INVISIBLE TOUCH

As much as this is labelled a pop album, there are really only three pop songs, well 4 if you count "Land Of Confusion", but I always saw that as more of one of those catchy rock songs that aims at enlightening listeners to the state of the world and some possible solutions. It's very succesful at that, and no, as of this writing, it's goal has not yet been reached. Another song, "Anything She Does" would be a pop song, if not for the very progressive keyboard runs that run through the verses. (Nice creative tone on that sound, by the way.) The three songs that I do consider to be written in the style of largely loved music, I still get into because the songwriting is so strong. The title track is the most obviously catchy, maybe sometimes I'm not in the mood for it, but it's very well done with a good arrangement and performance. The production on the album in general may make the songs sound kind of uniform, but there are subtle touches here and there that each song has that make them stand on their own, like the very tasteful contemporary sounding guitar fills in "In Too Deep", another immaculately produced and performed "popular" number. The other big hit, "Throwing It All Away" also features Mike Rutherford showing his growing as a guitarist with a nice rhythm part that's both simple and complex, not to mention just as melodic as the song's own melody. All of the lyrics are strong on this album, and it's on the non-pop songs where the true message comes out, especially on the song "Domino." Some dark imagery abounds, but it is for the good of mankind, as in exposing our attraction towards such dark entertainings in the lines "Now you never did see such a terrible thing as we seen last night on the TV/Maybe if we're lucky they will show it again/such a terrible thing to see." The most profound, though, is the uncovering of our tendencies to join the masses and pretend that everything that's going on around us is okay, when it's really not: "Now I'm one with the living and I'm feeling just fine/And I know just what I gotta do/Play the game of happiness and never let on that it only lives on in a song." This is all accompanied by very creative and thought provoking music, especially the first part of the song, "In the Glow of the Night", some very entrancing Mike and Tony duets there. Mike Rutherford really takes the cake on this album, most notably on his David Gilmour-like solo at the end of the industrial instrumental "The Brazillian," but there is a very cool keyboard interlude in the song "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", that is unfortunately edited out when played on the radio. Besides the unwaveringly strong songwriting, which is what stands out most to me about this album, there is also a perfect sequence of songs adding to the greatness. For example, most people who heard the single "Invisible Touch" may have been turned off if they'd started the album with one of the heavier tracks, "In Too Deep" is just when the album needs a breather, hearing "Throwing It All Away" so late in the album and especially after "Domino" adds just that much more depth to the song, and "The Brazillian" is a very Genesis way to close things out.