#invisible touch

[cosmonautroger]

Genesis, Invisible Touch, 1986

[writerxwren]

These idiots are WAY too much fun to write for, idk why it took me so long 🤣

Ava swung around in her seat and flashed John a smug grin she knew would piss him off. “If you wanted control of the music you should’ve gotten to the car faster.” “You jumped in front of me with your stupid Ghost powers!” “Nobody likes a sore loser, John.” “We’ve been listening to this same song for the past twenty minutes! If I hear that damn ‘Wake me up inside’ chorus one more time–” “I like the Evanescence,” Alexei interrupted. “That Amy Lee, she is good singer.” “I don’t know whether I should be proud or embarrassed,” Yelena piped up from the rear-facing back seat. “Stop encouraging her!” John cried. “If we have to do angsty rock music or whatever could we at least switch to a different artist?” “I like Paramore,” Bob said. “No! Anything but them–” Yelena whirled around to face him. “I’m sorry, what the hell do you have against Paramore?” “Nothing, it’s just that your dad will start screaming ‘all I wanted was you’ off-key again and I do not want to relive our last karaoke night okay–” “If I am recalling correctly, I remember very off-key performance of ‘Dancing Queen’ from yours truly, Walker–” “I was not off-key, and it was actually ‘The Winner Takes It All’–” “ALRIGHT!” Bucky bellowed. “Ava, why don’t we just go back to Fleetwood Mac. Nobody has a problem with that, right?” He was met with a series of overlapping mumbles as Ava, smirking, scrolled through the app and tapped the Fleetwood Mac artist icon.

[stone-cold-groove]

From the Invisible Touch album, a U.K. recording industry promotional ad for the Genesis single, Tonight, Tonight, Tonight as well as the U.K. tour dates - 1987.

[phenisada]

happy invisible touch thursday

[admiralgiggles]

Songs that turn 40 in 2026 😭

[sink-up]

Tony 😭😭😭

[myimaginaryradio]

Invisible Touch - Genesis

[hiddenintheyard]

This year Genesis' A Trick of a Tail and Wind & Wuthering albums turn 50, and Invisible Touch turns 40 years old. I love all of these albums and I especially love how different they are.

Trick and W&W came out the same year, was done by the same people and yet they feel and sound different. Trick is more open sounding album, with both jazzy and beatles-esque elements, complemented by beautiful piano, guitar and mellotron touches. It definetly has this picturesque, story book, almost victorian vibe that is perfectly captured by the cover and the supplementing art. It's full of confidence, has a strong group writing element, together with the "let's put our individualistic bits together" writing approach. It's almost the only time and definetly the most successful attempt at putting together Banks and Rutherford song parts - although very importantly Phil Collins was present as both of an arranger and performer.

W&W has a very hazy and thick feel. (And worse mix.) It's drowning in synths. It's more unapproachable and fragmanted. Phil's jazz fusion influence is in its most concentrated form, his playing relays more on groove and rhythm and heavy power, and less on melodic wandering and light touches. It's more "romantic" and "feminine" sounding, but at the same time (!) heavier than Trick. There is a clearer separation between Banks & Rutherford - they brought in less bits and made more individual songs; and interestingly the two of them never wrote alone despite being the "songwriting pillars" of the band in the 70s. Unlike Trick, the sessions also produce more songs they can put on the record, so much more, they actually release an EP for the first time - which also means, that together with the individualistic songwriting approach, there was more conflict about tracklist, resulting in Steve Hackett - who never really integrated personally or musically into the core trio - leaving the band not much later. The wonderful album cover has an autumnal&winter feel, but ties back to Trick with it's attempt to evoke an "ancient, past" time ie. the Brontë sisters era.

And they are wonderfully different from Invisible Touch. Long gone the 70s and any other members but the core trio of Collins/Rutherford/Banks. There is no individual song writing approach anymore. We are fully embracing the "let's randomly improvise and see if it will start to make sense". Despite it's being tight synth-pop/rock perfection and a hit, the album is not laboured over at all. It has a little cold and calculated quality, yet it's melodicism and quirkiness and fantastic production with plenty of space in it with little details paint athmosoheric soundscape. But while some proggy ethos remains, this is a band who completely and successfully reinvented itself; you have this trio making up the core of their 70s music too, but their ability of reinvention is an art itself. It also has a cover art I guess... it's white at least, confirming the fact that the Genesis albums which have white covers are great.