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.