Editing Invisible Touch (section)

==Writing and recording==
''Invisible Touch'' was recorded between October 1985 and February 1986 at [[The Farm (recording studio)|The Farm]], the band's private recording studio in [[Chiddingfold]], Surrey.<ref name=musician1986>{{cite magazine|title=Is Genesis Really Trying?|first=Timothy|last=White|date=October 1986|magazine=Musician|location=US|pages=32–38, 97}}</ref><ref name=1986presskit/> They were joined by engineer and producer [[Hugh Padgham]], who had worked with the band since ''[[Abacab]]'' (1981) and produced the album with the group, with Paul Gommersall as assistant engineer.<ref name=sleeve>{{Cite AV media notes|title=Invisible Touch|publisher=Charisma Records|id=GEN CD2|year=1986}}</ref> Earlier in 1985, the studio was upgraded to a plan supervised by Masami "Sam" Toyishima.<ref name=recording1992>{{cite magazine|url=http://thegenesisarchive.co.uk/recording-musician-july-1992-tony-banks-main-interview-geoff-callingham-feature/|title=Genesis: At home in the studio|first=Paul|last=Tingen|date=July 1992|magazine=Recording Musician|pages=38–40, 42|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref>

{{Quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|style=padding:10px;|align=right|"On day one, we had no songs, no ideas, and a blank bit of paper. Phil was always keen to fill that bit of paper – he was very organised – and we let him."| source =—[[Mike Rutherford]].<ref name=guardian2014/>}}
The group approached the writing sessions for ''Invisible Touch'' with a greater sense of confidence, as they had now become a big live act in the US and had reached a new level of commercial success worldwide.{{sfn|Reissues Interview|2007|loc=00:06–00:20}} As with ''Genesis'', they entered the studio with no preconceived ideas and developed songs from recorded jams and improvisations,<ref name=1986presskit/> a process Collins compared to as "close to jazz".<ref name=guardian2014/> The group considered their strongest songs were those arranged in this way, so they repeated this approach for ''Invisible Touch''. Collins said: "You never quite know what's going to happen. It's just the three of us chopping away, fine-tuning and honing down all these ideas."<ref name=1986presskit/> A typical session saw the trio work from 11am to as late as 2am the following morning,<ref name=musician1986/> and start with Collins setting up a drum pattern on the drum machine so Banks and Rutherford could jam ideas. Collins would then sing vocal lines, which created an atmosphere and the basis for a song.{{sfn|Reissues Interview|2007|loc=02:32–03:06}}{{sfn|Reissues Interview|2007|loc=05:28–03:06}} Collins recalled his impetuous attitude during the writing sessions and suggested bits of songs be pieced together as early as possible, but Banks and Rutherford were reluctant to do so.{{sfn|Reissues Interview|2007|loc=00:42–01:15}} Many of the songs on the album evolved from Banks using the recording function on his [[E-mu Emulator]] to capture sounds in the studio, and listening back for potential sounds and rhythms that could be used in a song. The keyboard allowed just 17 seconds to be recorded.<ref name=KM87/>

[[File:Simmons SDS5 Electric Drum.jpg|thumb|left|A Simmons electronic drum kit similar to the one Phil Collins plays on the album.]]
The album features Collins playing on a [[Simmons (electronic drum company)|Simmons]] [[electronic drum]] kit. In order to capture more of a sound from the Simmons kit rather than feeding it directly into the mixing desk, Padgham also fed the tracks through a mixer and into a PA system before playing it "very, very loud" in the studio. Padgham later said that the Simmons sounded "a bit thin and toneless."<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-sound-of-success/1995|title=The Sound of Success: Hugh Padgham|first=Paul|last=Tingen|journal=Music Technology|date=April 1987|issue=Apr 1987|pages=50–54|via=Muzines|access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref> Collins also used a [[Roland Octapad|Roland Pad-8]], an electronic pad that triggers percussion sounds from the MIDI instruments used on the album, including a [[Roland TR-707|Roland TR-727]] drum machine with Latin-inspired samples and Collins' own E-mu Emulator.<ref name=IM86>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/no-drumkit-required/6830|title=No Drumkit Required|date=June 1986|magazine=International Musician and Recording World|via=Muzines|access-date=26 July 2021}}</ref>

After several jams had been put down on tape, the band listened back to them and picked out the strongest moments with the aim of arranging them into a song.<ref name=MN87>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/303044277/|title='Invisible Touch' is improvisation|first=Stephen|last=Holden|date=28 May 1987|newspaper=The Miami News|page=2C|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription |access-date=17 January 2019}}</ref> A drum machine was used to create a guiding rhythm, before the guitar and keyboard parts were fully arranged and re-recorded before Collins would replace the drum machine with his own drums last.<ref name=musician1986/><ref name=hitmen1986>{{cite web|url=http://www.philcollins.co.uk:80/hitmen86b.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801174547/http://www.philcollins.co.uk/hitmen86b.htm|archive-date=1 August 2008|date=1986|title=Phil Collins Interviews - Hitmen - 1986 Part Two|magazine=Hitmen|access-date=29 July 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The band discussed a song's potential length, and whether to write lyrics for it or keep it as an instrumental.<ref name=1986presskit/> The lyrics to a track were written after the music was recorded, and were penned by a single member as the group considered the individual had a strong enough direction to carry the song's message through.<ref name=NN87>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/234808267/|title=Genesis: Phil Collins and the magicians of pop to put their 'Invisible Touch' on Hampton|first=Jory|last=Farr|date=20 February 1987|newspaper=Daily Press|location=Newport News, Virginia|page=C1|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription |access-date=17 January 2019}}</ref> Collins wrote the words for "Invisible Touch", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", and "In Too Deep"; Rutherford wrote for "Land of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away";<ref name=MN87/> Banks wrote "Domino" and "Anything She Does".<ref name=NN87/>

The group arranged a greater number of songs for ''Invisible Touch'' than before, which required additional time to select which tracks to release. This was not the case with ''Genesis'', where strong enough ideas were more scarce; Banks said that "if a song was around, we put it on".<ref name=GI38>{{cite magazine|url=https://thegenesisarchive.co.uk/38/|magazine=Genesis Information|issue=38|date=Winter 1985–86|first=Geoff|last=Parkyn|title=Tony Banks: An exclusive interview with Tony in deepest Surrey – and deep tracts of snow outside|pages=11, 12|access-date=14 October 2018}}</ref> Rutherford noted that ''Genesis'' had a dark mood to it, yet ''Invisible Touch'' had a bigger energy.{{sfn|Reissues Interview|2007|loc=00:28–00:42}} During the writing sessions Collins realised the band were coming up with fresh and unique material that it had not done before, "which is not easy after 15 albums", and considered them stronger than those on ''Genesis''.<ref name=1986presskit/> Banks maintained this view, thinking the shorter tracks on ''Invisible Touch'' were stronger than the previous album.<ref name=1986presskit/>