INVISIBLE TOUCH

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.