They were huge in Britain. The singer (Marc Almond) went on to big acclaim as well. He has an OBE. Wonderful band all 4 of their albums are essential and his solo stuff is all very good as well. One of my favorite singers.
I dusted off "Invisible Touch" this week and played it three or four times in a row. I've always liked "Land of Confusion" and "Tonight Tonight Tonight" but some of the other tracks... sheesh... It's not even that they are bad song, necessarily, but those insipid electronic drums. You have one of the best drummers on the earth and we gotta listen to this Casio garbage. Strangely, I love Genesis' previous records, the self-titled "Shapes" album. That wasn't exactly an organic sounding record either, but it doesn't bother me nearly as much as "Invisible Touch". I'm not opposed to electronics. Bowie's "Low" is one of my favorite records. But by mid-80's a lot of it all started sounding so...gratingly lightweight.... or something...
"80s music is like masturbation, everyone loves it, not everyone admits to it" - Pete Fijalkowski - Adorable
The 80's was like a smorgasbord of pop hits. There was so much music to grasp. Staggering amount of new music what have you, for the times.
I agree with that. I keep saying that Stock/Aitken/Waterman ran the decade into the ground by constantly repeating the same formula over and over, but bands like Genesis also veered a bit too far into the artificial for it to stay attractive far longer. Clapton's mid-80s albums haven't aged well, etc.
I like it once the drums kick in and it starts really moving but I hate having to waste 5 minutes to get there.
It's kind of funny that many who lambast music of the 80s name as examples 60s and 70s artists that changed their sound. For many of us, there were a lot of great new bands in the 80s. Just sayin'. And I was a teen from 73-79.
I like 80's stuff! I instantly became addicted to Mtv when we first got it, and a lot of the stuff was that 80's synth, English bands.
Jumping back on this thread and the remarks about Phil Collins & drum machines amused me.... Only because last night I watched the documentary "808" about the legendary Roland drum machine. (It's free on Amazon Prime.) In addition to all the many (MANY) hip-hop producers and dance guys who are interviewed (including Rick Rubin, Hank Shocklee, Todd Terry, Afrika Bambaataa, and the two surviving Beastie Boys)..... Who pops up but PHIL COLLINS!! Say what you will about Phil's production choices in the 80s, but he was incredibly forward-thinking when it came to the then-nascent technology of drum machines. The Roland CR-78 is all over some Genesis tracks (particularly "Man On The Corner") while "In The Air Tonight" might be the most famous use of a CR-78 preset in recording history. The 808 was actually used as the rhythm for "One More Night".... which isn't a song I particularly like, but I'll give credit to Phil for having a #1 hit in 1985 with a drum machine that had only, until that point, been used on underground hip-hop and club tracks. (And "Planet Rock," of course.)
I believe a drum machine was used on Huey Lewis and the heir track "Bad Is Bad" on the Sports album recorded in 1981--1983. Listen to Huey talk about this just before performing "Bad Is Bad" live 8/31/1987. Huey uses a drum machine in this live performance. Sports
...pretty much. I love synths and 80's music, but these two developments - and overly sharp-sounding and rigidly programmed digital drum machines - killed it for me. Happened circa 1987 or so.
Oh, this was bad. This was so bad, I wanted to burn my Velvet Underground records. That’s how bad it was. How many drugs was Lou on? How many drugs was Lou not on?
