Phil Collins, the peak of Genesis with “Invisible Touch”

The history of Genesis has famously had two faces. Trivializing: in the Seventies the English band was among the best examples of prog rock which was experiencing its period of greatest splendor, while in the Eighties the group was, according to many, the example of the most harmful pop expressed in that decade: with the aggravating circumstance of having the artistic glories of the previous decade behind us. Indeed an album like “Trespass” (1970) and a song like “Invisible touch” (1986) seem polar opposites.

Phil Collins he made his debut in the group playing drums on the album “Nursery Cryme” of 1971 and became its replacement singer Peter Gabriel starting from “A Trick of the Tail” in 1976. This is to say that the now 73 year old Phil Collins has more than one title to express a judgment on the band. Well, in his opinion, Genesis reached their peak as a group with the album “Invisible Touch”.

Early fans don't recognize the pop breakthrough of their favorites, Phil Collins believes that there is not that much difference between the production of their first decade and that which came later.

According to Collins, the success was a result of the songs being more in focus: “We were just writing how we felt at the time. We weren't trying to be commercial. That's exactly how it went on that record. Each of those songs, “Invisible Touch”, “Land of Confusion”, “Tonight Tonight Tonight”, were all Top Five in the United States. I think the 1985-86 tour was our first stadium tour. It opened up a whole new world. That was probably our peak.”

In some ways Phil Collins he's right. In fact, it was probably difficult even for them to think of a song like “Tonight Tonight Tonight”almost nine minutes long, could reach the top of the rankings.