not all 10 minute songs are epics, Domino is a hybrid, too long and complex to be pop and to absurd and lack of quality to be considered progressive. I think this track was a waste of time for the band because it wouldn't help Genesis to recover all progressive fans or help them to convince POP fans, absolutely unnecessary.

Throwing it all Away is the correct name for this waste of time because by this point all I wanted is to use the album as a Frisbee (But it was a gift from my sister and I didn't had the heart to throw it, so is kept in my drawer with only one listen for her to see it each time she comes to my house). This is the kind of tracks that gave Genesis a bad name among serious listeners, radio friendly, absurd and boring, simply what Genesis represented since Steve Hackett left the band.

The album ends with one decent track The Brazilian, not in the level of other closers as Los Endos or Wot Gorilla, but this very decent song deserved better destiny than being the closer of this aberration called Invisible Touch.

Drum machines, terrible vocal, boring ballads and a few dancing songs is what this monstrosity leaves us, that's why I was tempted to give Invisible Touch a no stars rating, but I believe The Brazilian at least deserves one weak star.

If you already have it, well you know why you bought it, there is music for every taste, but if you're a fan of early Genesis, save your money and buy any decent legal bootleg or film if you have all the progressive albums.

At this point, Genesis were tossing microscopic scraps of greatness at their old fans while the larger mainstream Top 40 audience fell down in supplication to their rigid, antiseptic pop material. Only a demented serial killer can love this album (see Bret Easton Ellis' 'American Psycho'). So.to the abattoir.

The first thing that greets us on this album is a thin, digitized recording job, everything sanitized and tidy. The drums sound like programmed machines rather than skin-and- wood, the guitar/bass tones are feeble, and Tony Banks' once majestic layers are reduced to shiny, happy pitter-patter. I'm not one of the conspiracy theorists who feel Phil Collins' solo career ruined Genesis. No one put a gun to the heads of Rutherford and Banks. I believe their evolution into a radio-ready pop band was natural. It couldn't even have been money-motivated, as they all had plenty to go around by this time. But that doesn't mean we have to like it.

Songs like "Invisible Touch", "In Too Deep", "Anything She Does" and "Throwing It All Away" are crud. Appealing to the lowest-common-denominator Top 40 listener, these tracks are completely inane slices of pop, up there with the worst of the Phil Collins solo catalog. While nearly 9 minutes, "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is dreary and too long. There are layers to sink into, but that's only because there's not much of substance to hang onto elsewhere. It seems like they were going for an "In The Air Tonight" vibe, which would've been great, but it comes off flat and stale. Similar problem with album epic "Domino", the first part ("In The Glow Of The Night") giving a few moments of drama and tension, with some beautiful melodies peaking out of the sterile production. Unfortunately the song's climax ("The Last Domino") takes the first half down a few notches, with a too-bright contrast to the somewhat brooding beginning. "Land Of Confusion" has some poignant lyrics, and the song itself is quite good, but like any of the decent scraps on this album, it's hard to listen too due to the squeaky-clean production. Final track "The Brazilian" is a moody instrumental piece. It doesn't flail and challenge like some of their best instrumentals, but it does set a nice tone that ends the album on a relatively high note. Unfortunately there's precious little enjoyment in the songs that come before it. Only for the completist, indeed.

GENESIS disaster continues...!

Some of you wander why to bother with reviewing bad albums. Well, it is not an easy task but somebody has to do it (:-), otherwise we would have only very subjective 5 stars hails and praises of really mediocre staff.

With "Invisible Touch" GENESIS made hit again and were more popular than ever. Sure, now they were mega-stars and earned a lot of money and became celebrity. That's OK, after all it is all part of the show business. However, I am not interested in judging the business undertakings of music artists, but rather their artistic musical output, their courage to experiment, their ideas and how well they communicate certain emotions.

Being "commercial" does not necessarily exclude quality. The same year, 1986, Peter Gabriel recorded a well-crafted pop album "So" with loads of hits, synthesizers, funky rhythms and modern production, but in a way he remained faithful to his own artistic integrity. It was a commercial and it was a good pop album (or "art-rock" if you want). On the other hand, "Invisible Touch" is nothing short of a disposable single-use industrial product that evaporates quickly after opening the protective cellophane package. I even would not remember a song called "Land of Confusion", with its quasi-engaged "Cold War conscience" lyrics, had it not been incorporated in the jolly Spitting Image video spot.

This is the saddest story of once beloved "progressive" rock band, which offered us a blueprint of the genre. If only they changed the name after Hackett left in 1977...

Horrific. By this point, Genesis were little more than a tool of Atlantic Records, a product to sell beer or whatever other products they could market them out to.

Depressingly, the highlight of this disc is the mediocre instrumental "The Brazilian", which most closely resembles the appalling "Second Home By The Sea". Hugh Padgham's mega-80's production, with clinky digital synthesizers and overloud "gated" drums pulverizes any life from the music.

Not that there was any life in these tunes to begin with. "Tonight Tonight Tonight" is not so much an prog number as an interminable extended dance remix of a lame three-minute pop tune. And "Domino" is the ultimate canard, two of the band's tunes that weren't seen as good enough to make it as singles by the suits, fused together as a "suite" and tossed to their old fan base like a bone. I'd expect that kind of thing from the likes of Uriah Heep, but from Genesis I'm totally not buying it.

There's not any point in me even mentioning any of the other songs here. If you have any sort of memory of the 80's, you'll have had these songs hammered into you like a litany. All of them are more memorable for their music videos than for their content. Typical 80's trash. The music is the last thing to be considered.

Invisible Touch is probably one of the worst Genesis records ever released, possibly as bad as Calling All Stations. When albums get down to this pop mushfest, it really is pointless comparing them. Even though I dread this album, particularly the ever-present electronic drums, it has a few moments that keep it from being a one-star release. I'll give Phil a break. He can drum on them futuristic pads pretty well, but the sound is headache inducing.

The best stuff on this album is the Domino epic, particularly the second part. It shows a darker side to Genesis not often heard since Gabriel's departure. The Brazilian is an interesting instrumental too, but again, those electronic drums just ruin it. This album would have been so much better if Phil had used real drums. I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt for Tonight, Tonight, Tonight. The ever-repetitive chorus and oh-hooooos drag the song down, but the dark instrumentation is brilliant.

Oddly enough, there was actually better stuff the boys recorded while making this album that didn't make the cut, such as Feeding the Fire. But alas, the boys must've had stars in their eyes and hearing the ka-ching of cash registers in their ears.

An album that was mostly poor when it was released, and hasn't aged well. Two stars. For fans and completionists.

You know that commercial that shows the egg frying in a pan and the voice over says "this is your brain on drugs?" Well, "this is your band on MTV." What tiny shards of progressive rock they may have still had at this point are buried in the close-but-no-cigar song "Domino" but it pales (in a death mask) in comparison to what they were creating a decade earlier. In all fairness, the pop songs on here are actually an improvement over the ghastly "Genesis" fiasco that preceded this offering in that they actually sound like real tunes. "In too deep," "Tonight, tonight" and "Throwing it all away" are well-crafted elevator muzak love songs suitable for contemporary adult radio for all eternity to come. I'll give 'em that much. But the highly annoying "Land of Confusion" should be banned from the planet and "Invisible Touch" would be effective as a torture technique to break Al Queda suspects by forcing them to listen to it on a loop for a couple of hours. Evidently the lure of being rock video stars was just too much for this trio to resist and they found it easier to pay the mortgage on their country estates with royalty checks than to continue to blaze trails into unknown progressive music forests. Perhaps they came to a point where they said "been there, done that" and took the road paved with gold records. I won't stoop to judging them (considering the incredible legacy they've left us in their earlier recordings) but I will venture to say that this album is equivalent to watching (and hearing) a stately castle falling into the ocean from decay.

Genesis seemed to have found their proverbial feet after their self-titled album was released in 1983. Sure it was nothing like Selling England by the Pound, but they were breaking ground on the pop scene with a fresh, crisp, modern approach to pop music and it was refreshing to hear the ideas flow nicely rather than a bit disjointed like Abacab or even the self-titled album. Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, and Phil Collins also stuck commercial gold on this album and it is looked at by pop fans as the seminal 80s Genesis album because of its commercial flare. This album is definitely not progressive, although there are hints of Genesis still carrying a progressive banner in songs like Domino and to a lesser extent Tonight, Tonight, Tonight. If you're a fan of of Genesis post-Hackett era I'll recommend this album to you, sure it may not be perfect (not even close) but there are some redeeming factors that make this a worthwhile listen.

Opening with the smash hit Invisible Touch (complete with a ridiculous music video), you can't deny that Genesis has embraced modern technology for the use of pop music. The electronic drumming and the extensive use of reverb can be heard in great quantities. Mike Rutherford has a more subdued bass role and focuses more on the guitar aspects of the album and Tony Banks tries to not always hog the spotlight which shows he's been subdued a bit. It's a blatantly commercial song, but it's got a catchy edge to it and it's not really that bad in the end. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight is the first of two extended pieces, this one running at nearly 9 minutes. Beginning with forboding synthesizers and almost tribal drumming and Collins' insistent vocal performance. An extended middle section makes good use of Banks mysterious synthesizer sound and although it drags on a bit, it's still pretty good. Rutherford even gets a short solo towards the end, which is nice to hear. Land of Confusion is an okay song at best, there isn't really anything about that that wows me, it's uninteresting to say the least. In too Deep is another lackluster track that feels like soft rock and it's one of my least favorite pieces on the album. Bland keyboards, bland drumming, bland vocals, bland everything.

Anything She Does is another mediocre piece at best. The fake horn arrangement and the cheesy synthesizers match up with the tight rhythmic performance from Collins and Rutherford quite nicely. It's a terribly upbeat piece and it's another piece that while not that bad, I could do without (it sounds like it could have fit on Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe's sole album, as well). Domino is the epic on the album, going at a little over 10 minutes. Banks' synthesizers and keyboards, while sometimes feeling overblown and overdone sound nice and Mike Rutherford is really good on this track in both guitar and bass aspects. There is a fantastic middle section to the piece that utilizes a lot of differing moods to create a tense and mysterious atmosphere. This is easily the best piece of the album along with the closer The Brazilian, just fantastic work on all fronts here. Throwing it All Away is another particularly weak piece that doesn't really go anywhere and throws the mood of the album off after the stellar Domino. The Brazilian ends the album with an instrumental much like Los Endos ended A Trick of the Tail instrumentally. Banks' majestic and superb synthesizers mix well with Collins' drumming and the superb bass performance from Mike Rutherford. Ir's the second best song on the album in my opinion and ends the album quite well.

In the end, Invisible Touch in my opinion is really as bad as everyone says. Sure it has its sore spots and there some terribly mediocre pieces, but there are also some great songs like Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, Domino, and The Brazilian to make up for it. Recommended to those that think that Collins did not ruin Genesis or those who want to get into 80s Genesis. Me? Well, I'm in the middle. 3/5.

Invisible Touch is where Genesis proved that they weren't coming back to prog. Duke, Abacab, and the eponymous record all fooled people into believing there was hope. Apparently, the band believed that longer songs would convince people they were still progressive, but even the long numbers like Tonight, Tonight, Tonight and Domino are not progressive in the least, they are simply repetitive. As a result, pop fans avoided the lengthy songs and Genesis' fan base jumped ship. I first heard about Genesis when a friend of mine gave me this, Abacab, We Can't Dance, and Seconds Out. I didn't listen to Seconds Out since as a live album, it would probably contain the songs off these albums, and all three were horrible. I couldn't believe this band was supposed to be progressive. I only discovered how good this band was about 5 months ago when I listened to Seconds Out and heard Suppers Ready. Now, I've heard Selling England By The Pound and the rest of their classics and I've come to love this band.

With this album Genesis seem to be actively trying to destroy their credibility. It makes ELP's Love Beach and Yes' Big Generator look almost passable. Albums like this prove that punk was unnessecary to end dinosaur rock, it was collapsing form its own weight like a beached whale. Whatever you do, avoid this album! Stick to the albums from Trespass through Wind and Wuthering.

This CD is from the same caliber of its predecessor three years before : not bad but definitely not great. Therefore, the same rating : 2 stars. The poppy opener and title track is pleasant (but might be quite disturbing for old fans). Next song "Tonight ..." is quite long, toooooooooo long. it could have been cut after 4 minutes. It lacks in harmony and feeling (like "Home by the Sea"). "Land of Confusion" is an OK poppy track but "Anything She Does" is really bad and quite dispensable. "Domino" - the longest track - is the best song of this CD : it has melody, rythm changes and a nice middle section. One of the (too) few track since ages that could remind me of the "old" era. "In Too Deep" and "Throwing It All Away" are nice and romantic ballads. An instrumental piece closes the CD : but "The Brazilian" is nothing comparable to "Los Endos" or even "Duke's End". Globally, this CD is not really necessary in your discography. But I guess that, as myself, lots of fans did purchase it to complete their Genesis catalogue. It will be their most succesful album in terms of sales. For the fourth time in a row, Genesis will hit the number one spot in the UK chart. It will reach Nr. three in the US. What is even more impressive is the quantity of singles they will issue from this album : seven ! The most sucessful one will be "Invisible Touch / The Last Domino : Nr. 1 in the US. Generally, all of them will perform very well in the US : Throwing It All Away/Do The Neurotic (Nr. 4), Land Of Confusion/Fedding The Fire (Nr. 4), Tonight Tonight Tonight/In The Glow Of The Nnight (Nr. 3), In Too Deep/I'd Rather Be With You (Nr. 3). If the last two didn't chart in the States, it is because they were only released in the UK (the only difference being the B-side) : In Too Deep/Do The Neurotic (Nr. 19) and "Throwing It All Away/I'd Rather Be With You (Nr. 22). Still two stars for me.

Another maligned album from the pop era, Invisible Touch has a lot to offer: catchy pop songs and a couple of great prog tracks. It is another solid and underrated release by GENESIS.

It opens with the "happy" title track, which is too happy for my taste since it is about someone getting in love. It works very well to scare off people with its pop cliches all around, but manages to be an addictive song despite its obvious simplicity and commercial intent. We are then led to "Tonight Tonight Tonight", an attempt of making a progressive number which works pretty well. It is highly atmospheric as "Domino", and both are the highest points on this album, containing very interesting and mesmerizing melodies. "Land Of Confusion" is the best pop song GENESIS ever did, it has a weird video clip and some really nice lyrics by Rutherford. "In Too Deep" and "Throwing It All Away" are beautiful ballads. "Anything She Does" is in the same vein as "No Reply At All", just being slightly weaker, and it is the album's lowest point. "The Brazilian" looks like an 80's version of "Los Endos", and despite its mechanical feel provided by the cold decade's production, it is still a very nice ending since it manages to holds someone's attention as it is a true progressive number.

Invisible Touch is a very good album, with a nice flow and shows a perfect combination of prog and pop, and some really nice atmospheres around. It has to be listened with an open mind, not all pop stuff is bad, and GENESIS' shows how to do good use of the 80's new style of composing music.

This is the worst GENESIS album I have ever heard ! I can't believe I actually bought this cd some years ago. Well this offended me so much that I still haven't heard "We Can't Dance" or "Calling All Stations" and I don't plan on it either.Years ago I saw Phil being interviewed and saying that because of the change in direction (Pop) by the band, there were probably people out there who have an effigy of him and are poking it with needles. Anyway, as he's laughing i'm thinking "Your not too far off Phil" (haha). I listened to this today in order to review it and yes it's worse then I remember. I feel there is nothing for the prog fan at all, unless you count the guitar and percussion on "The Brazilian".

This is a poor album by prog standards and would recommend it for completionists only, the rest of you...run like hell!

I can see that this album probably deserves no more than 2 stars on a "Prog-rock scale", but if you would just rate it for the (pop)music itself I guess it would be worthy 3 stars minimum.

There's probably two kind of "Genesis" fans. First you have the ones who got to know Genesis from the start in the PG-era and of course they didn't like to see Genesis turning into a commercial vehicle with songs rating high in the pop charts. Then you also have the "other kind" of people, who got to know Genesis during the eighties (like myself) and at the time found albums like Genesis , Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance quite amusing. I actually owned those albums before I got into Prog after which, of course, I also bought their older albums.

After getting to know "the old" Genesis, I can see why the albums mentioned above are rated very low on PA. Nevertheless I personally think all of the tracks on Invisible Touch are pretty good pop songs. I must admit I almost do not listen to this album anymore from the moment I got into Prog, still I would rate it quite a bit higher than most of my colleague reviewers.

I've meaning to write a review for Invisible Touch for quite a long time but gave up the idea too many times; actually writing a review for this album is quite difficult, as strange as this may sound. If you compare their work on this album to any album they released from 1970 to 1980, disappointment is what i feel; that's why i take this album for what it has to offer. The songs rank from great to average and unfortunately in one case (IMHO) to mediocre.

But let's have a look at the songs: Invisible Touch - a pop song that is quite catchy and joyful; I sometimes love it , other times, i just skip it. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - one of the good songs of the album; both the album version and the single version are quite enjoyable, Banks and Rutherford did a good job here. Land of Confusion - my favourite song on the album these days; one of my favourite 80s Genesis songs, LoC is one of the best songs of the album. In Too Deep - to me this song is just an average pop ballad; nevertheless I like Tony Banks' keyboards here. Anything She Does - a pop song, in the manner of the title song, but not as good as it. I'd say it's a pretty average pop song. Throwing it All away - my least favourite song on this album these days; the word i would use to describe this song is "mediocre" pop song. Domino - this is the longest song of the album, let's say it's the epic of the album. It's a very good song, in the manner of Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea, it's one of the highlights of the album (although it's inferior to Home By the Sea) The Brazilian - fortunately, a really good instrumental with great keys from tony and some good drumming from Phil. A really good song IMHO.

Invisible Touch is one of those albums that require a special mood for those who enjoy it. Although sometimes we might use the "skip" button (Throwing It All Away, Anything She Does in my case), and seeing Genesis music getting even more commercial than their previous albums, Invisible Touch is a catchy pop-rock album, but unfortunately that's all it is. Therefore it's not essential to any prog-rock collection.

This album is a splendid return to form after the weak 'Abacab' and the slightly stronger 'Genesis' albums.

Now, you'll read a great deal of opinion on this and other review sites suggesting that there is no progressive music on this album, that it consists entirely of commercial pop, and that it might as well be a PHIL COLLINS solo album. Wrong, in my opinion, on all three counts.

'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,' 'Land of Confusion', 'The Brazilian' and 'Domino' are as progressive as anything done in the 1980s. There is nothing like these tracks on any of PHIL'S solo recordings. The other tracks - apart from the appalling 'Invisible Touch' - are decent pop songs. There are no fillers here, just one bad, three good and four excellent tracks. I'll take seven out of eight anyday. It seems to be an acceptable ratio for lovers of 'Selling England By The Pound', for example.

PHIL COLLINS is the star of this album: his voice, already outstanding, achieves new levels of excellence. Of course, it also acheived new levels of overexposure on rapid rotation radio, so thousands of people eventually equated his voice with fingernails on a chalk board. That's a tragedy, and why I don't listen to high rotation radio stations. As an aside, in the pre-recorded music era, the most number of times a person wold hear their favourite music played in their life would be between five and eight times. Songs weren't intended to be overplayed. Don't ruin music for yourself - exercise temperance!

Rather than the nadir of GENESIS' catalogue that so many consider, I argue that this is an excellent album. Just a pity it opens with such a poor track.

If you think things went downhill with the group's 1983 self-titled release, their 1986 album Invisible Touch proved that Genesis had much further to fall. Most likely the band was enjoying their belated pop stardom and indeed it would seem that their audience had shifted. Thus they apparently made this album for them and only briefly paid tribute to their old die-hard fans with Domino and maybe Tonight, Tonight, Tonight. Die-hard fans were most likely insulted as can be seen with the vast number of one-star reviews here at Prog Archives.

Basically, Invisible Touch is full of pop songs. They even took Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (a tribute to electronic drums no doubt) and made it into a shorter single. Domino is the only song closely resembling prog rock, although it is more of a "prog tendencies" kind of thing rather than actual prog rock. In fact the second part of this two-part suite is quite dark, musically and lyrically with references to "blood on the windows" and a "river of blood." Another point worth making is that this song is also full of electronic drums. If they get on your nerves, it's best to avoid this release.

This is quite a poor release. If you can get it for free, it might be worth the time just for the Domino suite. Otherwise, this is a good candidate for the trash can. By the way Mr. Collins, where are all those fans that loved this stuff now?

Twelve years earlier these guys released a double album called "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." How did things go so wrong?

I guess the short answer is thatt Genesis learned what the public wanted. Three and a half minute well crafted pop songs. They've learned to do that so well that they can't break the mould anymore even when they TRY to on Domino.

So why should we, the faithful progressive rock fans, listen to this album? What is there on it for us?

Frankly, not much. Invisible Touch and Land of Confusion are both exceptional pop songs, so I suppose we can listen to them for a change of pace. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight does at least build to a conclusion, albeit not one that is worth spending eight minutes of my life waiting for. Domino is perhaps the most lifeless and unimaginative attempt at an epic that I've ever heard. That can't really be Tony Banks playing that limp keyboard line, can it? Listen to this thing for a few minutes and you'll start thinking of all the things that could be done to improve it. Say what you want about ABACAB, ABACAB at least had a touch of heart and imagination in it.

So do we give this one star or two stars? Given that there are some well crafted songs on here and that there is hardly anything that is unlistenable, we'll go with two stars. But oh, how far we have fallen from the days of The Lamb.

The 80s did a lot of weird things to prog.

Getting through the 80s was going to be tough for any prog band, as a decade where the word "Progressive" was more dirty than many of the pop stars we have around today. Anyways, emerging from the gaggle of music comes Genesis, but not the band we so dearly know and love. It would appear that even Genesis had to revert to pop to make it through the times.

Now, I'll state right here that the album is not all bad... if you're looking for pop/rock music that is... The pop-rock hit Land Of Confusion was the big buying point for me, and continues to be the main reason I ever listen to the album, while the 10-minute Domino is a fairly good 80s epic that proves that the band maybe still wanted to be progressive, it's unfortunate that the track itself doesn't work out quite as well as even earlier long 80s songs such as Me and Sarah Jane. Tonight Tonight Tonight is also slightly worth mentioning, as it's synth soundscapes give it a fairly malevolent sound. Another good track is the coda, The Brazilian is a very enjoyable instrumental, so I think it's worth giving a shout out to.

Now comes the rest. All the other singles off the album; the poppy Invisible Touch, the oh so unbearable In Too Deep, and the irritating Throwing It All Away, are what give the album such a bad name. Next stop - Disney for Mr. Collins. My dislike of the tracks listed here is not out of pure bias, either. I gave this album a few chances and really didn't find much real prog substance in it. In fact, I'm more likely to hear most of these songs on the speakers in Walmart than I am to see them on a "Best of Prog" compilation.

To conclude, like I said, the 80s was a monster that did a lot of weird things to music, and it's too bad that this band was mutated in it's wake.1 star for this album - only buy it if you want to listen to 80s synth pop or if you're a fan and must have every single album by Genesis. Avoid at all costs.

After Genesis released their self-titled album in 1983, I became an avid Genesis fan, and by the time they released Invisible Touch in 1986, I owned every album Genesis had made up to that point. Further, by that point I was deeply immersed in the progressive rock genre. My expectations were high that maybe there would be a return to their previous heights, or at the very least a continuation of where the band left off at the end of side 1 of their self-titled album. Sadly, I would be disappointed. Although only 8 songs appeared on the album, 11 songs were actually produced during the Invisible Touch sessions. For reasons which will become clear later, I can't really review the album, without at least briefly touching on the 3 additional tracks which were left off the album, and relegated to the fate of being a b-side. But first on to the album proper (or improper as the case may be):

Invisible Touch - This song has one truly redeeming quality about it. It is mercifully brief. Phil's chants of "she seems to have an inveesible touch, yeah" drove me to fits of despair upon first hearing it. The song is pure pop, but not the intelligent, fun pop the band had done previously with songs such as "That's All" and "Turn It On Again." This was pure drivel. Simplistic music, and trite lyrics.

Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Much better. Phil's lyric regarding addiction is fairly decent and the music is entertaining enough. However, on every album, the band always included a "jam" song. This song, since there are no others on the album to fit the bill, must be it. The song starts off with a simple drum machine pattern and some minimalistic keyboards. This is fine during the song proper and fits the atmosphere of the song. But when they take off into the "jam" portion of the song, they never really do "take off." And you get the sense that they just extended the song out to 9 minutes, just for the sake of putting a lengthy instrumental on the album. Sadly, the instrumental section is not very inspired and although it's a decent enough song overall, it is also a disappointing song, because you know Genesis is capable of so much more.

Land of Confusion - Mike's political protest song. It's a lot more inspired than the title track and has a good guitar riff going with some fairly decent lyrics. But it's not a song that stands up to multiple listens. After hearing the song a few times, one soon finds themselves getting bored during this song, taking a restroom break, or grabbing a beer while the song is playing. Tony's Feeding the Fire was a much better protest song, and it's a shame it was not included on the album.

In Too Deep - Funny enough, the first line of the chorus to this song "You know I love you but I just can't take this" was a perfect summary of how I felt about Genesis after hearing this song. A cheesy piano ballad with whiny lyrics about losing a love. How original. Come on boys, you can do better than this.

Anything She Does - Ok. A decent song finally with some amusing lyrics from Banks about falling in love with a poster girl. The one saving grace on this album was Banks and he more than made up for the trite lyrics on Silver Rainbow on their previous effort. The song also has a rather rocking "horn" section going on, and although short, it is also a rather complex tune.

Domino - Ah, finally, a true Genesis classic, and the one song that really saves this CD from becoming a beer coaster. It's an extended piece at over 10 minutes, and Banks resurrects the idea behind Stagnation, for the lyrics to this song, i.e. the last man alive on Earth after a nuclear war. No extended instrumental section here, but the lyrics here are really the star of the show. This song, coupled with Anything She Does and Feeding the Fire restored my faith in Banks as a lyricist. The song starts off slowly, but picks up the pace halfway through to become a manic musical statement which reflects the madness and despair of the main character.

Throwing It All Away - One wished Genesis had thrown this song away in favor of something worthy of the Genesis name. A simple guitar riff over more whiny lyrics about lost love.

The Brazilian - Much better, and save Domino, the best on the album. A quirky instrumental mostly composed by Banks, using loops of Phil's drumming to make it sound nice and strange. The "chorus" here is particularly appealing. The one thing about this song though is that it sounds fairly similar to the two instrumentals on Banks' solo outing, the Fugitive. But this sounds better than the other two, IMO.

As I said at the beginning, I can't really talk about this album without mentioning the three B-Sides which were left off the album in favor of such tracks as "Throwing It All Away," "In Too Deep," and the title track. The three songs left off were far superior to these three tracks, and along with "Domino" and "The Brazilian" were part of the five best tracks from the sessions. "Feeding the Fire" is Banks' answer to "Land of Confusion" and is a much more compelling song and unlike Rutherford's tune, this one stands up to repeated listens. "I'd Rather Be You" sports a cynical Collins lyric over an old style rock n' roll backing. Lyrics such as "I'd rather be you than me, up there looking down, tell me what do you see" sure beats the. out of "she seems to have an inveesible touch yeah." Finally, there is "Do the Neurotic" which is an extended "jam" song, this time with no lyrics. But the music is so great, lyrics are not needed and would only hamper enjoyment of the song. The only reason that I can imagine for leaving these three superior songs off in favor of three rather awful songs, is that Genesis were hoping to turn Invisible Touch into some visible cash. They did succeed at that at least.

2 stars, but had they replaced the three awful songs with the three b-sides, we would be talking about a 3 1/2-4 star album. If you get this album, get it for Domino and The Brazilian. Otherwise, there are three tolerable/decent songs, and three terrible songs.

Well, this is my least favorite album of their ´pop´phase. It does have some nice songs, but it lacks what always had in their earlier (and latter) releases, a remarkable tune. If Genesis had Home By The Sea, and We Can´t Dance had No Son Of Mine, this one has something close, but not quite ther in Domino. Maybe that´s the reason I never owned this album, even thouth it does have a mention to my country (The Brazilian).

As a pop album this an excellent efford, nevertheless. In Too Deep, for instance, is a beautiful ballad, maybe one of Genesis best. The musicians, as always are great, the production is one of the best and the arrangements are fine.

As a prog album, in a prog site, though, this CD is far from essential. Invisible Touch is only for completionists and pop rock fans. Good, indeed, but nothing more than that. And even at their most commercial, they did better CDs.

In too deep (into the 80's)

The 80's was a weak period for Genesis which is generally agreed by fans of progressive Rock. While Abacab is the worst album they ever did, Invisible Touch offers some competition for that position! However, there are some good songs here too, one of which is at least semi-progressive. I'm thinking, of course, of the 10 minute plus, two-part Domino. This song was played on all tours following the release of this album, is understandably a live favourite. It is not as good as the similarly structured Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea from the previous album, but if you like that one you should like Domino. I know I do! I do, however, prefer live recordings of these songs. The live concert DVD Live At Wembley, that was recorded on the tour in support of Invisible Touch, features all but one of this album's tracks and all of these songs sound better live than in their studio versions. So, if you are choosing between buying the studio album or buying this DVD, I would definitely go for the DVD.

The title track from the Invisible Touch album is possibly Genesis' worst song ever (but even that song sounds slightly better live than on the studio album). Tonight, Tonight, Tonight is a decent song in the same style as Mama. Land Of Confusion is a good song that can be said to be this albums' Abacab, bouncy and catchy. In Too Deep, on the other hand, is a sugary ballad that would fit better on a Phil Collins solo album. Anything She Does is a throwaway; a completely useless Pop song. Throwing It All Away is also not very good and would also fit better on a Phil Collins solo album. The album ends with an instrumental called The Brazilian. It is a nice display of Tony Banks 80's technology.

Invisible Touch is one of Genesis least good albums, approach with caution

Invisible Touch looks like a solo album by Phil Collins,not Genesis album.There is concentration on the vocals and all the instruments are only background.It's not a band I think.The only exception is The Brazilian - a great song I remember from my childhood.This song remind us that the band still remember what progressive rock really is!The other songs are not bad,but they are just pop music and I can't listen to them ordinary.For me 2 stars.

"Invisible Touch" is the 13th full-length studio album by UK pop/rock act Genesis. The album was released through Charisma/Virgin Records in the UK and through Atlantic Records in The United States in June 1986. After finishing the tour supporting their 12th full-length studio album, the eponymously titled "Genesis (1983)", the band opted to take a break in band activities and work on their solo projects. Most of 1984 and 1985 went by doing that, but the three members of Genesis met again in October 1985 and starting working with producer Hugh Padgham on new material. As the case was on the predecessor the material was written as a collaborative effort by all three members, as opposed to how many of the earlier releases by the band were composed, with various members bringing their own parts or whole songs to the recording sessions.

Genesis had enjoyed great commercial success in the early to mid-1980s, but "Invisible Touch" took them even closer to the stars, selling in multi-platinum numbers (back when a platinum album symbolized 1 million sold copies). It´s the band´s most commercially successful release and spawned no less than five hit singles, including the title track which reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Top 100 Chart.

"Invisible Touch" is Genesis most accessible and mainstream oriented release, and it´s easy to understand its appeal, even to those who weren´t already fans of the band. Tracks like the title track, "Land of Confusion", and "Throwing It All Away", are instantly catchy pop/rock songs and very well written ones too. "Invisible Touch" is more than "just" a pop album featuring a couple of hit songs, and the intricate 8:50 minutes long "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is a good example of how sophisticated and detail oriented Genesis are when they compose their music. The 10:41 minutes long "Domino" and the closing instrumental "The Brazilian", are the two other most obvious examples of the band not being satisfied just writing 3 minutes long vers/chorus radio hits. It´s one of the great strengths of "Invisible Touch" that it is as varied as it is. It´s a well thought out album with a well planned tracklist, with the result that it´s an entertaining release throughout its 8 tracks and 45:37 minutes long playing time. Sure the ballads are a little saccarine, but damn they are well composed...

"Invisible Touch" features a well sounding production, suiting the material perfectly. It´s clearly an 80s sound production (reverb on the drums which have an electronic tone to them, and loads of keyboards), and gone are the organic touch of the band´s 70s output, but Genesis managed to stay relevant and still challenge themselves in the process of writing and producing music with more mainstream appeal. You can chose to enjoy it or not, but this is arguably not the sound of a band selling out, releasing soulless pop music to become famous and make money. On the contrary this is a band who have evolved on every release since their inception in the late 60s and continue to do so on "Invisible Touch". A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Alright, this may be better than most pop out there, but what is the best rating for this? 'Only for completionists' fits it quite well, I'd say.

What else can I say that hasn't already been said? The title track is god awful and I could easily go the rest of my life without hearing any of this. Where's the art? Where's the progress? What exactly were Genesis trying to accomplish with their music?

I will never figure out the answer to that last question, as it doesn't seem like there IS much to be accomplished with an album like this. Easy listening pop with some interesting tendencies, pretty much. Hey, I'm not saying this album is absolutely terrible; it's actually pretty good if you're looking for adult contemporary pop-rock that has SOME substance sprinkled throughout it.

However, at PROGarchives, there is no way in hell that this album deserves more than 1 star. Please avoid this unless you want to hear pop.

I think this is a far better effort than its predecessor, Genesis, for the simple reason that they went back to writing and performing well good songs, either commercial or prog.

The first three tracks are all huge selling singles, and all of them are very well executed. Invisible Touch races along to a great Rutherford riff, Tonight....again features fantastic guitar work and understated keyboards from Banks, whilst Land of Confusion is simply a rollicking pop song, with Rutherford on blazing form. He really shines throughout this LP.

In Too Deep is probably a little bit too saccharine for many listeners on this site, but it is pleasant without being awful, certainly an improvement on tracks such as Illegal Alien & Whodunnit! Anything she Does is also a good solid track which picks up the pace again very well.

Then there are the two Domino interlinked tracks, which, to me, are very strong successors to the Home by the Sea tracks on the previous LPs. This still plays very well live. Rutherford really blasts out his chords, and Banks returns to form on what is clearly his song with a very strong keyboard lead over Collins singing very strongly. The point about these tracks is that they continued to prove that they werre still a rock group with progressive leanings first and foremost - not a singles band. Again, I feel that many people buying this LP on the strength of the singles would have rushed out to buy previous albums when they realised just how complex and beautiful the longer tracks were. The way the first, slow, movement gives way to a harder edge is stunning.

Throwing it all Away is another very good commercial track which is exceptionally pleasing to the ear.

Then the last track, Brazilian, probably my favourite Banks moment in the history of the band. This keyboard track is a piece of sheer genius, with Collins especially backing very strongly on his now trademark drum machine. Every time I hear this track, I hear something new and this demonstrates the genius of Banks. A great way to end an album which I regarded as a very solid return to form.

Recommended. I would probably award 3.5 stars for this, but as I am in such a good mood tonight (tonight, tonight), I'm going to round it up to four.

'Invisible Touch' - Genesis (6/10)

To start things off, I really do not know what's so wrong or awful about this album. I can understand why prog afficionados would think it was not prog (for the most part; it isn't) but just to say that it isn't a work of progressive music doesnt mean to say that it's awful.

However, I might be drawn towards supporting the album from default; seeing as it was one of the first albums I remember ever listening to alot. Let me explain...

As a child, I can solidly remember listening to these songs alot; my parents put on this album quite a bit when I was young. This was a long time before I started to introduce music to myself, and I really liked the album 'Invisible Touch' as an infant. A good decade or so before I would start really getting into prog, 'Invisible Touch' was already well-listened to.

When I finally got into prog, I searched everywhere for the CD (now being into Genesis' earlier stuff, I wanted to go back and listen again to the album that had been with me as a child) but I could not find it...

...as luck would have it, a few days ago I found the CD lying around and without hesitation, I put away my prog CDs for a bit to listen to this blast from the past.

I have to say that upon first listen, I was really blown away by how familiar, yet how unfamiliar all of the music was. I consciously felt my memories of childhood being brought to the forefront. With a progressive outlook on music, 'Domino' really stood out to me as being epic.

After a few repeated listens, the pop tendencies of the album began to age the album a bit too quickly. The album is songwritten very thoughtfully, but as time went on, I became weary of all of the songs on here that sound a bit too much like Phil Collins' solo career; very balladesque and slow. On songs like 'In Too Deep' and 'Throwing It All Away,' my attention wanes. Even though they are very well written ballads, there's just too much of it on one album.

Highlights include the incredibly catchy and lovely 'Invisible Touch' (while being a pop song, I still love it) and the epic 'Domino.' While the majority of the album is pop, 'Domino' definately falls in as being a majestic piece that covers a multitude of moods and feelings throughout it's extended length.

From a solely progressive viewpoint, this is a non-essential album with a few highlights. From an honest viewpoint however, it's a special album to me, and on a general music sight I would gladly rate it a 4.5 (being marred only by the heavy concentration on ballads.)

A great, intelligent pop album, but unessential by progressive standards.

Genesis goes into more pop realm. While I enjoy this more than previous album selftitled who is to me the worst Genesis album ever, Invisible touch from 1986 has some good moments and some totaly unintristing tunes aswell. I remember first listning of this album in 1991,, pieces like Invisible touch, Land of confusion or Throwing It All Away are still today very pleasent to my eras even are comercial and far from old Genesis subtle and impecable progressive rock arrangements. The rest are from mediocre to bad. This album overall is not very bad but the lack of progressive elements make to give only 2-2.5, that means mediocre but not very bad, still enjoyble in places.

To a progressive rock fan, INVISIBLE TOUCH seems to be the nadir of their discography; out of all of the albums I've heard so far, that seems to be true to me. There's nothing on this album that makes me want to come back and spin it again. It was released in 1986, and it sounds like 1986 and stuck in 1986.

Tracks like the title tune, ''Land of Confusion'' and ''In Too Deep'' either are disgusting on first listen or quickly wear out their welcome into meh territory. Most songs are filled with ''icepick-through-the-skull'' (not a good description) synths and annoying gated drums. Perfect for the 80's, but over twenty years later it sounds like mush.

Thinking ''Tonight, Tonight, Tonight'' is a prog song by length is just wishful thinking; it's an annoying dance tune stuck on repeat (maybe not literally, but it feels as such) for nine minutes. ''Domino'' offers a glimpse of something decent in the first half (keyboards sound decent this time), but by the second part, it's the same old song and dance.

The pop isn't what makes INVISIBLE TOUCH annoying to the ears, it's the way it was produced and it's ''with the times'' sound. I got lucky and had a few free listens because my uncle used to own this album on vinyl. This at best looks awkward in a prog collection, although if you can avoid this record, do so.

My patience has been quite a gigantic-size one. I've survived through other four terrible albums of dark age of Genesis. I even liked some songs, or elements in it. But this album is worst of them. Not that there is nothing progressive, nothing at all, not even buried underground and hidden for first and casual listeners (I've tried to locate something, but it's not there, this is HOLLOW), but they managed to do it even worse. Most of songs here are annoying (first half - with In Too Deep being stupid ballad with every cliché you could expect from it). Second half, no, no.

1(+), almost absolute bottom. And don't even ask what do I think about second half.

Throwing it all Away like an Invisible Crutch.

Here's how to appease record labels. Sell out and forget your solid prog roots and rebuild a new fan base of teeny bopping girly dancers. They succeeded. This sold like hot cakes and rocketed to number one. I own the vinyl and it cost me 50 cents at a second hand store; that's what it is worth too!

"Invisible Touch" is a damned album, a wretched album that ushered in a new Genesis sound that was only approved by those who were not enamoured with the prog Genesis with Gabriel in full voice.

Banks, Collins and Rutherford were now in charge and sold completely out to a mediocre crystalline 80s sound that was not even close to progressive. Domino was Ok as a ten minute romp into prog territory but it never measures up to the classic sound the band was famous for.

Gone are the musical interludes. Hyper lyrics and musicianship only to be replaced by that 80s synth radio friendly pop sound, and awful synthesized drums, and processed vocals.

The album sold huge amounts due to the singles 'Invisible Touch' and 'In Too Deep' showing a balladic Collins singing about love, love, love. In other words no different to other radio bands. The fans were becoming female as a result of course but all of the innovation and creativity was being sucked out of the group and becoming plastic and not a bit fantastic.

I like 'Land of Confusion' because the melody grew on me and I actually liked the film clip at the time. 'Invisible Touch' was a song that haunted the radio, and I remember it being sung on Young Talent Time, the 80s teenage talent show, by some unknown singer as teenyboppers screamed his name; sick. It was fun when I was a teen but nowadays it is so dated and better forgotten.

'Anything She Does' is notable for the film clip with hilarious funny man Benny Hill taking centre stage, as he visits Genesis in their dressing room, and continues to try and cater to their outlandish wishes, even showing some gorgeous groupies the way out, complete with speeded up action, and a dressing room full of weird oddballs. The band were certainly innovative in their MTV clips.

The song 'Throwing it All Away' was self prophetic as the band were throwing away everything that made them great. The clip to this was again innovative with the band filming themselves during rehearsals and it features some great backstage footage.

Overall though this is an atrocious album. Even the album cover is corny with a stupid design that the average person could emulate on a computer. "Abacab" was worse overall, but this is still a terrible album! I changed my rating to 1 star, as 2 stars is being too kind.

Invisible Touch is the most popular album the band ever did, at least if both album and singles chart positions are to be considered, but it's also a central lightning rod for people who hate this particular era of the band. IT came out the year after Collins made No Jacket Required (a winner of the Album of the Year Grammy), and it's hard to deny that this gave the band an impetus to let Phil's "non-Genesis" creative approach have a greater influence than it had before. I mean, the last three albums had undoubtedly been "pop" albums, but I'd be hardpressed to buy into the arguments put forth by many that Genesis had somehow become Phil's side-project. I just can't stress enough that those albums were just way too weird in too many ways to qualify as the same kind of (painfully) straightforward music Phil was making on his own, and they had (I insist) a strangely classy sheen in the production that served them well. On this album, though, the production bears a lot of the characteristics that Genesis had not yet had, but that had become trademarks of Phil's solo style and of production work that he'd done in other circumstances. In particular, no matter how many times I listen to this album, I can't help but think that the drums sound absolutely awful here, whereas on Abacab and Genesis they'd often sounded pretty great. I'm not really fond of how the other instruments sound either; there's a definite tacky, cheesy gloss on all of the instruments that make them jump out, yes, but not in a way that I want instruments to jump out. If 80's sounds and textures don't bother you in the slightest, then you'll probably be happy with how things turned out; me, I've got kind of an allergic reaction to the way this album turned out on the whole.

And yet, underneath all of the stuff that bothers me, this is still, for the most part, a full- fledged Genesis album, and not a glorified Phil Collins album. There are still bizarre (maybe not by traditional prog standards, but certainly by the standards of "mainstream" pop) extended keyboard-centered instrumental breaks, driving some of the song-lengths far past the bounds of a regular pop albums. There are still Rutherford-penned pop songs with decent guitar presence, and some unconventional lyric topics, and there's even a full- fledged instrumental at the end! Yes, this album has more of Phil's fingerprints on it than previous ones had had, but this was still just as much Tony and Mike's band as anybody's. Granted, that also means they should get about as much blame for the album's failings as does Phil, but acknowledging their presence helps make it easier to avoid getting blinded by those failings.

And, you know, the songs are far from universally sucking. The only track on here that clearly belongs more on a Phil solo album than on a proper Genesis album is the ballad "In Too Deep." It's just way too saccharine for my tastes, and moments like that sickly-sweet falsetto Phil does when he sings the "crying at the top of my lungs" line are just too much for any non-Phil-lover (that I know) to bear. Yes, I know that it (like pretty much all the singles here) was a huge hit, but it definitely was targetted more for fans of Phil than fans of Genesis.

The other song on this album that I seriously dislike is the opening title track, yet there's a major difference between this song and "In Too Deep": for all of its flaws, it's still clearly more of a Genesis song than a transplant from a Phil solo album, if only because it originated from Phil improvising lyrics over an early version of the second half of "Domino" (discussed more later). Plus, it's playfully up-tempo, has an okayish melody, has a light-but- decent guitar presence, and has very active work from Tony. Unfortunately, these positive elements are largely cancelled out, thanks to the song featuring one of the most awkwardly sung and written choruses (come on, do you really think that "She seems to have an in- vees-eee-bul touch" is on par with the typical pop song Phil had done in the band before?) I've ever heard in a hugely popular song. The song also has a lot of the production, um, tendencies that I mentioned previously, but as much as I could forgive a lot of the other material of these flaws, the weaknesses in the song make it so I can't here.

That leaves six tracks, which are all flawed but which are all basically good. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," of course, shouldn't actually be a nine minute song: it's basically a five minute song, stretched out in a clear attempt to keep one foot in the band's past. Still, the percussion programming is decently clever, the keyboards do a good job of building and releasing tension when necessary, and the vocal melodies are memorable without being cheezy. Plus, as tacked on as I think the lengthy instrumental passage might be in principal, I enjoy it when it's on, and I never feel like I've had my time wasted or anything like that.

"Land of Confusion" is even better, though, as much as I hate to say it. The song has a lot of things going against it in terms of good taste: the overwhelmingly 80's nature of the drum track, the corny (while taking on an "epic" vibe in places) synths, the ridiculous lines about "my generation will put it right" that evoke images of The Walker Brigade from Saturday Night Live. And yet, I can't stop liking the song. The melody is incredible, creating an urgent feel in the verses while the intense synthesized bass drum pummels along underneath, and the pseduo-universalistic synths work better for me than reason says they should. Plus, I'd be hardpressed to name an 80's Genesis song I'd rather do in karaoke, were the opportunity to come up.

Of the four remaining tracks, I actually held a dislike for two of them at first, but not anymore. It's tempting to lump "Throwing it All Away" in with "In Too Deep," but that's a mistake; "Throwing it All Away" is much more Rutherford than Collins, and it stands up to any straight-forward pop ballads that he wrote before (excepting "Ripples," which is clearly in a separate class all together). Unlike "In Too Deep," there's no glop whatosever in the song (unless you count anything Phil sung during this era as gloppy, which you shouldn't), and the hooks don't come across as tacky at all. The other song I disliked before but could never bash now is "Anything She Does," kind of the band's answer to "Pictures of Lily." It's a bit chaotic and hurried in the arrangement, which took me some time to get used to, but there's something strangely addicting about it and the way Phil sings the line, "I won't ever, no I'll never get to know her." It's a minor track, but definitely not a bad one.

The remaining tracks, then, largely destroy the idea of considering this album just another 80's pop album. The album's centerpiece is the ten-minute "Domino," basically two pop songs duct-taped together and featuring Phil singing Tony's brand of prog lyrics. The lyrics, of course, are kind of silly (and supposedly, Phil disliked singing them, to the point that there were later quotes hinting that part of the reason he quit the band later was because he was tired of singing this song live), but they're silly in an addictive, non-preachy sort of way. Plus, while there are some pretty ridiculous moments in the arrangements (especially in the keyboards), they're ridiculous in a way that's grown on me rather than off me over the years. And, of course, the melodies are mostly very good, especially in the chorus of the "Glow of the Night" and in the "But you gotta go domino" groove in the second half. And finally, the album ends with "The Brazilian," a fine instrumental. It has a good set of riffs for Tony's keyboards, and the percussion underneath is very interesting. Even Mike's generic mid-80's guitar soloing works very well in this piece!

In the end, a *** rating is the best I can do for it. Still, compared to how I used to view this album (it would have been a ** once), and how bad it could have theoretically been, that's not bad at all.

The middle of the '80s was not a good time for any of the '70s prog giants even though some of them did manage to maintain some of their commercial appeal. Genesis might have seemed like they were on top of their career with the release of Invisible Touch but this was also where my favorite band went too far and released their most tiresome album to date.

This commercially oriented release has gathered somewhat of a cult classic following in some circles but I personally can rarely get through this album in one sitting. Some of the prog-era fans may argue that Domino and The Brazilian are still two very creative tracks, but I personally have a problem with the terrible 80's production and the fact that the former sounds better on live albums like Live - The Way We Walk Volume Two - The Longs and especially Live Over Europe 2007. The 9 minute long version of Tonight, Tonight, Tonight is overblown beyond any reason and is one of the main reasons why I can's enjoy this album. Even the band members seemed to agree with this since all of their live albums feature a much shorter version of that composition. In Too Deep and Throwing It All Away are decent ballads but they completely fade in comparison to material on Duke and instead sound more more like Phil's solo material.

Still my main grudge comes with the fact that Invisible Touch doesn't really feel like the creative collaboration I was expecting from Genesis as a band, it's doesn't even feel like a team effort! Moments that do work are few and, most often than not, seem too artificial for their own good. There is only one rating for these types of albums.

**** star songs: Invisible Touch (3:27) Land Of Confusion (4:44)

*** star songs: In Too Deep (4:57) Domino (10:41) Throwing It All Away (3:48) The Brazilian (5:04)

** star songs: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight (8:50) Anything She Does (4:06)

Invisible Touch is in the same vein as the previous few releases by Genesis; poppy and synth-heavy, and ultimately not progressive rock. This was, however, one of their most popular pop albums. "Invisible Touch", "Land of Confusion" and "In Too Deep" were very popular and got quite a bit of radio play. The longer songs such as "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Domino" seem like half-attempts to communicate with their ignored progressive rock era fans. Unfortunately, those tracks only come off as sounding like longer-than-average pop songs, much like "Abacab" and "Dodo" from the Abacab album. However, if you were a fan of Abacab, Duke, and the self-titled album, then you might find some music you like on this album.

The first Genesis album I heard and I assume I'm not the only one as this is the bands most commercially successful album. One of the main reasons for this success was that this album followed Phil's hugely successful solo album No Jacket Required. When I was a kid I loved the video for "Land Of Confusion." The video for that song almost won the MTV Video Of The Year award. Who won that award instead? Some guy named Peter Gabriel for his "Sledgehammer" video. I actually know people who have never heard the Genesis original, only the cover by the band Disturbed.

Rutherford is responsible for two of the albums best songs: "Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away." The former is probably my favourite song here and I've always thought it had a great middle section. The latter is one of the better songs they did in the 1980s. The title track is one of the better pop singles of the decade. "In Too Deep" I never really cared for. "Anything She Does" was always my least favourite song here. I hadn't listened to the album for years but I never remembered the verses being so catchy and memorable. Still hate the rest of the song though.

The album version of "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is longer than the radio edit because of the great instrumental middle section. This is the the proggiest of the hit singles from the album. "Domino" is the longest and proggiest song but it's not a highlight. I honestly didn't remember much about this track. The first 4 1/2 minutes are good and then comes an awful disco/synth-pop part that sounds more 1982 than 1986. The rest of the track is nothing special. "The Brazilian" is a good and proggy instrumental which also happens to be the most "80s" sounding thing on the whole album.

The music here is good for what it is: mid-80s pop/rock. Even at this point they still have longer than average songs. At least one person who bought this album must have thought: "Songs over 5 minutes long...is that even legal?" Genesis were never a Collins side-project, not even on Invisible Touch. I find it amusing how Phil gets blamed for everything while Mr. Gabriel (with his album So) and Mr. Rutherford (with his Mike & The Mechanics) get a pass. The fact is Genesis never completely left their prog roots behind and they *always* had a pop side to them. Unlike a train-wreck like From Genesis To Revelation, this is actually *good* pop music. Not recommended for prog fans but some may enjoy it. 2 stars.

The album that confirmed the three-piece version of Genesis as one of the world's most popular acts, 'Invisible Touch' was one of those super popular albums that defined both the group who created it and the era it's of conception. Featuring a string of hit singles, a slick synthesized sound and a strong electronic streak, this is a Genesis album that has wandered furthest of all from the group's original symphonic prog sound. Whereas 'Duke' and 'Abacab' straddled the line between pop and rock with occasional keyboard-heavy hints towards their past and 1983's 'Genesis' featured the pounding, ultra-heavy and decidedly un-Genesis mini-epic 'Mama', 'Invisible Touch' features precious little progressive material beyond the gruesome, drum-machine drenched 'Domino', an eleven-minute piece so very typical of the 1980s which attempts, and fails, to graft a progressive sensibility on the group's synth-pop sound. Elsewhere you have attractive albeit lightweight ballads('Throwing It All Away'), anthemic rock('Tonight, Tonight, Tonight') and best of all, politically-motivated pop-rock in the shape of the catchy single 'Land Of Confusion'. Listened to now it all sounds very dated, showcasing a streamlined style that highlights the trio's deft ear for melody but precious little soul. Although in actual fact quite a decent pop album, 'Invisible Touch' features little that will appeal to progressive rock fans, so much so that it sounds like the work of a completely different group. And in the end, of course, that's exactly what they had become.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

By the time the mid-80s came around, Genesis and their singer/drummer Phil Collins essentially became synonymous with each other in the public eye, especially when it came to the band's big hits. Who once was a musically and lyrically complex progressive rock outfit was slowly transforming into a pop/rock band once original vocalist Peter Gabriel left and Collins took over the mic. Soon, Steve Hackett left as well and the remaining trio pressed onward; once Collins started his own very profitable solo career in soft rock music, elements of his work started creeping into Genesis' sound until their progressive roots disappeared completely (this happened around the Abacab era). Once 1986's Invisible Touch came around, the sound of Collins' solo work almost completely overtook the band's work (with a few notable exceptions); so why, after all of this, would it actually end up being such a solid listen?

On the surface, Invisible Touch is probably a 70s Genesis fan's worst nightmare; there's barely a touch of progressive rock to be found, and a good handful of the songs would fit very nicely in adult contemporary radio stations. Furthermore, the four biggest smash hits were crammed into the front of the album; it's obviously a popular choice for pop artists to kick an album off with a strong opening single, but having four at once seems a bit ridiculous (although I have seen it happen before). However, commercialism aside, Invisible Touch isn't nearly as bad as you might expect it to be; if you can accept the poppy nature of the record, it becomes a stronger listen as well as one of their most emotional ones. As was said before, the first half of the experience is dominated by the big singles like the title track, "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight," "Land of Confusion," and "In Too Deep." Immediately, the one that should surprise most listeners is "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"; remember the single version that's played on the radio frequently? Well, that's not the version present here; this one is a whopping nine minutes! This song and the eleven-minute "Domino" represent the most progressive tendencies of the album with their sprawling length (at least by pop Genesis standards) and some added complexity in the songwriting. "Tonight..." in particular has a full synthesizer-driven instrumental section in the middle; in fact, most of the song's strength's are driven by Tony Banks' keyboard work. The biggest thing that comes to mind is the tension-and-release tactic between the verses, choruses, and the uplifting vocal interlude that follows; the way the major and minor notes/chords intertwine gives the song a very unique touch. The other hits (excluding one, but we'll get to that) are great as well, despite their more poppy nature. The title track is an iconic synth-driven power ballad that allows Phil to give one of his strongest vocal performances, while "Land of Confusion" is a heavier number that primarily showcases Mike Rutherford's high guitar chords and catchy main riff.

The first half is definitely where all the best things happen though, because the second is a bit of a mixed bag. While "In Too Deep" is a deeply emotional, soulful ballad and one of the band's best songs from their pop-era, the same can't be said for the hopelessly boring "Throwing It All Away." Definitely one of the biggest products of Collins' solo influence, the song sounds like if you took "That's the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind and Fire and sucked the soul out of it to fit an easy-listening format. While "Domino" is a successful "experimental" pop epic, "The Brazilian" seems like an unnecessary instrumental with synthesizer experimentation that just isn't all that interesting. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" experimented with Banks' multi-layered synth arrangements more tastefully, but "The Brazilian" simply seems like filler. Also, one more thing: where the hell is Mike Rutherford? He's put to the sidelines for the majority of the album; while his basslines remain are prominent (although pretty simplistic), his guitar playing just gets drowned out most of the time.

To fully enjoy Invisible Touch, you have to go in with the right frame of mind. Don't go in expecting a crazy progressive rock comeback or something, but also don't get too cynical and expect a full-on Phil Collins solo record. It's still a full-band effort, although not as much as it could have been; in any case, if you enjoy fun and emotional 80s pop/rock, this album will easily fit the bill. Perhaps I'm viewing it as a guilty pleasure of sorts, but it's just too damn entertaining to completely ignore; yes, there's still crap on the record, but the gems are so well-done that it almost doesn't matter. Almost.

(Originally published on Sputnikmusic)

Invisible Touch must be one of the most hated albums in Genesis' library... maybe one of the most hated albums in the entirety of Prog Archives. I've listened to this album many times, and I don't understand where that hate comes from. It's a crisp, smart, hook-filled pop-rock release that is as classy as it is memorable. It's stuck with me more than almost any other Genesis album.

As a "prog" album it gets below-average marks: it's squeaky clean, occasionally schmaltzy, and definitely playing for the masses. This has got to be one of the reasons for the hatred that Invisible Touch gets. As a pop album, it's first rate, and has a lot of artistry going on behind the scenes, but it doesn't have layers of lyrical depth or 10-minute instrumental passages, so it gets blasted by prog heads by default.

I don't have any sort of nostolgic tie to Genesis, but I know that a lot of readers here on the archives do. I can imagine what seeing your favorite fringe art-rock group go mainstream would be like... it would kind of suck. Fans like us hate the thing we love when it becomes the "it" thing. This is a natural response, but one that doesn't allow a person to be objective.This is reason enough to be leery of the album's poor rating.

Reason number two is that many reviewers are saying things like, "avoid if you like prog," or "not for prog fans," or similar things. This is a juvenile argument, and one that I think many musicians would roll their eyes at. We like our prog because of certain traits, but it's silly to trash music by default because it doesn't have each of those traits. I realize that defining music as "good" or "bad" is incredibly subjective, but recognizing that this is a natural response will help you be honest and come to a more reasonable and honest opinion of a release.

So without digressing further, here's what I hear happening on Invisible Touch.

The title track is 100% killer. It hooks you in right away with creative drumming, memorable synth hits, and great bass riffing. It's incredibly catchy, and Phil Collins hits a home run with his vocals. I'm not going to say that it's especially creative, but it's entirely effective.

"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is a keyboard effects driven tapestry, with dense layers by Banks. In fact, he has an almost 2-minute stretch of atmospheric improvization that builds to great crescendo with a guitar solo finale. Again, very effective.

The next song is probably one of the band's best single tracks. "Land of Confusion" simply rocks. It's upbeat, catchy, passionately executed and practically pulls you in to the performance. Great, great stuff, and one of my favorite Genesis songs.

The schmaltz kicks in with "In Too Deep," which is probably where most of the prog purists will roll their eyes in disgust and press 'Stop.' Well I can't really blame them, because this is pure exploitative radio-play balladry. But, again, a good love song (break up song, really), and it nails the delivery. I for one like indulging in this sort of schmaltz every once and I while; it's like going to a dive bar. It makes listening to "Supper's Ready" that much more enjoyable.

I'm amazed that "Domino" isn't talked about more. First off, this track is better than almost anything the great prog bands produced in '80's (Discipline being the exception). It's richly nuanced and ambitiously written while remaining its energy and appeal. It contains three passages, each with a distinct identity and feel, transitioning with dynamic performances and style. Its an old style prog song performed with the slick technology of the (then) new decade. I think it qualifies as one of the best prog songs of the '80's.

"Throwing it All Away" dips back into the FM balladry, but listen closer and you'll hear the impeccable energy the band produces by blending a heavy back-beat, synth textures, and guitar effects.

Finally, we get an instrumental closer with moody and energetic keyboards and a guitar solo overdub. Not too shabby, even if it does feel like the sound track from Miami Vice.

So in the end I'm going to be generous and give Invisible Touch four solid stars. No it's not "prog" in the pure sense, but it is an exceptionally polished and elegant pop-rock album that is so artistic and well done that, without the Genesis legacy attached to it, would probably rate much higher on this website.

Give it a try if you're interested in hearing some nuanced pop-rock, and especially if you're a Genesis fan ready to let go of your decade's old hate.

Songwriting: 3 - Instrumental Performances: 4 - Lyrics/Vocals: 3 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

Well here I am. And to quote the big climax of Tonight, Tonight, Tonight...GET ME OUT OF HERE!. Yes, the archives incorporate a fantastic feature that allows a quick rating on an album with a simple click. Well, with a touch screen device so popular now, like iPads and smart phones, it is even easier. Yes, I accidentally touched Invisible Touch. I assure you, the irony is not lost on me. And this is not the first time. Fortunately, the previous episode involved a band/album that turned out to be a hidden gem when I dove in to avoid having ratings without reviews on my record. But this time, I know what sort of travesty I am heading into. But you know what, I am going to do it anyway.

I have heard a lot of apologist excuses for why this is a good album. "Its one of the best examples of a pop album ever". Well, I don't care. Are we going to start giving successful and efficient totalitarian regimes high scores as well? We all heard the Patrick Bateman monologues about what is so great about 80's Genesis. We all are free to are own tastes, but the attempts at convincing me all come across as psychosis. This was a band that made some of the greatest progressive rock of all-time, now producing the very dross that embodies the horror of 80's popular music. Right from the start, the punchy overly compressed keyboard samples in the title track give me that bile aspirate that the soundtrack to Beverly Hllls Cop always did. And the absurd electronic drums, that were dated before they were ever used, dominate every square inch of this album. How does a guy who played some of the most outrageous beats of the classic prog era play that long drawn out, go no where, section of Domino night after night and not lose his mind? Oh yeah, I forgot, he inflicted it on Chester Thompson for live sets. Even when the songs sounded promising, like The Brazillian, they would go nowhere, just ending up in the same spot they started. And don't get me started about the lifeless ballads. I love a good ballad as much as the next guy, but In Too Deep with its anti-Rhodes-sampled electric piano (it goes along well with anti-mellotron; that punchy orchestra sample that dominated 80's pop, see Owner of a Lonely Heart) is the stuff of nightmares for the hardened progger.

Sorry, not sorry. This is every bit the heap of waste that it was when it came out and I was a thrash-metal head. Nothing has changed through the years and my expanded exposure and deepening tastes. "You're taking it all too far". So apropos . 1 stinking star, because less isn't allowed.

1980s Genesis really needs to be marked on a different scale from the 1970s group. Whilst up to Duke they were still largely in the prog realm, from Abacab onwards they were very much on a pop kick, with Tony Banks' synthesisers switching from being delivery mechanisms for carefully composed classically-influenced solos to becoming devices for offering a certain art pop texture to things.

Yes, Invisible Touch is undoubtedly a pop album - and a very successful one in pop terms, given the crop of hit singles it spawned. But let's not pretend that it's simplistic, vacuous bubblegum pop. Here, the band have hit a careful balance between the deployment of killer hooks on the one hand with adding their own personal twist to proceedings on the other. Let's face it: an 80s pop group who only cared about hit singles would have never produced something like The Brazilian or Domino, extended art pop pieces which, whilst they don't go full prog, are just a bit too eccentric to be full pop either.

Out of all the prog bands who went pop in the 1980s, I think Genesis might have pulled it off the most successfully, in part because they didn't fall into the trap of abandoning their personality entirely - they're still the quirky bunch you remember from the 1970s, it's just that this time they're hanging out at a Miami Vice-themed cocktail bar. If that sounds like an utter nightmare to you, you're hardly alone, but if that sounds like the sort of thing which would be a lot of fun when you're in the right mood, then you might find the same is true of Invisible Touch.

Genesis released 'Invisible Touch' in 1986 and with it they reached new artistic and commercial heights. The album is their thirteenth studio release, and is arguably the pinnacle of their 80s work - jam packed with fantastic songs, presenting this very intelligent and colorful pop music, with gracious instrumental work from all three members of the band, as well as the impactful and particularly strong vocals of the ingenious artist Phil Collins, and we could not stress the word 'artists' enough, as he also provides some of his most mature and thoughtful lyrics that just fit more than perfectly the lovely music and the zeitgeist of the mid-80s.

An important achievement for Genesis, and truly one of their finest works, where it seems that all the elements the band has been developing over the previous years of the decade are well-organized and chiseled in a most impressive manner; Probably not as trailblazing as their early 70s output, 'Invisible Touch' is no less essential, and no criticism and negligence could prevent it from being a really enjoyable piece of music. Not only this, but this album produced five very strong singles, some of which are beloved by millions and are still played with decent regularity on the radio.

Kicking things off is the really impressive title track, one of the biggest hits the band ever produced, and one of the most memorable songs of the 80s, a sing-along number about a girl with which the narrator is falling in love. This one is followed by the gloomy but no less romantic 9-minute 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight', another very successful single and a real high of the album. 'Land of Confusion' and 'In Too Deep' conclude side one, which can be easily called flawless; Needless to say, these songs are also quite gorgeous and were two very well-received singles, too.

Side two is definitely weaker than side one, with 'Anything She Does' opening it, a power pop number that is not as impactful as the title track on 'Invisible Touch' but has the potential to have been a single; 'Domino' is a two-part nearly 11-minute composition that impresses thoroughly, with the first part being darker and maybe more intriguing, while the second part of the song (named 'The Last Domino') is the more uplifting one. 'Throwing It All Away' is also good and was a single that is probably forgotten by now, and 'The Brazilian' is a fantastic way to conclude the album, a powerhouse instrumental and a band composition, on which Tony Banks shines with some pretty fabulous keyboard sounds.

With not much to add, it has to be said that 'Invisible Touch' is deservedly beloved and undeservedly criticized; It is a powerful statement for the band, and a great presentation of their skills as songwriters of catchy, yet smart pop rock songs. Phil Collins impresses as a band leader, and his vocals are quite inspired. The songs are tremendously good, the band is at the top of their game, and the album makes up for a severely enjoyable listen, an excellent collection!