Continuing my look at the albums of 1986…
I pulled together my top ten albums of 1986 pretty quickly, and while I stand behind it (especially the top six), I might make a couple of adjustments with the hindsight two weeks has provided.
One change I would definitely make is to include Genesis’ Invisible Touch in the lineup. It was on my long list, but when the time came to cut down to six it inexplicably missed the cut.
The band’s 13th and most successful album, Invisible Touch is packed with both hits and innovation. Like all of their records, it was conceived in the studio through improvisational jams that were later pieced together into songs.
The album featured five tracks that reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, making Genesis the first band to achieve that feat. The songs were ‘Invisible Touch,’ ‘Throwing It All Away,’ ‘In Too Deep,’ ‘Land of Confusion,’ and ‘Tonight, Tonight, Tonight.’ Soft rock, art rock, pop rock, pick your poison. This album delivers it all.
The title track became the band’s first and only #1 hit in the U.S. This was in the middle of a mid-80s run where Phil Collins topped the chart seven times as a solo artist. He has come to be appreciated more in recent years, but it’s hard to overestimate his commercial songwriting and performing instincts.
That solo success ultimately meant the end of Genesis. The band released one more album with Collins as frontman, 1991’s We Can’t Dance. Their final effort was 1997’s Calling All Stations, with Ray Wilson on lead vocals.
I’ve never taken the time to dig into Genesis’ Peter Gabriel era, but I find it hard to imagine Invisible Touch isn’t their finest moment.
Well, I’ve been waiting
Waiting here so long
But thinking nothing
Nothing could go wrong
Ooh now I know
[Pre-Chorus]
She has a built-in ability
To take everything she sees
And now it seems I’m falling
Falling for her
[Chorus]
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart
[Verse 2]
Well, I don’t really know her
I only know her name
Ooh, but she crawls under your skin
You’re never quite the same
And now I know
[Pre-Chorus]
She’s got something you just can’t trust
An’ it’s something mysterious
And now it seems I’m falling
Falling for her
[Chorus]
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart
[Verse 3]
Well, she don’t like losing
To her, it’s still a game
And though she will mess up your life
You’ll want her just the same
And now I know
[Pre-Chorus]
She has a built-in ability
To take everything she sees
And now it seems I’ve fallen
Fallen for her
[Chorus]
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart
[Outro]
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
(She seems to have an invisible touch)
She seems to have an invisible touch, oh-oh-oh
Meet Me In Montauk 
Clay, if you do a dive into Gabriel-era Genesis you will find a very different band, with a very different orientation, than Collins-era Genesis. In those years, say 1967-74, Genesis was very much a progressive/art rock group (think Yes, or Gentle Giant) that developed stage shows with different characters played mostly by Gabriel, and long, almost operatic pieces. Those were actually my favorite Genesis years, culminating with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974. There is an exhaustive (and a little exhausting) account of the bands changes on Wikipedia if you’re in the mood.
Reb
As Rob suggested, a deeper dive into Genesis’s discography, including the Peter Gabriel years, would prove rewarding. While I do like the more commercially accessible Collins-led alums better, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is worth a listen. Also, while Invisible Touch was quite good, I actually like Abacab a bit more, and Duke and the self-titled Genesis albums have great stuff on them as well.
I agree with the extreme difference in the Peter Gabriel & Phil Collins eras. Two totally different bands. I like them both — just very different.