Vinyl of the Week - 25 OCTOBER 2020

Invisible Touch, Genesis

This week I thought we would take a look at a band that was huge in the 80’s and the album that broke the rules of songwriting (as well as a few records). That band is Genesis. The album, Invisible Touch. Released in 1986, it had a very different sound to the big guitar bands that were dominating the charts at the time. Genesis had been on a break so each band member could pursue their own solo projects. Mike Rutherford had his band ‘Mike and the Mechanics’, Phil Collins had just released ‘No Jacket Required’ and the rumours in the press were that Genesis were over. The band responded with their most successful album ever. As with their previous album, the band approached the recording in a very unconventional way, bringing nothing to the studio except themselves. With no pre-prepared music or ideas, they simply jammed and improvised, capturing everything on cassette tape. Listening back, they would pick out the best parts and arrange them into songs. The result was an album full of diverse sounds and different styles, tied together by Phil’s distinctive vocals. Upon it’s release, the album was criticised for being “another Phil Collins record” with little discernible input from Rutherford and Banks, but Genesis fans didn’t agree. It was a worldwide success, reaching number one on the UK charts and number three on the US Billboard. Five tracks became singles, making Genesis the only band outside the US to achieve this (a record that still stands to this day). The musical landscape of this album is an ever-changing one, full of instrumental exploration and some of the best percussive sounds ever recorded. I think this is the reason it still holds up today. A true classic and definitely one to rediscover - DS