Customer Reviews

We Can't Dance

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Peter Gabriel Genesis and Phil Collins Genesis...for the most part, they are two different animals...both GREAT STUFF! And honestly, both "leaders" also had some "duds". I believe the reason this great album...yes I said GREAT, has only a total 3.5 star rating is that the older die-hard Gabriel-era fans are disgruntled that their favorite band refused to remain in the past. We, as fans, have seen this played-out over and over again...our favorite bands try to branch out and evolve---sometimes it works e.g. Genesis, Santana,etc...sometimes it doesn't, e.g. Metallica, ZZ-Top, etc... So, with that said, I'm giving 'We Can't Dance' 5 stars to try and offset the undeserved current rating. Likewise, I wouldn't give 5 stars to an album that did not deserve it. This is a very good Genesis album that rates 5 in my mind, and not for the "hits"...though they are worthy. The real treasure with this album lies with the unknown songs. Driving the Last Spike, Fading Lights, Dreaming While You Sleep, Living Forever, etc...some of which contain some very cool "proggy" passages. Many other reviewers have rated the individual songs quite well, so I will simply say this album means a great deal to me and provokes many emotions within me (probably due to a "tricky" relationship I was going through when I first heard this CD). This is one of my favorite releases of the past 20 years, so beware of every review you read...you may miss out on something that might have become a treasured part of your collection/Life! Jeff

As a trio, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks had a part of Genesis of 20+ years. In 1986, their previous album was their most commercially successful collection "Invisible Touch". Meanwhile Phil was having a highly successful solo career while Mike was now finding success with his own band Mike and the Mechanics. Still we may never know if they planned on 1991's "We Can't Dance" being their last album as a trio. Either way, Genesis once again defines the rules for what their album should be and it results in this turning out to be 1992's Best Album of the Year (it was released at the end of 1991 and had its impact the following year). You will also hear Phil and Mike incorporate some of the elements they did on their side projects into this album while Tony Banks keeps the roots of Genesis alive.

When I look at Genesis as band, I see four distinct phases the band has gone through. Phase 1 is the Peter Gabriel Era. This spans from 1969 ("From Genesis to Revelation") to 1974 ("The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"). It was during Phase 1 that Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist and Genesis could easily be categorized as a progressive Rock band. Phase 2 is the Early Phil Collins Era spanning from 1976 ("A Trick of the Tail") to 1982 ("Three Sides Live"). In this era, Phil Collins took over as lead singer. The band was still very much a progressive rock band, but as the progressive rock landscape would change - so would Genesis. This might indirectly have led to Phase 3 which is the Late Phil Collins Era from 1983 ("Genesis") to 1993 ("The Way We Walk Volume 2: The Longs"). At this point, there would be a lot less progressive rock flavor to Genesis' music. The fourth phase, Phase 4 is the Ray Wilson Era. This was when Ray Wilson took over as lead vocalist for Phil Collins. There would only be one album in this era - 1997's "Calling All Stations" and it seemed like Genesis tried to recapture some of their progressive rock roots - but 90s style. "We Can't Dance" was the last album of Phase 3.

In a lot of ways, the album title is appropriate (even though its a spin on the song "I Can't Dance"). I don't think Genesis ever planned on being "pop" stars - especially Mike and Tony. However, if they were going to be pop stars they were going to do it their own way. Yes, this collection does have some songs tailor-made for Top 40 radio ("I Cant Dance", "Hold on Your Heart", "Jesus He Knows Me"), but many of the songs do not. There are four songs on this collection that are over 6 minutes long resulting in over 71 minutes of music on one disc.

Here is a quick song by song synopsis:

"No Son of Mine" - not your traditional pop song. One of the 6+ minute numbers This deals with a very personal and troubled Father-Son relationship. Mike had done "The Living Years" about his father, so this could have been the antithesis of that song.

"Jesus He Knows Me" - more of the "fun" side of Genesis. We see this a lot with Phil and we saw this with "Illegal Alien". This song reflects many of the scandals of the TV preachers that occurred during that time.

"Driving the Last Spike" - longest and best song of the collection. Terrific song about England's railway workers. Phil Collins had starred in the movie "Buster" a few years before, and this was an area that greatly interested him. This proved the trio can do the "epic" song that is a trademark of many of their albums.

"I Can't Dance" - Weakest song of the set. Very pop-ish. Despite being appropriate for the album title, I don't think this is a good song.

"Never a Time" - This is a pop song, but it still is a very good song.

"Dreaming While You Sleep" - Very underrated song on the collection. This is over 7 minutes long. Incorporates bits of progressive elements. Phil Collins' drums are incredible in this song.

"Tell Me Why" - Sounds a lot like Phil Collins' "...But Seriously" work, but still is very good. This song looks at sociological problems of the world.

"Living Forever" - Very good track. Again, probably didn't fit into the mold of Top 40 radio. Terrific guitar work by Mike and some nice harmonies and instrumentals are incorporated.

"Hold on Your Heart" - Probably the other weak song on the collection. Sounds a lot like a Phil Collins ballad.

"Way of the World" - Terrific track and one of the best written. Incorporates a lot of analogies into the song to look at the problems of the world. This track should have gotten more respect.

"Since I Lost You" - a slower song, but again seems out of the mold of a traditional pop song. It's a nice change of pace. There are also some nice harmonies in this song.

"Fading Lights" - Very appropriate song given this would be the trio's last song together. Has a lot of elements of Genesis from their progressive days (long instrumental) Perfect swan-song for the trio.

All of the lyrics are included in the liner notes. There is an appropriate two sentence intro to "Driving the Last Spike". The collection seems weaker in terms of the production credits. Genesis might have crossed the line to Pop Musicians, but this proves that Genesis can operate in this genre and do it their own way. This album produced some of the best music in 1992 and deserved Album of the Year consideration. I find it ironic that had this album been released 3 years later, it might have bombed (this is because the music landscape would change drastically). I highly recommend this collection.

I love the wide variety of Genesis sounds on this album. From their long, progressive, epic rock tracks to fun pop/rockers to serious, heartfelt ballads, it is all here...and it is all good.

The lead track and single "No Son Of Mine" in and of itself emphasizes the diversity to come on this album. It has both a haunting classic rock and a melodic pop sound...an interesting and very good track. The fun and hilarity of such tracks as "Jesus He Knows Me" and "I Can't Dance" is greatly offset by the track in between--the 10-minute epic storytelling "Driving The Last Spike". "Never A Time" and "Hold On My Heart" are both nice ballads, while "Dreaming While You Sleep" contains haunting thoughts and images from the point of view of a hit-and-run driver. "Tell Me Why" is one of those socially concious songs like we have heard Phil Collins sing before, and it is a pretty powerful track. "Since I Lost You" is very soft, sad, and heartfelt with its message content. "Fading Lights", long track that it is, seems like a fitting way to end the album, as Genesis under Phil Collins would fade away after this album.

People love to compare the older progressive rock Genesis to the newer pop-based Genesis. Whatever your favorite version of the band is, there should be at least something that you like on this diverse album. And for true long-time fans of the band, this should be a real treat, since it encompasses such a wide range of Genesis music from various eras. Some may say that the album doesn't flow with its various styles, but to me the variety from one track to the next is what makes it so interesting and enjoyable to listen to.

I ofen hear bad things about this record, why? Let's just get one thing out of the way, SO WHAT GENESIS WENT MORE COMMERCIAL! It is still Genesis, the voice, the instrumental power, the epic songs, the melodies, the arrangments, but just because there not as far-out as the earlier stuff does not make it any worse, in fact newer Genesis had some very dark moments (see: 'Mama', a song about a teenage boy who wants to have sex with a prostitute he thinks is his mother, 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight', a song about a herion addict despartly trying to find his dealer as he craves his drugs and 'Dodo/Lurker', the most surreal, sick and crazy song of the 1978-1994 period.

All the above are all dark, brooding, disturbing and powerful songs, there all long ('Mama' 6:37, 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight' 8:47 and 'Dodo/Lurker' 7:33) all have instrumental sections and are all pretty weird (just listen to how sick Collins sounds on 'Mama', espesscialy the line 'Can't you feel my heart'). So onto 'We Can't Dance', the last album with Phil Collins as vocalist/drummer. From 1980 on all the Genesis/Collins albums had a thematic sound, for exmample 'Duke' gave the image of snowy trees and leaves falling in the autum, 'Genesis' gives the image of a dark, steamy, industrial city and 'Invisible Touch' a dystopian future. 'We Can't Dance' is an album of lost love, innocence, time and people. Their is a strong sense of grief throught the album.

From the opening 'No Son Of Mine' to the broken-hearted 'Since I Lost You' you get the feeling of grief and tradgedy. The veriation on the album spans from melodic, powerful rockers ('No Son Of Mine', 'Way Of The World) to gentle, regretfilled ballads ('Never A Time', 'Hold On My Heart, 'Since I Lost You') to the darker, epic, more like Genesis of old ('Driving The Last Spike', 'Dreaming While You Sleep', Fading Lights'. In 'Dreaming While You Sleep' (one of the best things the band has done) a man tries to come to terms with his guilt after he runs over a women on the rainy roads, lines like: 'In and out of darkness, In and out of sleep, Trying to keep my hands upon the wheel, Never saw the corner in the driving rain, I never saw her step into the street...'

In short 'We Can't Dance' is, with the truely classic 'Abacab' the best Genesis album from the 1978-1994 period, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford again prove they are the best trio in music history...

In spite of a lot of criticism from Genesis fans and critics around the world, this album still managed to be one of the band's best-sellers. Gabriel-era fans will blame Collins for all the shortcomings of Genesis, like being too pop-sounding. Funny how Collins' lack of artistic ability sold them more records. Plus, it is not a Phil Collins album, but a Genesis album. Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford are a part of it, too. If Collins is too pop, so are Banks and Rutherford. If Banks and Rutherford wanted a more progressive-rock album, do you think Rutherford would form another band, Mike & The Mechanics, to produce more pop hits like "The Living Years", "All I Need is a Miracle" and "Silent Running"? I think not. This album contains a little everything, ranging from dark, melancholy songs like "No Son of Mine" and "Dreaming While You Sleep" that are blunt and merciless in their descriptions of inner-demons, yet withold enough details to give the songs intrigue. As well, it has a little pop humor, found in "Jesus He Knows Me" and "I Can't Dance", which are satires of American TV evangelists and men who have the right physical image, but not a whole lot "up there" (in his head), followed by some serious looks at the state of this planet in "Tell Me Why", reminiscent of Collins' solo hit "Another Day In Paradise", and "Way of the World". To top it off, it's got the sentimental side of these men in songs like "Hold on my Heart", and the tear-jerker "Since I Lost You", written for Eric Clapton's late son, Connor. While the album received criticism on both sides, it is one of their best-sellers ever. Forget what the critics say - give it a try. You won't be sorry.

It is fitting and frustrating that "We Can't Dance" ended up being the last Genesis disc that included Phil Collins. This was their best album since 1981's "Abacab". It features certain commercial hits like "We Can't Dance" and "Never A Time", but they truly showed their ability to create beautiful, dramatic songs on "Driving The Last Spike", "Living Forever" and "Fading Lights". The instrumental end to "Living Forever" is one of my favorite bits of Genesis music. What's frustrating is that you can hear flashes of "older" Genesis throughout the disc, and their future as a three-piece sounded so bright. Still, "Fading Lights" is a fitting end to an incredible run. A fun personal note: "Hold On My Heart" was mine and my wife's first dance at our wedding!

We Can't Dance(1991) is probably the best album of Genesis as a trio. It also marks the end of the Phil Collins era. You've got to admit that this is their best effort. The album starts out with the powerful NO SON OF MINE which topped the charts at number twelve. JESUS HE KNOWS ME is one of the more fun songs on the album that talks about television evangelists. DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE is the best song on the album and there hasn't been a Genesis epic this good since 1973. I CAN'T DANCE is the weakest song on the album which sounds like wanna-be ACDC. NEVER A TIME isn't bad but isn't anything to brag about. Now DREAMING WHILE YOU SLEEP is an excellent song that sounds a bit like I Can't Dance but isn't corny. TELL ME WHY is another great song that sounds a bit like the solo songs that Phil Collins does in the years to come. LIVING FOREVER has some prog-rock moments in it and some great guitar by Mike Rutherford. HOLD ON MY HEART is a ballad but not like the messes in the previous album. WAY OF THE WORLD is a swingin' song with great oriental-like keys from Tony Banks. SINCE I LOST YOU is the best Genesis ballad, along with Hold On My Heart. And then comes the grand finale, FADING LIGHTS. This song is appropriate since this is Genesis last good album. Elements of old-school Genesis are in here as well. I think that this album would have been better if it had songs like the edgy ON THE SHORLINE and HEARTS ON FIRE on it. On the Shorline is the best rock song of the 90s in my opinion. This is still a great album but sadly, after this, Genesis really turns bad.

It's said that good things can never last. Genesis reeled off one brilliant album after another in the '80s, as did Phil Collins with his solo career. Although Phil has teased us with the idea of recording with Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford again, 1991's "We Can't Dance" remains their last album together to date. In retrospect, Tony has admitted he was surprised at the time that Phil wanted to do another Genesis album in light of his massive commercial success as a solo artist, and it's been said repeatedly that people feel Phil was really running the show on "We Can't Dance". All of this is extremely surprising. Way back around the time of the album's release, there was a wonderful special on The Disney Channel called "No Admittance" which was basically a "making of" for "We Can't Dance"--it showed 3 guys who were great friends getting along extremely well, in great spirit, still brimming with creativity, and very much working as a unit; it also didn't try to pretend that the making of the album was entirely smooth sailing--it showed Phil having a very difficult time getting the lead vocal for "Never A Time" in tune. Quite simply, Genesis delivered yet another terrific album with "We Can't Dance".

The album runs over 70 minutes, and the guys used the long running time to really do some musical exploring. "Since I Lost You", written about the death of Eric Clapton's son, is a stately, doo-wop-flavored ballad that sounds very uncharacteristic for Genesis, and they pull it off very nicely. The album also harkens back to the sound of "Abacab" with Phil's crisp, live drumming, and the use of REAL drums opposed to the electronic drums heavily used on "Invisible Touch". "Driving The Last Spike" is a 10+ minute epic about the building of England's Railways in the early 1800s, with a bravura vocal performance from Phil, and simply packed with their trademark dynamics and tension-building drama. "Way Of The World" is a soaring, achingly bittersweet power ballad with a superb, nuanced Collins vocal. "Dreaming While You Sleep" is a chilling song about a hit-and-run accident sung from the point of view of the perpetrator. "Living Forever" is a somewhat whimsical song about the conflicting nature of health/ nutritional reports and to not let them distort your sense of reality (something that certainly does happen to people); it's catchy, with a moody bridge, very Beatle-esque backing vocals, and an extended instrumental coda. "Tell Me Why" is one of Phil's characteristic social comments--it's an enjoyable track, with excellent 12-string electric guitarwork, but the lyrics are admittedly quite rote and it feels like relative filler compared to all the gems contained herein. A whopping FIVE tracks from this album gave the band top 25 hit singles in the US. Of these, there are a couple of their trademark tender, beautifully melodic ballads--the soaring "Never A Time" which is like the "Throwing It All Away" of this album; and the smokey, atmospheric "Hold On My Heart" which is like the "In Too Deep". "No Son Of Mine" is a devastatingly powerful epic about a kid who's disowned from his father. The other two are quite ballsy--"Jesus He Knows Me" is a catchy uptempo track with lyrics, about a totally crass television evengelist, that are right on the money; and the bluesy "I Can't Dance" has grumbling rhythm guitar and lots of sound effects, plus cartoonish, self-mocking lyrics--again, really uncharacteristic of Genesis, but they were obviously trying to throw people for a loop with this song, and a lot of fun it is. The album ends with "Fading Lights", another 10+ minute track, and it stuffs an extended, progressive rock-style instrumental section in between a heart-breakingly beautiful ballad that suggests maybe Genesis really knew at the time this was the end of an era.

All in all, a great album--unquestionably a must-have. "We Can't Dance" was originally released in November of 1991, and like other albums from the early '90s that were major commercial successes, you can get this DIRT cheap on CD--if you see this on CD for $3 in a used bin in solid condition, it's an absolute STEAL.

This is, in my opinion, the second best album from Genesis pop era. It have really good and catchy pop tunes, like the excelent "No Son Of Mine", the great "Jesus He Knows Me" the awesome "I Can't Dance" the beautiful "Never A Time", the good "Tell Me Why" the great "Living Forever", the soulfull and beautiful "Hold On My Heart", the grooving "Way Of The World" and the lovely "Since I lost You". There are also tracks in where the band proves that the old school Genesis from Gabriel and Hacket era still lives, like the great "Driving The Last Spike", the bluesy "Dreaming While You Sleep" and the introspective "Fading Lights", of course, mixing the actual pop style of the band, but really good and with powerfull and nice tunes on it. Anyway, it's a great album that I think you should add to your collection, if you like good music!

We Can't Dance is, by virtue of being Genesis' "last" album, always going to be controversial. But I got heavy into Genesis in high school and I find it hard to say much bad about them to this day and age -- even as they were selling out, they were still playing with the formula, from the willful weirdness of "Lamb" and "Trick of the Tail", oddities like "And Then There Were Three" and "Duke" (an album I find, to put it charitably, unapproachable, though "Heathaze" was a surprising favorite), and then the clear musical progression from prog to slamming synth-rock embodied in "Abacab", "Genesis", and "Invisible Touch". And then came We Can't Dance, which, well, just sort of was. And there was I, passed out on the living room floor in the midst of my trig homework, listening to the new Genesis album. And it was good.

The album has its strong parts -- "No Son of Mine" is a gut check on the subject of child abuse and family harmony; "Jesus He Knows Me" is more topical than ever fifteen years later; "Dreaming While You Sleep" is creepy, claustrophobic, and an all-around excellent song; "Fading Lights" is an instrumental tour-de-force that just happens to have lyrics. It has its weak points too. "Living Forever" sounds like a reject from the "Living Years" sessions from Mike + the Mechanics, cleaned up and progified; "Never a Time" and "Tell Me Why" are trite and dull, and should have been left off the album; "Hold On My Heart", a favorite of my days of making mix tapes for girls who would never date me (yes, I was That Guy), has not aged well and makes me stabby. The remainder: "Driving the Last Spike" never quite lives up to its potential, coming off as a bit stoned, but is otherwise an excellent song; "Since I Lost You" is not bad but is very out of place; "Way of the World" is just mediocre.

On the whole, it's a good album, but it sometimes sounds a bit dated, mostly from the heavy emphasis on synthesizers that was already on the way out by the time this album went into production. It's also a very long album, a mistake Bruce Springsteen would make nearly a decade later with "The Rising", also an otherwise good album that simply had too much stuff in it for a person to listen to in a sitting. But, and this is a big but, it's not going to appeal to everyone. Someone who is primarily a fan of Gabriel-era Genesis would probably find it flabby and a bit toothless, while a fan of Collins-era Genesis might wonder what happened to the hyper-edgy synthpop sound of "Genesis" and "Invisible Touch". Ultimately, it's not for all tastes, and really, that's fine. But I liked it, and I still like it now.