This is the broadcast, and there is nothing that seems wrong with this at all. Also it doesn't seem like Phil is anything but normal here ... not really sure where this criticism comes from and what it is actually based on. Genesis - The Album by Album Thread
On most of the recordings I have heard of this tour the band were on fire & revelling in the back to basics theatre aspect of the tour. They were brilliant at Bradford for sure.
This tour is actually the first time I ever got to see the band. I went from a casual fan with three albums (ATTWT, Nursery Cryme & Genesis) to a pretty big fan of the band. They were great, even if the concert wasn't the track list I would have preferred
I missed talking about “I’d Rather Be You” earlier since I wasn’t expecting it to pop up as a B-side to “In Too Deep” somewhere (was it really?) Anyway- this has the dubious distinction of being the last Genesis song I managed to hear, in about 1994/5? I’d collected up enough cash to buy all the albums available up to that point and all the other B-sides had arrived in my earholes and been enjoyed by means of 7” singles found in my local record shop. But somehow the necessary “Throwing It all Away” single was never there. So I did the only thing available to me at that time, and answered an advertisement in the back of “Record Collector” where someone had the TIAA 12” single for sale. A week or so later, it was mine... ... and I couldn’t stand the song. What on Earth was this bouncy rubbish? The sound quality seemed abysmal. And was that an autoharp or something? It was like “Genesis goes pop country” to me, and I filed it under “worst Genesis song” for ages. These days, I can assess it rationally along with the other B-sides, where it stands up fine, though I still think it’s the weakest of the IT-era AND even though I have it now on CD in oringal and remixed forms, I still think it sounds *weird*, like they were all hiding under a blanket when they recorded it on a portable cassette recorder or something.
I get the impression that the b-sides were swapped between In Too Deep and Throwing it All Away for the UK and US releases. Not really sure why, just one of those record company peculiarities
“Throwing It All Away” is the best track on the album by some distance for me. It’s the only song I immediately want to hear again after I play it. Whereas “In Too Deep” seems insincere to me, this one doesn’t at all. The lyrics are simple but honest and heartfelt, and the melody is wonderful. My favorite part is the never-repeated “I watch the world go round and round” bit that comes up before the first instrumental break; I want to hear a whole song made out of just that part! This track is easily the equivalent of “Follow You Follow Me” and has a similar pace, particularly on the guitar led instrumental sections. The band sounds human for once here on the album, with the annoying electronics kept to a minimum where they can serve the music rather than overwhelm it. This is the keeper from Invisible Touch and, next to “Please Don’t Ask” and “Your Own Special Way”, the best love song by Genesis.
Throwing It All Away - For starters, it sounds like a Mechanics track. I can picture one of the Paul's singing lead on it. None the less, it's a stellar ballad with a good hook. By the time 'I watch the world go round...' lyric comes around, I'm already singing along. Every time. Some cases, I end the album here as it feels like a proper album closer with 'The Brazilian' being a mere postscript. The video - I rather like the video. A quick and dirty documentary and book ends the IT video:
I find this ballad pretty unbearable. I skip it every time, except when too lazy. The thin guitar intro is an immediate turn-off, like it's obvious nothing interesting is going to happen. Worse still is the vocal melody which is sung in a very mannered calypso rhythmic twang, like Sting or something. The chorus: banal beyond belief. But catchy, I'll give it that. The only good use of that song I know was a Genesis documentary where it's playing during the episode when Phil leaves Genesis. He was throwing it all away. Further points off because I always confuse that title with "Taking it all too hard", a ballad I actually love. I guess "Throwing It All Away" is one of those 80'es ballads where 'you had to be there' to really appreciate it, like "Home Sweet Home". One that recalls a specific emotion of an era rather than the actual musical merit.
Throwing It All Away. I really like the chord changes during the chorus. They're interesting and inventive and really help push the feel of the track. The rest of the song is just meh.
Melodically, the first part strikes me as vaguely reminiscent of something that might be on The Lamb. I know - nothing else about the song does that at all, so it's kind of a weird reference.
Throwing It All Away ... top track, that. Great little guitar riff, catchy, organic sound, lovely backing vocals. --Geoff
Not my favorite Mike lyric, but still good. I like the song, it's fine enough and I'll play it randomly, but I will say Mike seems to like doing the love song lyric quite a lot. It's just this one feels the least "pretty" if that makes sense. It's like if Follow You Follow Me got over arranged or something.
I don't like the "Throwing It All Away" live intro, it cheapens a great piece of songwriting. What a fabulous melody and, as mentioned before, the lyrics flow beautifully (except perhaps the last verse). But wow, every part is incredibly hooky. A very underrated song, one of Phil's best vocal performances.
It is also by far my favorite song on the album, and I planned to compare it to FYFM before reading your post as they are both based around cool cyclic guitar licks. The only track on this album I would say I love.
I don’t mind the live intro, but whatever its shortcomings, the chords Banks starts to play just before the song actually kicks in are a terrific segue. But I don’t like that Mike doesn’t (is unable to?) play the song’s guitar riff live exactly as it is on record. The song is diminished by that concession.
The Brazilian This is the band showing us where they are at this point in time. They are experimenting with sounds, that's just their new thing. This track sounds like a soundtrack piece from a movie that doesn't exist. That isn't a criticism, just an observation. We start with a percussive cornerstone and Tony has a nice little synth sound going on that he put a nice gentle bend on. A synth pad comes up underneath and then we break into the main theme. For a minute it sounds like there's no guitar in it, but then at the end of the first section you hear a heavily effected guitar sitting in there. There is a small section that seems to mark time and then we have the main melody again and we move back into the percussive section and back into that main melody again. This is the structure of the song, interlude, main melody, interlude, main melody etc. We come to an extended main melody and then we get Mike putting in some really nice guitar. This section has that building feel and gives this little piece a little bit of substance. This isn't the most exciting instrumental the band ever did, but it works nicely in its own way. The band has spent the album experimenting with sounds and this track is no different, but this track is a little less likely to be released as a single obviously. I think this works well, and is effective at setting a mood and leading us out of the album.
Obviously this album is somewhat controversial, but I really don't see why, the band just follow the path they have made ever so clear since the Duke album. It is immersed in sounds and production from the era and is certainly a product of its time, but that isn't a bad thing, unless of course you aren't one that likes production and sounds from the eighties. This is by no means my favourite Genesis album, not even top five, but it is an excellent album. That ranking thing ... Excellent Tonight Tonight Tonight Land Of Confusion Throwing It All Away Good Invisible Touch In Too Deep Domino Anything She Does Brazilian
The Brazilian is the only track I like on the album, but even that is tarnished by the infamous 80s production. Its just not aesthetically pleasing to me. And I may be giving a bit of a pass to The Brazilian because it always reminded me of "Charm" from Bank's Fugitive album, only much more bombastic. And I love Charm.
This feels pretty aimless and Tony uses some really odd synth patches that don't do much for me. Not a favorite. About the production - early 80s production was fantastic, for a ton of bands. Around mid 80s is when it started to become an issue almost everywhere it felt like. Abacab has fantastic production in terms of it's overall makeup. Invisible Touch feels like a product of the 80s not because of it's songs, it just feels like someone came and sprayed Genesis with some cleaning solution and everything is so bright that it ends up making the music much less distinct, and way more a product of it's era. Excellent Tonight Tonight Tonight Good Domino Throwing it All Away In Too Deep Okay Invisible Touch The Brazilian Anything She Does No thanks Land of Confusion
Excellent Tonight Tonight Tonight Good Land Of Confusion Domino In Too Deep The Brazilian Meh Invisible Touch Throwing It All Away Anything She Does
To me the "chorus" melody sounds like it contains a bit of Bryan Adams' Summer Of 69 ... "those were the days we thought would last forever". I like the percussive effects ... and the way it builds up to the guitar at the end. But it does get kinda repetitive, and I don't like the big cymbal crashes on every beat. Needs moar big drum fills, maybe. --Geoff
Excellent Throwing It All Away Land Of Confusion Good Domino The Brazillian Tonight^3 In Too Deep Nuke It From Orbit, It's The Only Way To Be Sure Invisabamal Touch Anything She Does Overall my estimation of this album has gone up, although I still don't like the production, and I still hate the opening pop songs on each side. --Geoff
Brazilian is fairly innocuous, some interesting bits, but cant say I love it. Fairly repetitive. Some coll dark chords and sounds. The main interest for me comes when the lead guitar is in for last 90 seconds Excellent Throwing It All Away (Rather Be You) (Do the Neurotic) Very Good In Too Deep The Last Domino Good Brazilian Invisible Touch (Feeding the Fire) Turn That Crap Off Tonight x3 Confusion Anything Replace the last three with the B sides in parentheses and I would overall rate the album "very good" In its current state: "fair to poor" - cause you have to wait so long to get to anything I really want to hear.
Well, I love “The Brazilian”. I don’t think Genesis has done another instrumental track like it - mostly based on texture, rhythm and sound rather than flashy playing. (Maybe “Submarine?”) I love the dark chords, the clattering percussion and then Mike’s understated but effective guitar lines towards the end. (It also works well with the album art to my mind, like I was saying about “Domino.”)
