GENESIS

Having given this a few half-hearted listens, I really wonder why people give such flak to Genesis' suceeding album 'Invisible Touch.' That album - while not truly being progressive - still had some catchy, intelligently written tracks, experimental instrumental work ('The Brazillian') and an epic of sorts to boot ('Domino.') I can listen to 'Invisible Touch' and appreciate it. This album, despite apparently being more tolerable by general consensus, is far worse, and possibly one of the worst albums I own in my collection.

Firstly on a positive note, it's not as if this album is totally without merit, it's just not meritable enough to be worth a listen. It's clear that there are points on the album that the band really tried to climb to heights of past glory (like the 10 minute track 'Home By The Sea') but unlike the epic on 'Invisible Touch' (which I consider a fantastic track) 'Home By The Sea' fails to generate any real interest for me. It's very bland, although unfortunately enough, it's one of the most musically sincere, non-offensive moments of the album.

'That's All' is probably the most well-known track on this album. The style of production on the album really seems to get to me here, as the mixing on the drums seems as if it's trying to drown out everything else out. The songwriting itself for this particular track is not bad at all, but it's not a song I would really give more than a few listens, besides the occasional absent-minded listen on the radio.

'Mama' also seems a bit interesting at the beginning, but it drags on far too long, without enough musical meat to keep it's engine running smoothly.

Onto the 'worse' side of things, we have a whole multitude of mediocrity. In fact, there's only one 'bad' song that I'm even going to bother mentioning. Genesis stands as being one of the greatest prog rock bands of all time, and there is one song on this album that has to be one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life, but also terribly memorable and catchy, if only for it's awful pallour.

That song is 'Illegal Alien.'

As well as being infectiously catchy, it's one of the most horrid, offensive pop songs ever written. In essence, in the span of a few minutes, Phil Collins manages to insult the Mexican/Latino race in every way imaginable. He takes the stereotype of the 'lazy mexican' to heart, and writes a song about it, going as far as including in his lyrics; an offer for a 'sexual favour' from the narrator's sister, to help him across the border. To top things off, Phil Collins coats this offense with a fake Mexican accent; as if the lyrics weren't enough.

There's alot of mediocrity on this album, but if only for 'Illegal Alien,' it has to be one of the most horrid albums I've ever listened to.

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