History Music / WeCantDance

Musically, ''We Can't Dance'' continues the pop rock style that Genesis had been finding success with throughout the previous decade, but strips down the production to offer a better balance between their pop and prog elements. Notably, the thumping, twinkling synths that were omnipresent throughout ''Invisible Touch'' are replaced with more subtle, softer synth pads more reminiscent of Banks' keyboard work when Genesis was fronted by Music/PeterGabriel. The album also leans more closely into the prog side of Genesis' sound, with tracks like "No Son of Mine", "Driving the Last Spike", and "Fading Lights" demonstrating that the band were still willing to hold onto their roots, though still accentuated with a number of more pop-friendly songs like the anti-televangelist satire "Jesus He Loves Me" and the crooning ballad "Hold on My Heart".

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The edited version of the "Jesus He Knows Me" video removes the scenes showing televangelists being caught having sexual relations with people of both sexes and alters the scene where Phil sings in a pool with several bikini-clad women. This version is the only one available on the band's WebSite/YouTube channel.

* InsultBackfire: In the video for "Jesus He Knows Me", Phil Collins wears a suit and wig and affects a voice similar to those of American televangelist Ernest Angley, making him a specific target for the song's skewering of televangelism in general. Collins revealed in his appearance on ''Series/Room101'' that Angley was apparently flattered by his "portrayal".

** "Jesus He Knows Me" is a pretty open one against televangelists; it's made even more clear in the uncut version of the song's music video, which features scenes of Phil Collins' televangelist character becoming so unhinged that his aides have to tear him away from the camera.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The edited version of the "Jesus He Knows Me" video removes the scenes showing televangelists being caught having sexual relations with people of both sexes. This version is the only one available on the band's WebSite/YouTube channel.

* GayCruising: One of the televangelists is depicted being caught in the act of doing this in the uncensored "Jesus He Knows Me" video, with paparazzi photographing him with another man in a public restroom.

* HypocriticalSinging: "Jesus He Knows Me" is about an EgocentricallyReligious televangelist who says "Won't find me practicing what I'm preaching/Won't find me making no sacrifice", as well as a verse about how "I believe in family" while cheating on his wife with both men and women. Later, there's "I Can't Dance", a very catchy song about how they have no musical talent.

''We Can't Dance'' is the fourteenth studio album by English ProgressiveRock-turned-pop rock band Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 28 October 1991 by Creator/VirginRecords in the United Kingdom and Creator/AtlanticRecords in the United States. Their last album with frontman Music/PhilCollins and consequently the last to feature the most recognizable three-man contingent of Collins, [[Music/MikeAndTheMechanics Mike Rutherford]], and Music/TonyBanks, the album marked an end to the band's four-year hiatus that followed the end of their successful ''Music/InvisibleTouch'' tour in 1987, during which time the trio returned to focusing on their individual solo/side projects, with Collins notably releasing his blockbuster success ''Music/ButSeriously'' during the interim. With Collins' success as a solo artist more than well-established, Rutherford and Banks fully expected Collins to ditch the group to focus on his own work, only for Collins to stick around for another album as part of Genesis.

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's. Also contributing was the more recent explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''-- just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. All of this led the album and the band as a whole to come off as hopelessly out-of-touch with the zeitgeist, and with the general public more than eager to dispose of Genesis, the writing was on the wall. Collins departed in 1996 to focus on his solo work, and Genesis attempted [[Music/CallingAllStations one final album]] in 1997 with new vocalist Ray Wilson, geared more towards an alternative rock audience; [[CreatorKiller it bombed so hard, both commercially and critically, that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 2000]], putting an ignoble end to one of the biggest bands in progressive rock.

Despite its mostly negative reception (though not without a noticeable contingency of fans), ''We Can't Dance'' was still a huge commercial success for Genesis, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, and several other European nations; it reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in the US. It was certified quintuple-platinum in the UK and quadruple-platinum in the US. ''We Can't Dance'' was furthermore supported by a lengthy eponymous tour spanning 78 shows between 1992 and 1993, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide. The songs from this tour were later compiled on the live albums ''The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts'' and ''The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs'', respectively released in 1992 and 1993 (with the former also including tracks from the ''Invisible Touch'' tour). Even if the album was largely detested upon release, it certainly allowed Collins to leave the group on a financial high note.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Jesus He Knows Me" sneaks in the lines "I believe in the family / With my ever-loving wife beside me / But she don't know about my girlfriend / Or the man I met last night." These lines are preserved in the single and video releases, even after the video was edited to remove the ''visual'' references to these lyrics.

'''''We Can't Dance''''' is the fourteenth studio album by English ProgressiveRock-turned-pop rock band Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1991. Their last album with frontman Music/PhilCollins and consequently the last to feature the most recognizable three-man contingent of Collins, [[Music/MikeAndTheMechanics Mike Rutherford]], and Music/TonyBanks, the album marked an end to the band's four-year hiatus that followed the end of their successful ''Music/InvisibleTouch'' tour in 1987, during which time the trio returned to focusing on their individual solo/side projects, with Collins notably releasing his blockbuster success ''Music/ButSeriously'' during the interim. With Collins' success as a solo artist more than well-established, Rutherford and Banks fully expected Collins to ditch the group to focus on his own work, only for Collins to stick around for another album as part of Genesis.

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's. Also contributing was the more recent explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''-- just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. All of this led the album and the band as a whole to come off as hopelessly out-of-touch with the zeitgeist, and with the general public more than eager to dispose of Genesis, the writing was on the wall. Collins departed in 1996 to focus on his solo work, and Genesis attempted one final album in 1997 with new vocalist Ray Wilson, geared more towards an alternative rock audience; [[CreatorKiller it bombed so hard, both commercially and critically, that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 2000]], putting an ignoble end to one of the biggest bands in progressive rock.

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The album cover and liner notes feature a variety of lavish watercolor paintings by Felicity Roma Bowers, with the ones in the liner notes corresponding to individual songs. By pure coincidence, former frontman Music/PeterGabriel would pull a similar stunt with ''Music/{{Us}}'' the year after this album and ''Music/{{Up|PeterGabrielAlbum}}'' a decade after that, though in those cases the song art was each done by a different artist. In the case of both ''We Can't Dance'' and ''Us'', the song art formed the basis for the cover art of each album's associated singles.

''We Can't Dance'' is the fourteenth studio album by English ProgressiveRock-turned-pop rock band Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1991. Their last album with frontman Music/PhilCollins and consequently the last to feature the most recognizable three-man contingent of Collins, [[Music/MikeAndTheMechanics Mike Rutherford]], and Music/TonyBanks, the album marked an end to the band's four-year hiatus that followed the end of their successful ''Music/InvisibleTouch'' tour in 1987, during which time the trio returned to focusing on their individual solo/side projects, with Collins notably releasing his blockbuster success ''Music/ButSeriously'' during the interim. With Collins' success as a solo artist more than well-established, Rutherford and Banks fully expected Collins to ditch the group to focus on his own work, only for Collins to stick around for another album as part of Genesis.

''We Can't Dance'' is the fourteenth studio album by English ProgressiveRock-turned-pop rock band Music/{{Genesis}}, released in 1991. Their last album with frontman Music/PhilCollins and consequently the last to feature the most recognizable three-man contingent of Collins, [[Music/MikeAndTheMechanics Mike Rutherford]], and Music/TonyBanks, the album marked an end to the band's four-year hiatus that followed the end of their successful ''Music/InvisibleTouch'' tour in 1987, during which time the trio returned to focusing on their individual solo/side projects, with Collins notably releasing his blockbuster success ''...But Seriously'' during the interim. With Collins' success as a solo artist more than well-established, Rutherford and Banks fully expected Collins to ditch the group to focus on his own work, only for Collins to stick around for another album as part of Genesis.

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's. Also contributing was the more recent explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''-- just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. All of this led the album and the band as a whole to come off as hopelessly out-of-touch with the zeitgeist, and with the general public more than eager to dispose of Genesis, the writing was on the wall. Collins departed in 1996 to focus on his solo work, and Genesis attempted one final album in 1997 with new vocalist Ray Wilson, geared more towards an alternative rock audience; [[CreatorKiller it bombed so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 2000]], putting an ignoble end to one of the biggest bands in progressive rock.

* YellowPurpleContrast: Features throughout the cover and liner notes for the album, to highlight contrast between day and night.
* YourCheatingHeart: The narrator of "Jesus He Knows Me" offhandedly confesses to cheating on his wife with both another woman and a man.

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The album cover and liner notes feature a variety of lavish watercolor paintings by Felicity Roma Bowers, with the ones in the liner notes corresponding to individual songs. By pure coincidence, former frontman Music/PeterGabriel would pull a similar stunt with ''Music/{{Us}}'' the year after this album and ''Up'' a decade after that, though in those cases the song art was each done by a different artist. In the case of both ''We Can't Dance'' and ''Us'', the song art formed the basis for the cover art of each album's associated singles.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/we_cant_dance.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Do you believe in God? 'Cos that's what I'm selling!"'']]

Despite its mostly negative reception (though not without a noticeable contingency of fans), ''We Can't Dance'' was still a huge commercial success for Genesis, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, and being certified quintuple-platinum in the UK and Germany, quadruple-platinum in the US, Canada, and Switzerland, double-platinum in France, platinum in Australia, Austria, Spain, and Sweden, and gold in Finland and Japan. ''We Can't Dance'' was furthermore supported by a lengthy eponymous tour spanning 78 shows between 1992 and 1993, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide. The songs from this tour were later compiled on the live albums ''The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts'' and ''The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs'', respectively released in 1992 and 1993 (with the former also including tracks from the ''Invisible Touch'' tour). Even if the album was largely detested upon release, it certainly allowed Collins to leave the group on a financial high note.

''We Can't Dance'' was supported by six singles: "No Son of Mine", "I Can't Dance", "Hold on My Heart", "Jesus He Knows Me", "Never a Time", and "Tell Me Why". Of these, "I Can't Dance" was nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Grammy in 1993, though ultimately lost to Music/CelineDion & Peabo Bryson's cover of "WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast".

* BiTheWay: The narrator of "Jesus He Knows Me" mentions having sexual relations with both men and women-- behind his wife's back.

''We Can't Dance'' was supported by six singles: "No Son of Mine", "I Can't Dance", "Hold on My Heart", "Jesus He Knows Me", "Never a Time", and "Tell Me Why". "I Can't Dance", was nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Grammy in 1993, though ultimately lost to Music/CelineDion & Peabo Bryson's cover of "WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast".

''We Can't Dance'' was supported by six singles: "No Son of Mine", "I Can't Dance", "Hold on My Heart", "Jesus He Knows Me", "Never a Time", and "Tell Me Why". "I Can't Dance", was nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals Grammy in 1993, though ultimately lost to Music/CelineDion & Peabo Bryson's cover of "Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast".

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's. Also contributing was the more recent explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''-- just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. The end result was an album that came off as hopelessly out-of-touch with the zeitgeist, from a band that the general public were eager to dispose of. With the writing on the wall for Genesis, Collins departed in 1996 to focus on his solo work. Genesis would attempt one final album with new vocalist Ray Wilson in 1997, geared more towards an alternative rock audience, [[CreatorKiller only for it to bomb so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 1999]].

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's. Also contributing was the more recent explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}''-- just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. The end result was an album that came off as out of touch with the zeitgeist; with the writing on the wall for Genesis, Collins departed in 1996 to focus on his solo work. Genesis would attempt one final album with new vocalist Ray Wilson in 1997, geared more towards an alternative rock audience, [[CreatorKiller only for it to bomb so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 1999]].

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's; the the explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance'' didn't help matters either. The writing was on the wall for Genesis at this point, with Collins departing in 1996 to focus on his solo work. Genesis would attempt one final album with new vocalist Ray Wilson in 1997, geared more towards an alternative rock audience, [[CreatorKiller only for it to bomb so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 1999]].

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's, and the the explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance'' didn't help matters either. The writing was on the wall for Genesis at this point, with Collins departing in 1996 to focus on his solo work. Genesis would attempt one final album with new vocalist Ray Wilson in 1997, geared more towards an alternative rock audience, [[CreatorKiller only for it to bomb so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 1999]].

Despite its mostly negative reception (though not without a noticeable contingency of fans), ''We Cant' Dance'' was still a huge commercial success for Genesis, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, and being certified quintuple-platinum in the UK and Germany, quadruple-platinum in the US, Canada, and Switzerland, double-platinum in France, platinum in Australia, Austria, Spain, and Sweden, and gold in Finland and Japan. ''We Can't Dance'' was furthermore supported by a lengthy eponymous tour spanning 78 shows between 1992 and 1993, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide. The songs from this tour were later compiled on the live albums ''The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts'' and ''The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs'', respectively released in 1992 and 1993 (with the former also including tracks from the ''Invisible Touch'' tour). Even if the album was largely detested upon release, it certainly allowed Collins to leave the group on a financial high note.

* BiTheWay: The narrator of "Jesus He Knows Me" offhandedly states that he's slept with both men and women-- both behind his wife's back. The use of this trope isn't so much out of bimisia as it is a way to point out the hypocrisy of real-life televangelists who use extremely puritan rhetoric as a form of psychological projection.

Despite its mostly negative reception (though not without a noticeable contingency of fans), ''We Cant' Dance'' was still a huge commercial success for Genesis, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, and being certified quintuple-platinum in the UK and Germany, quadruple-platinum in the US, Canada, and Switzerland, double-platinum in France, platinum in Australia, Austria, Spain, and Sweden, and gold in Finland and Japan. ''We Can't Dance'' was furthermore supported by a lengthy eponymous tour spanning 78 shows between 1992 and 1993, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide. Even if the album was largely detested upon release, it certainly allowed Collins to leave the group on a financial high note.

The end result was an album that, suffice to say, was anything but well-loved. By 1991, Genesis and especially Collins had become so thoroughly exposed in the mainstream that a huge backlash against them had already begun to form. Critics were apathetic towards the album, having previously sung high praises of ''Invisible Touch'' despite its highly polarizing reception among fans, while Genesis fans continued to be divided on what exactly to make of this album. Some saw it as an improvement over ''Invisible Touch'', others saw it as banal trite. Not helping was the fact that the album came out long after the emergence of AlternativeRock in the American mainstream during the late 1980's and the explosion of popularity in {{grunge}} with the release of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'' just one month prior to the release of ''We Can't Dance''. The writing was on the wall for Genesis at this point, with Collins departing in 1996 to focus on his solo work. Genesis would attempt one final album with new vocalist Ray Wilson in 1997, only for it to bomb so hard that it directly led to the band's dissolution in 1999.

Despite its mostly negative reception, ''We Cant' Dance'' was still a huge commercial success for Genesis, topping the charts in the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, and being certified quintuple-platinum in the UK and Germany, quadruple-platinum in the US, Canada, and Switzerland, double-platinum in France, platinum in Australia, Austria, Spain, and Sweden, and gold in Finland and Japan. ''We Can't Dance'' was furthermore supported by a lengthy eponymous tour spanning 78 shows between 1992 and 1993, selling out arenas and stadiums worldwide. Even if the album was largely detested upon release, it certainly allowed Collins to leave the group on a financial high note.

** "I Can't Dance" ridicules stylistic, male model-heavy Dada Ads selling blue jeans (Phil felt the backing track sounded like an artsy/trendy Levi's ad, and the illustration for the song in the liner notes shows a man wearing blue jeans, taken from his backside).