Genesis - We Can't Dance (1991)

Charts: UK #1, AUS #8, AUT #1, GER #1, IT #5, NL #1, NOR #1, NZ #5, SWE #4, US #4. UK & Germany: 5x Platinum; New Zealand & US: 4x Platinum; Australia: 2x Platinum; Sweden, Austria & Netherlands: Platinum.
1991 became an important year for Genesis. The band met again in spring to record a new album. The hype around Phil Collins' solo album …But Seriously and the accompanying world tour was slowly ebbing off. Mike & The Mechanics as well as Tony Banks hurried to release their albums that spring, and things grew hectic in Peter Gabriel's corner, too.
We Can't Dance was released on 11th November 1991 (12th in North America) and became the most successful Genesis album so far. It topped the German album charts in 1991 and 1992 for 24 weeks and sold close to three million copies in Germany alone. Sales numbers in the tens of millions, a stadium tour, lots of hit singles and entertainingly funny promo videos - yes, Genesis were a big marketing machine in the early 90s, sponsored by Volkswagen. Behind the facade of a couple of musicians out of reach who had found the key to making it very big there is a varied album that was to become their last studio record with Phil Collins.
We Can't Dance contains way over 70 minutes of music. Long since has the CD as the new medium broken through the time constraints of the LP, though that is not always for the better. We Can't Dance has its lengths, but it mainly has its longer songs. Yet again do Genesis challenge their audience that is increasingly interested in their pop songs. Besides the CD there was also a double LP version.
The album was produced by Nick Davis who had previously also worked on Tony Banks' album Still. Nick Davis brought a breath of fresh air into the production. The sound of Invisible Touch had become a thing of the past. The band also broke new ground in the artwork. While the covers of previous album had been occasionally called boring, We Can't Dance was illustrated by water-colour paintings, and once again there is no show of the band on the cover.
(genesis-news.com/c-Genesis-We-Cant-Dance-CD-review-s267.html)