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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best in breed - and aging well!, August 25, 2005
It's easy to kick Phil Collins around, Lord knows, making him out to be a sap-meister, or worse yet, a corporate shill. But "Invisible Touch" is the moment in between the end of Genesis as prog-rock pioneeers and the ascendancy of Collins as soft-rock staple (and all the baggage that brings) where Collins actually truly shines. Having listened to this album for the first time in nearly a decade, I am eerily surprised at how good this album still sounds. "Land of Confusion", which at time of release could be deemed a bit over-the-top, sounds far more relevant today than ever. The men of steel, the men of power, are losing control by the hour, indeed.
But the real highlight, apart from "Land of Confusion" and "Domino", is actually the balladeering, which - after this album for Collins - just becomes overly saccharine. There's some transcendent quality to both "In Too Deep" and "Throwing it All Away" that save them from the schlock factor of that horrific Tarzan song. When Collins sings "Who will light up the darkness/Who will hold your hand/Who will find you the answers/When you don't understand", it's done in a way that is simple and effective, and not the amp-the-hystrionics-up-to-level-11 way. And it's actually quite lovely, really.
Chalk it up to the playing power of Banks and Rutherford - and to the perfect amount of restraint. It succeeds quite amply, and for the AOR genre, this is clearly best-of-breed.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
staggeringly brilliant; this is classic Genesis--catchy, dramatic, emotional, August 21, 2005
Genesis released "Invisible Touch" in mid-1986, and what an incredible album it is, once again putting their one-of-a-kind knack for powerful, intelligent music on full display.
Phil Collins was a full-blown superstar at this point. His 1985 solo album "No Jacket Required" had been a huge smash, and in addition to the hit singles from that album, he scored smash hits with the 1984 soundtrack song "Against All Odds", as well as his 1984 Philip Bailey duet "Easy Lover". However, the superstardom didn't throw Phil off track in the slightest as far as continuing to make great music was concerned. I want to add also that Phil Collins is NOT running the show alone on here--keyboardist Tony Banks is a genius, and his distinctive compositional brilliance and masterful keyboard layers all over such tracks as "Tonight Tonight Tonight" and "The Brazilian".
Again, this album was produced by Genesis & Hugh Padgham, and without a doubt, the production is slick, but to excellent effect--the album packs a load of punch, & their compositional creativity is still in full force, which is saying a lot. It's simply hard to get away from using words such as "dramatic" and "arresting" when talking about this album. No one should be ashamed to like this music.
Yes, the album opening title track is a somewhat sugary pop song, but it's still a lot of fun with its tunefulness & catchy riff. The album's next track, the epic rock ballad "Tonight Tonight Tonight", is an arrestingly dramatic masterpiece of a track that plays like a sequence of movie scenes, with its ominous drum machine loop, the variety of sections and dynamics including the creepy instrumental bridge, the ultra-crafty siren imitations by Tony Banks & Mike Rutherford on keyboard & guitar respectively, & the soaring, powerful vocals from Collins (and by the way, hell with the buthered radio edit of this song). "In the Glow of the Night" is wistful & gorgeous with a couple of dramatic, pleading sections seamlessly incorporated. There are two masterful, splendidly melodic ballads--the tender, soothing "In To Deep"; and the sighing "Throwing It All Away". The driving "Anything She Does" is an incredibly fun, unbelievably catchy uptempo pop-rock song with amusing supermodel-oriented lyrics that are right on the money, and the synth horns on it sound remarkably like the real thing. The album closing instrumental "The Brazilian" is a packed with arresting, dramatic hooks and a chilling atmosphere.
The mid '80s have in retrospect become notorious for overproduction in music; even Mike Rutherford's 'side project' band Mike + the Mechanics very much fell prey to this. "Invisible Touch" on the other hand manages to seriously steer clear of this problem. "Anything She Does" for instance, with its crisp pristine sound, will make a stereo salesperson drool.
I realize that this album was a huge international hit, quickly selling in the multi-millions and spinning off FIVE top 10 US hits. Even non-singles like "Anything She Does" got a considerable amount of rock radio airplay. I think the huge commercial success plays a large part in why certain people feel such a need to put "Invisible Touch" down, whether it's out of hostility, or just because they're sick of most of the songs.
Looking past all the radio play and beer commercials, "Invisible Touch" is an album that's so brilliant, it's quite hard for me to see how any serious listener could seriously trash it. I mean, even if you hate the title track for its sugariness, what about the rest of the album? The hooks are consistently deathless, & the group's incredible musicality is on full display. To say this is a must-have album would be an understatement--"Invisible Touch" is a brilliant album from one of the greatest bands ever, Genesis.
(P.S. Seemingly unstoppable, Genesis left three essential tracks from the "Invisible Touch" sessions off the album, all of which are now available on the "Archive #2" box set--the powerful, dynamic "Feeding The Fire"; the high-speed, riff-crazy instrumental "Do The Neurotic"; and the bouncy, insanely catchy pop-rocker "I'd Rather Be You". "Feeding The Fire" and "Do The Neurotic" were also released on a CD single for "Land Of Confusion".)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pop perfection!, June 8, 2004
By A Customer
I think it's one of the very best pop records ever made! Not only considering the musicians involved, but also the ideas that was appearing in the decade it was made! Phil, Mike and Tony, the Genesis, did an incredible work on this one. There's no one person who lived in the 80's and don't remember classics like Invisible Touch or Land of Confusion. But the one I really like in here is Throwing it All Away, a very beautiful slow song! Domino is more an old Genesis approach, it's like progressive pop, and it's also a winner song. Check it out!
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