Genesis toured in support of We Can't Dance from May to November 1992, playing large stadiums and arenas across North America and Europe.

In July 1987, the Genesis line-up of drummer and singer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and bassist and guitarist Mike Rutherford wrapped their 1986–1987 world tour in support of their thirteenth studio album, Invisible Touch (1986).

The 112-date tour, attended by an estimated 3.5 million people, was extremely taxing on the group, particularly for Rutherford following his father's death and almost losing his son Harry due to a difficult birth.

Collins achieved further worldwide commercial success following the release of his solo album ...But Seriously (1989), while Rutherford's band, Mike and the Mechanics, had also begun to have hits.

[14][11] The trio were keen to work together after such an extensive break, and after two-and-a-half months of what Collins described as "chopping away, fine-tuning, and honing down all these ideas", they had completed some fifteen tracks.

[15][8] They originally considered releasing a double album, but realised most people would be listening to their work on CD which gave them the additional time they wanted to present more of their musical ideas.

[16] As with Genesis (1983) and Invisible Touch, none of the material on We Can't Dance was conceived beforehand, and the band instead developed songs through lengthy improvisational jams in the studio.

[19] For recording, they enlisted then 28-year-old Nick Davis as co-producer and engineer who had previously worked with Banks and Rutherford on their solo projects, with the band also handling production duties.

[19][9] Davis was keen to feature Rutherford's guitar more prominently as an instrument than previous Genesis albums, and felt his approach was successful on some of the tracks on We Can't Dance.

[9] Following a six-week break during the summer of 1991 the band reconvened and completed the mixing in late September, selecting a final 12-track running order that spanned 71 minutes.

[15] Banks said that compared to the more direct nature of Invisible Touch, the style of We Can't Dance offered more of a sense of mystery with effort put into each track having its own "individual quality", yet have an atmosphere that runs through the entire album.

[15] In a similar way to the writing of Invisible Touch, the band initially allocated roughly one third of the album to each member, who was then responsible for the lyrics to their collection of songs.

[15] In the end, We Can't Dance saw Collins contribute a greater amount of lyrics than before; his efforts praised by Rutherford who considered his words for its songs among his best in Genesis history.

[19][21] The ten-minute "Driving The Last Spike" is about 19th-century Irish navvies who helped built the railways in the UK, and the poor and unsafe working conditions they had to endure.

The other long track, "Fading Lights", came out of group improvisation and it is sort of a goodbye song from Phil to the band Genesis, he left after the tour for this album.

Collins said, "Straight away, I was singing the things you hear on the record", and wrote a set of lyrics based on the incident, not revealing what they were about to his bandmates until he had finished them.

"I Can't Dance" was a criticism of models who appeared in jeans adverts popular at the time, and built around a heavy Rutherford guitar riff.

[25] Banks noted his electric piano part was one of the most minimal riffs he has played on record and had thought of a style heard on the 1968 song "Feelin' Alright?"

[29] The album also spawned several hit singles, including "No Son of Mine", "Hold on My Heart", "I Can't Dance" and "Jesus He Knows Me",[30] the latter two supported by humorous videos.

"[38] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave a lacklustre review, stating: "At a time when everything is uncertain ... you almost have to admire a record like We Can't Dance. ...

The advantages of these was that images from videos or artwork was projected on them to illustrate some songs, while live camera footage of the band gave everyone in the arena a front row view.