Around that time, from what I observed, Phil was pretty much was Adult Contemporary radio fodder. It was one the reasons why I fell out of favor with him and Genesis. It was rather annoying having to hear the ballads on rotation, knowing he has some excellent songs that were fun and up tempo.
Ha, yep- the next one has my least favourite Genesis song ever on it , but I bet it isn’t the same as whatever else anyone says is the worst song on that album
As dire as Whodunnit is, That's All is worse, and I Can't Dance ain't that far behind. In other news, I heard Follow You Follow Me in the Migros supermarket in Zermatt, Switzerland yesterday. Right between a couple up-to-the-minute Europop things. Surprised the hell out of me. But then, Phil used to come here quite a bit when married to wife #2 (or was it #3?).
I'll take That's all and I can't dance over Whodunnit every day of the year. I listened to it more for this thread than ever before.... I'm not one to generally skip tracks, but whodunnit is vitually an instant skip for me everytime.... i listen, i groan, i skip lol
I like Whodunnit, if for no other reason than every multi platinum selling act should have a few WTF moments.
Dreaming While You Sleep This track starts off with some nice textures. Some tuned percussion, some nice little guitar embellishments. The song is another quite serious topic handled quite well. It is about a hit and run accident and the psychological turmoil it causes to the protagonist. Interesting topic to write about. Obviously a terrible thing to happen, but the subject matter could well relate to any spur of the moment bad decision that lingers to haunt those involved. As I say this song has a good atmosphere and I think it works well. I enjoy the song and think this is one of the stronger, less known songs on the album.
Dreaming While You Sleep. This is how I'd like more songs to be, on this album. Arrangement wise, there's some bland interplay between the instruments. Lots of space left between the sounds, which fits the mood of the lyrics. Tony is playing parts (while minimal) instead of chords, or at least he's revisiting a simplified version of his old organ style. Still chords, but at least they move a bit. The mallet-like percussions add an extra layer over the drum machine. Hurrah for layers. And fragments of melodic lines/solos from Mike. Hurrah for micro-solos.
Dreaming While You Sleep...... This one has grown on me. I like it a lot now, probably the best or 2nd best atmospheric work on the album. Tony does some nice arranging here. I think this would get a lot more attention if they cut Driving The Last Spike. The bridge reminds me of Mama for some reason. This also brings up one thing. I don’t think it helps the album that they chose to go back to the Roland Compurhythm on so many tracks. It’s a pretty dated sound by this point, and one which they originated 10 years earlier. Had they used edgier or more unusual drum machine elements, the album may have been seen as less bland.
Dreaming While you Sleep - Absolutely love love this track. A definite highlight on the album. The first time I heard this song was when I finally bought WCD around the summer of 2001. I was taken back with the atmosphere of the rain and darkness. Then around the 2.50 mark, Phil's drums kick in. It sends chills down my spine. I get caught up in the lyrics, start to feel the narrator's pain and anguish of the guilt he carries as he pleads for the victim to 'wake up'. It chokes me up. As the song ends, I really don't mind the fade out, it leaves a sense of uncertainty to the story. It's an emotional song and grabs me every time. It's a shame it wasn't included on the either version of 'The Way We Walk', but at least it resides on Archive #2.
"Dreaming While You Sleep" is another track on his album that I glossed over back in the early 90s, probably because the sound of the drum machine seemed old hat to me by that point and it didn't have a strong melodic hook. However, listening to it again now, I think it's quite good. The lyrics, while not particularly eloquent or insightful, present a strong narrative with an emotional hook. It's not easy to sympathize with a hit and run driver, but at least one can gain a little bit of insight into the reason one might flee from such an incident, at least initially. My biggest complaint with the lyric is the use of Phil's favorite "all my life" phrase again and again. The music sets up an oppressive, forbidding atmosphere from the start and it works quite well to amplify the effect of the lyrics. There are some nice guitar runs and I like the organ sound of Tony's keyboards (although I guess I would have preferred an actual organ to a synth replication of one). The fade out works well here to reinforce the unresolved situation. All in all, a pretty strong track.
Knowing how the songs are put together during this era, I wonder if that was the phrase Phil used during the development. just a wild thought, in the sense of the narrator, he's distressed. Ends up going crazy and repeating that phrase out of grief.
Never A Time .. lubberly solo Phil track. I do like the guitar and vocal interplay during the "all I know is what is true" bit. Dreaming While You Sleep ... atmospheric, reminds me of a cross between Riders On The Storm and In The Air Tonight. Again with the 'all my life' lyric, which was coincedentally used not only in the aforementioned In The Air Tonight but also in Jesus He Knows Me just a few songs back. Time for a new catchphrase, Phil! --Geoff
Kind of forgot about everything except the chorus. I remember now, though it does have some cool guitar texturing and the lyric is more urgent than I remembered - not a bad song but my god just cut it to 4 minutes.
That’s All is worse? One of the best Genesis songs ever, and your comparing it to Whodunnit? OK then.
