Published on Apr 29, 1998
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And then
God said, “Let there be light”…and there was light. And then God
said, “Let there be music reviews”…so he created Christopher
Thelen. God looked at what he created and said, “Oh no…”
[Chris’s note: Very funny, Tom… you’re fired…]
Most people would recognize this “slightly altered” passage from
the first book of the Bible, Genesis. And that is where we begin
our musical journey today… Genesis’s 1986 release
Invisible Touch.
This album takes Genesis all over the musical spectrum, starting
with bubblegum pop songs like the title cut. From the start, this
song was destined to top the charts. I can remember where I was
when “Invisible Touch” went to number one. I was stuck in a traffic
jam on Interstate 65 in northern Indiana. The number two song that
week was held by the former lead singer of Genesis — Peter Gabriel
singing “Sledgehammer.”
Songs like “Invisible Touch,” “In Too Deep” and “Throwing It All
Away” lend themselves to adult contemporary music. You will still
find them in heavy rotation at radio stations across the
country.
The interesting thing about the song “Invisible Touch” is the
video. Once again Phil Collins has made a video about making a
video. This seems to be a recurring theme. Let’s
see……”Invisible Touch,” “Easy Lover” (with Philip Bailey) , “I
Can’t Dance,” “Don’t Lose That Number”…..I know there are more,
but why go on?
“Anything She Does” is a high paced, high tempo song that leaves
the listener gasping for breath at the end. Anyone attempting to
air-drum will be completely exhausted by the end. There is an
interesting two-part song on the album called “Domino.” This song
changes gears faster and more often than a NASCAR driver on a road
course. Drivers, beware!
Now, let’s talk about beer. Many years ago a beer company who
will remain nameless used the second cut, entitled “Tonight Tonight
Tonight,” for a commercial. It never has and never will influence
me to buy beer… especially the river water they pass off as beer.
But everyone still associates the song with the commercial, so I
guess the ad executives did their job well. I must also mention the
number of times the word “tonight” is spoken in the song. I counted
51 times! (Yes, I have that much free time on my hands) After the
ass-ripping review that Chris gave to an Iron Maiden song that
repeated the same lyric over and over, I thought this fact might be
worth bringing up.
Entering “Land Of Confusion”: This is probably the best song on
the album. Finally, Collins gives us some serious drum work and not
something off a preprogrammed drum machine. Good guitar work from
Mike Rutherford adds to this fine piece of work. If you haven’t
seen the video for this one, check it out. It is in the rotation
for “Pop Up Video” on VH-1.
Wrapping up the album is an excellent instrumental, “The
Brazilian.” Tony Banks’s keyboard work is perfect and the song will
always stick in my head. This track has reared its head in
countless TV shows during the ’80s; I won’t name them because I
don’t want to admit I watched the shows…..
In a nutshell…. Serious rockers, avoid this like the plague,
what you want is not here. Easy listening or adult contempory —
watch for speed bumps and holes in the road. Mainstream — jump in,
the water’s great. Not the best work from Genesis, but good enough
to line their pockets with unholy gobs of cash.