I would like to keep this discussion up, so: I have been listening to We Can't Dance the past days (I know right, he gets the green box sets and then listens to WCD!?) and I think it's actually a pretty good album. It doesn't have the triggered, programmed (whatever you want to call it) drums from Invisible Touch and Genesis. I am talking about those specific sounds in Second Home By The Sea, Silver Rainbow, Invisible Touch, Tonight, etc. The drums here are overproduced as hell (as is the whole album) but I think it just sounds awesome. The first time I really listened to No Son Of Mine and the snare came in like a slap in the face - I was pretty impressed. If a snare is triggered - please trigger it like this.
Plus, the album has some great songs. The mentioned No So Son of mine is way too long and thought through to be a single, but still it was one - and a huge hit at that. Jesus He Knows Me is saved by Phils groovy drumming and belongs in the funny, sarcastic department of Robber, Assault, Just A Job, Harold The Barrel, Scenes From A Night's Dream. I even like Tell Me Why quite a bit, the harmonies are not stupid (Tony!) and it grooves. Sure, lyrics are a little flat, but still a good song. Did I say groove? Listen to the last minutes of Living Forever. Two of the best minutes of the album. This is a great example of how few Collins needs to make something groove. And the ending fill is awesome. Man what a drummer.
There's also two 10 minute songs, of which I personally like Fading Lights better. The keyboard solo (Tony!) in the middle reminds of older days. The whole song sounds like a swan song - which it was for in retrospective for the trio (not sure if they knew so though).
Dreaming While You Sleep is a Mama/In The Air Tonight like song (I dont want to say copy): drum machine, Collins eery vocals, HUGE toms, cymbal-free drums. I gotta say I also like Hold On My Heart, because of Tonys unconventional harmonies (Tony!).
There are two songs I would have included into the album: On The Shoreline and Hearts On Fire, which should have replaced Never A Time and Since I Lost You or Way Of The World imo. Two awesome tunes.
This got a bit out of hand I didn't want to write so much but then I did :-D
What do you think about this album? I think it's a bit underrated among Genesis and Prog fans, but in a lot of ways it takes more time to build up songs and set moods than the loud, happy, dancy Invisible Touch. And it's not really a prog-free album.