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Invisible Touch

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Untitled

Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by Genesis, released in 1986. It reached #1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide. It received generally favourable reviews from critics and produced five US Top 5 singles, including the title track which reached the #1 spot on the US chart, the only song by Genesis ever to have reached the top spot in the USA.

The album was structured to appeal to both newer and older Genesis fans, with radio-friendly singles like "Land of Confusion" and the title track for pop fans, and longer tracks like "The Brazilian" and "Domino" aimed more towards fans of the band's progressive rock style of the 1970s.

A SACD and DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) was released in October 2007.

Lyrics

Some of the lyrics on this album are among Genesis' rare attempts at social and political commentary, with "Domino" evoking a nightmarish nuclear war scenario and "Land of Confusion" commenting satirically on the political turmoil of the Reagan/Thatcher/Gorbachev era. A widely acclaimed video for "Land of Confusion", featuring the Spitting Image puppets, was nominated for MTV's Video of the Year Award, but lost to former lead singer Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", another hit song from the album, dealt with drug addiction, while "Anything She Does" took a humorous yet subtle look at pornography.

Reception

Catching Genesis at their commercial peak, Invisible Touch was an instant UK #1, while it reached #3 in the US and went six times platinum there. The album was supported by the 1986-87 Invisible Tour, a concert video of which was released in 1988 and on DVD in 2003.

Cut songs

Three songs were cut from the album and subsequently released as B-sides: "Feeding the Fire" (on "Land of Confusion"), "I'd Rather Be You" (on "Throwing It All Away"), and "Do the Neurotic" (on "In Too Deep"). Both "Feeding the Fire" and "Do the Neurotic" were written by Tony Banks, while "I'd Rather Be You" was written by Phil Collins. In interviews promoting Invisible Touch, both Tony and Phil stated that they felt that there may have been enough room on the album for these tracks, but they had to pick and choose which songs they felt to be a better fit to the overall sound of the album.

Song creation

During the writing process, "Invisible Touch", produced through improvisation, became a stand-alone piece. It was originally conceived by Tony Banks as a part of the "Domino" suite. Phil began singing over the keyboard parts that Tony had written and "Invisible Touch" became a separate song entirely.

In the film American Psycho, protagonist Patrick Bateman proclaims that Invisible Touch is the group's "undisputed masterpiece", going on at length about its virtues to two prostitutes he has hired for the evening. The scene represents a chapter in the Bret Easton Ellis novel where Bateman muses about the significance of the album. [1]

During the late 1980s, instrumental excerpts from the track 'Domino' were used on the BBC TV sports programme Grandstand, as a bed over which presenter Desmond Lynam previewed what was coming up in that day's programme.

"The Brazilian" is used in the television show Magnum, P.I. episode titled "Unfinished Business". "Tonight Tonight Tonight" was used in the Season 7 episode "Laura" which featured Frank Sinatra in his last acting role.

"Land of Confusion" was used in the final episode of the 1980s cop show Miami Vice (in which Phil Collins periodically played a minor role) called "Freefall" and was applied as the characters of the show Crockett (Don Johnson) and Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) were in the middle of a stakeout. The song implied the complexity of the story during the finale.

"In Too Deep" was used in the 1986 film Mona Lisa starring Bob Hoskins.

Track listing

All music by Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford.

Side one

  1. "Invisible Touch" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 3:27
  2. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 8:53
  3. "Land of Confusion" (lyrics: Mike Rutherford) – 4:45
  4. "In Too Deep" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 4:58

Side two

  1. "Anything She Does" (lyrics: Tony Banks) – 4:07
  2. "Domino" (lyrics: Tony Banks) – 10:42
    • "In the Glow of the Night" – 4:27
    • "The Last Domino" – 6:15
  3. "Throwing It All Away" (lyrics: Mike Rutherford) – 3:49
  4. "The Brazilian" (instrumental) – 4:49

Working titles for the album

Before Invisible Touch was released, three songs had working titles. Below is a list of the original song working titles and finalized song titles (in parentheses):

  • Monkey Zulu (Tonight, Tonight, Tonight)
  • Snake (Anything She Does)
  • Zephyr (Throwing It All Away)
  • Savage (The Brazilian)

Remastered

  1. Invisible Touch 3.29
  2. Tonight Tonight Tonight 8.53
  3. Land of Confusion 4.47
  4. In Too Deep 5.02
  5. Anything She Does 4.20
  6. Domino 10.45
  7. Throwing It All Away 3.51
  8. The Brazilian 4.50

Singles

Personnel

Tour

Genesis toured in support of the Invisible Touch album between September, 1986 and July 1987.

Setlist

  1. "Mama"
  2. "Abacab"
  3. "Land Of Confusion"
  4. "That's All"
  5. "Domino (Part 1: In the Glow of the Night-Part 2: The Last Domino)"
  6. "In Too Deep"
  7. "The Brazilian"
  8. "Follow You Follow Me"
  9. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"
  10. "Home by the Sea"/"Second Home by the Sea"
  11. "Throwing It All Away"
  12. "In the Cage"*+/"...In That Quiet Earth"*/"Supper's Ready" (Apocalypse in 9/8 and "As Sure As Eggs is Eggs" sections)*
  13. "Invisible Touch"
  14. "Drum Duet"
  15. "Los Endos"*+

Encore

  1. "Turn It On Again (Medley)"*

On the Australian leg, the song "Your Own Special Way" was performed for the first time since 1977. The 1987 US and European legs of the tour saw the "Supper's Ready" section of the "In the Cage" medley dropped in favor of "Afterglow"*+. Also, the key of "Throwing It All Away" was dropped from C# to C. Also the key of "Land of Confusion" lowered from E Flat Minor to C# Minor. Finally, the songs "In Too Deep" and "Follow You Follow Me" were dropped completely.

Band

with

Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1986 The Billboard 200 3

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1986 "Anything She Does" Mainstream Rock Tracks 40
"Domino, Pt. 1 - In The Glow Of The Night/Pt. 2 - The Last Domino" Mainstream Rock Tracks 29
"In Too Deep" Mainstream Rock Tracks 25
"Invisible Touch" Adult Contemporary 3
Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
Billboard Hot 100 1
"Land of Confusion" Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
Billboard Hot 100 4
"Throwing It All Away" Adult Contemporary 1
Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
Billboard Hot 100 4
1987 "In Too Deep" Adult Contemporary 1
Billboard Hot 100 3
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" Adult Contemporary 8
Mainstream Rock Tracks 9
Billboard Hot 100 3
Preceded by UK number one album
21 June 1986 – 11 July 1986 		Succeeded by
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