Genesis - Invisible Touch (CD 1986)

They don't make music like they used to, and you can really tell in this 1986 album from Phil Collins and co. What I really mean, pricipally, is how well the music is recorded. Proper stereo sound was a relatively new innovation back in those days, and the engineers made great use of the separate channels. Anyone who's ever seen or heard Phil Collins really going for it on the drums will know that it's a treat for the senses. As he travels down the drums the beats dance across your living room, side to side, making you feel much more involved than usual in the music! A lot of modern tunes tend not to use the stereo technology so well, and it's a real shame for audiophiles.

Invisible Touch is eight tracks long - not a lot on the surface of it, but tracks like Domino, with its two parts, give you a good long aural treat for your money. However, alongside the classics like Land of Confusion, Tonight Tonight Tonight and Invisible Touch itself, there is one stand-out track. It's right where it should be - at the end of the album. The Brazilian is an instrumental masterpiece blending Collins' drumwork with an emotive synthesised melody and wonderful percussion flitting around the room as the stereo technology works its magic. A faultless way to finish the record.

It's a genuinely fantastic album, the like of which you just don't quite hear anymore. I'll keep listening to it, and it'll definitely keep making me smile.