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ALBUM
REVIEWS
PHIL
COLLINS
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ALBUM
RATING SYSTEM |
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***** |
An
excellent album. Strong effort from beginning to end! A must own! |
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**** |
A
very good album. A few low points but, overall, a decent effort.
Recommended. |
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*** |
A
good album. Several weak points detract from the album, but it's still
worth owning. |
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** |
A
mediocre album. Unless you're a real fan, you might not like this album
very much. |
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* |
A
poor album. Stay away from this one unless you are a hardcore fan! |
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Phil
Collins - Face Value |
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WOG
RATING: *****
Phil Collins' solo debut remains one of his most personal and emotionally
engaging solo albums to date. Not only does the songwriting feature
powerfully moving lyrics, the project showcased Collins' ability to
successfully fuse pop music with R&B and jazz. The impact of Face
Value and Phil's growing abilities as a songwriter would ripple into
later Genesis projects, evolving the group's sound on albums like Duke
and Abacab into previously uncharted areas. A horn section and the
drum box, which later became a Phil Collins' trademark sound by the
mid-80s, were utilized to their fullest on the album. Combining all of these influences, artistic
experimentation, and Collins' personal musical development spawned a
number of memorable songs from the intense "In The Air Tonight"
to the jazzy "I Missed Again" to the solemn and scornful
"You Know What I Mean" to his cover of the Beatles'
"Tomorrow Never Knows." Face Value is a true classic in
every sense of the word.
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Phil
Collins - Hello, I Must Be Going! |
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WOG
RATING: ****
Collins' sophomore effort offered tunes like "I Don't Care
Anymore" and "Do You Know, Do You Care?" which showcased
Collins' darker, cynical side, while tracks like "The West Side"
continued to demonstrate his roots in jazz. Hello also featured
"Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning" complete with sweeping string
section, the tongue and cheek yet disturbingly perverted "Thru These
Walls", and a cover tune of the Motown classic, "You Can't Hurry
Love." Hello, I Must Be Going! is a highly
underrated album, and while it barely gets acknowledged on Collins' Hits
collection, it remains my favorite of his solo albums to date. I can't
picture Phil Collins ever singing some of this material in this day and age with
his squeeky clean, 'adult contemporary' image, but it makes an outstanding
time capsule of the next stage of Collins' transformation as a solo
performer.
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Phil
Collins - No Jacket Required |
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WOG
RATING: ****
No Jacket Required was more of a straight-forward pop album;
somewhat of a change from the projects that proceeded it. While Collins
still blended mainstream rock with R&B and soul, hints of jazz and
folk that surfaced on other albums were virtually nonexistent here. In
their place, No Jacket provided a dance-orientated groove balanced
delicately with a few songs like "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together
Anymore" that were reminiscent of the style of songwriting from
previous solo projects. No Jacket Required was one of the
biggest and most successful albums of 1985, clinching Phil Collins'
superstar status not only as a member of Genesis, but as a musician in his
own right. The album scored several hit singles, including:
"Sussudio", "Don't Lose My Number", "Take Me
Home" and "One More Night." Arguably, Collins' personal
musical evolution would again play a pivotal role in the sound of the next
Genesis album, Invisible Touch which, like No Jacket,
offered far more in the way of straight-forward pop music than Genesis'
previous effort, the often dark self-titled album.
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Phil
Collins - The 12"ers |
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WOG
RATING: *
The 12"ers is a budget-priced EP released following the
massive success of No Jacket Required. The EP featured extended
dance remixes (which were initially on 12" LP singles) of six songs
from the No Jacket album. The mixes vary from extremely catchy to
just plain awful. Some of the remixes, like "Sussudio," mirror
closely what the live versions have sounded like, while others, like
"Don't Lose My Number," are far more removed from the popular
versions you may know and love - and not in a good way. As a fan, I am glad all of these 12" remixes made
it to CD, but if you are not a die-hard Collins fan, you will probably not
enjoy this disc... at all.
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Phil
Collins - ...But Seriously |
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WOG
RATING: *****
Another of Collins' most triumphant achievements as a solo artist, ...But
Seriously, again showed the full range of his musical diversity. A far
more mature album, Seriously combined upbeat numbers in the vein of No
Jacket Required with a continued emphasis on his passion for jazz and
R&B. Jazzy material like "Heat On The Street" are offset
with socially conscious songs like "Another Day In Paradise" and
"Colours," while touching ballads like "Do You
Remember" and the introspective "Father To Son" blend seamlessly
with vivaciously bubbly numbers like "Something Happened On The Way
To Heaven" and "Hang In Long Enough." In many ways, ...But Seriously is
probably Collins most well rounded album. Like No Jacket Required, Seriously
surpassed the success of his previous albums and reconfirmed his status as
one of rock's most acclaimed artists. To this day, ...But Seriously
remains one of Collins' best selling albums.
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Phil
Collins - Serious Hits... Live! |
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WOG
RATING: ***
As the title would suggest, Collins' first live album as a solo artist basically served as an early
greatest hits captured live in concert.
Sonically, the album is outstanding, but somehow the performance lost
something going from the sold out arenas and stadiums across the planet to
the digital domain it resides in today. Collins and his band performed
brilliantly on the ...But Seriously Tour, but this album sounds
overly polished from studio tampering (similar to the live Genesis albums The
Way We Walk I & II) , and some of the raw energy of the concert
got misplaced in the transfer. As I mentioned, the track listing sticks to
the hits for the most part, but there are one or two chestnuts for the
fans, including "Who Said I Would?" from the No Jacket
Required album (which was one of the few tracks from that album that
wasn't a hit single!). Overall, its a great collection of material, but at
times I find myself forgetting its a live recording.
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Phil
Collins - Both Sides |
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WOG
RATING: ***
Perhaps only second to Face Value, Both Sides offers what
seems to be some of Collins' most intimate material. Rather than the well
constructed 'studio-perfect' album that fans were accustomed to getting,
Collins created a stripped down, often somber, album with basically no
outside assistance from other musicians. Collins assumed control of all
instrumentation, arrangements, and production on what sounds like an album
of refined demo recordings. Stand-outs on the album include the touching
ballad "Everyday", the optimistic "Survivors", another
incredible ballad called "Can't Turn Back the Years" which is
among Collins' most underrated songs, and socially conscious epics
"Both Sides of The Story" and "We Wait And We Wonder."
While these tunes are among the most powerful songs on the album, they
came across much better with a complete band backing Phil when he toured
in support of the project. Sadly, much of the rest of the album does not
fare as well and gets lost in the blandness of Both Sides. The
melancholy mood carries on, track after repetitive track, with little to
no up-lifting breaks in the material. The drum box is not only used on
this album, its abused! It is a true shame, because there was some great
songs on this album that never got the due they deserved.
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Phil
Collins - Dance Into The Light |
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WOG
RATING: **
Dance Into The Light saw a return to the more polished studio sound
of days of old, with a complete band supporting Phil. More importantly,
the drum box was put to rest! Despite that, the album never quite
gels together. Granted, there are a few great tunes like the catchy title
hit, the biographical "Lorenzo" and the mid-tempo "It's In
Your Eyes," many tracks are unmemorable and, in some cases,
down-right bad. "You Can Wear My Hat" sounds like a bad Paul
Simon leftover, his cover of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
is dry and insincere sounding, and other tracks are incredibly sappy and lifeless.
Strangely, one of the b-sides from this
album, "It's Over," is, in my opinion, better than many of the
tracks that were selected over it for the final product. I'm not sure why
this album seems so sterile and uninspired. Perhaps in comparison to the passion
that comes across on some of the other albums, this one just pales in
comparison? In any case, despite a couple of solid pop songs, Dance Into The Light is by far Phil's
worst solo album.
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Phil
Collins - Hits |
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WOG
RATING: *****
Summing up Phil Collins' success as a songwriter on a single disc is no
easy task. Hits, however, does a fantastic job! Aside from the one
new track, a smooth jazz influenced version of the Cyndi Lauper classic,
"True Colors," featuring Babyface, the album is packed from
beginning to end with countless radio hits and Collins' standards. Of
course, not everything can make the cut due to the limitations of space on
the CD, so a few classics don't appear here like "Don't Lose My
Number" from No Jacket Required, "I Missed Again"
from Face Value, and "I Don't Care Anymore" from Hello,
I Must Be Going!, but who's counting?! The mastering of this collection is
first-rate and the inclusion of the studio version of the Collins and
Philip Bailey hit "Easy Lover" was a nice surprise (since the
studio version was only previously available on Bailey's Chinese Wall
album). All in all, the set makes a nice introduction of Collins'
career and a great take-along CD for Phil Collins fans on the go!
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Phil
Collins & Mark Mancina - Tarzan (Soundtrack) |
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WOG
RATING: ****
After the somewhat disappointing Dance Into The Light album, I
suspected that Phil Collins
was starting to lose his 'touch' as a
songwriter. The Tarzan soundtrack; however, was a welcomed return
to form. Not only was the material good, but some of the lifelessness of
the last album had been replaced with energy and enthusiasm.
"Two Worlds" featured roaring, aggressive drums that had been
hibernating since ...But Seriously, if not earlier, and the ballad
"You'll Be In My Heart" exuded more feeling than all of Dance
Into The Light and half of Both Sides combined. While the album features the instrumental
score from the film, the soundtrack's star attraction is the
pop-orientated Collins tunes with vocals, including one track with
boy-band, N'Sync (but don't hold that against him!). Not only did the
multi-platinum Tarzan project shoot some much needed adrenaline
into Collins waning album sales, he was honored with an Oscar for
"You'll Be In My Heart." In fact, the success Collins achieved
with this Walt Disney soundtrack landed him an opportunity to record
another soundtrack for the Walt Disney film, Brother Bear. |
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Phil
Collins - Testify |
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WOG
RATING: ***
Phil Collins' latest solo
album is very mid-tempo/ballad heavy, but it's much more palatable than Dance
Into The Light. Interestingly enough, Testify sounds like a
hybrid between Dance Into The Light and Both Sides, with a
strong emphasis on love songs and, in a few cases, a polished demo-esque
feel with heavy utilization of Collins' trademark drum box and keyboards.
Gratefully, the more stripped down tracks are contrasted with genuine
drums and real instrumentation on other songs providing far more balance
than exhibited on Both Sides. Among the highlights of the album are
Collins' cover version of Leo Sayer's "Can't Stop Loving You",
"The Least You Can Do" (my personal favorite), "This Love This
Heart", and the title cut.
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Testify is a beautiful love letter
to Phil's (then) wife and family, and contains a few excellent tracks with
incredibly personal lyrics, but if you're looking for Phil to rock the way
he did on some of the Tarzan soundtrack (like on "Son of
Man") or even on ...But Seriously (like on "Hang In Long
Enough" or "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven"),
you're not getting it here. Not at all. In fact, Testify
opens very anti-climactically in mid-tempo doldrums and ends in a
similar fashion, which detracts from the material as a whole. Still, the
album is well-written for the most part, and it grows on you quickly.
Aside from a few weak songs like "Wake Up Call" and "It's
Not Too Late," the album holds its own. In many ways, Testify
completes the next phase of Collins' musical evolution and reaffirms his
status as one of modern music's finest adult contemporary songwriters.
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Phil
Collins & Mark Mancina - Brother Bear (Soundtrack) |
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WOG
RATING: ***
Phil Collins' second outing with Walt Disney for the soundtrack of Brother
Bear produced a number of memorable tracks including "No Way
Out", which is by far the best track on the entire album; the
campfire sing-along sounding "On My Way"; and "Look Through
My Eyes," a great song complete with full orchestration which
compliments Phil's vocals extremely well. Tina Turner's version of the
Collins penned "Great Spirits" doesn't stand out as a
particularly strong track, vocally speaking, and detracts from the album
overall. Atmospherically, this soundtrack is a clear
improvement over Tarzan, his last fully composed score/soundtrack,
but it lacks some of the energy of that project. Ultimately, the music
works well with the film, and that is the purpose of the soundtrack in the
first place, so I suppose there is little criticism that can be made in
that regard. The soundtrack offers a uniquely well-crafted blend of
world music with added guest vocals that give another dimension of the
music, most notably by The Blind Boys of Alabama (who also worked with
Peter Gabriel on his Up album). Although this project is a
bit of a departure for Phil Collins, fans will find that it harnesses a
great mix of Phil's own flavor with some distinctly new
influences.
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Phil
Collins - Love Songs A Compilation... Old and New |
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WOG
RATING: ****
As a long-time fan of Collins' work, had this been just another hits type
package, Love Songs would have been a real disappointment.
Thankfully, this release offers a very palatable assortment of classic
Collins favorites among several non-album cuts, live tracks, and alternate
mixes. Hits like "Against All Odds", "Can't Stop Loving
You", "Two Hearts", "You'll Be In My Heart",
"Do You Remember?", and "Groovy Kind of Love" are
blended thoughtfully amongst off-the-beaten-path material, demonstrating
that this celebration of Phil Collins' ballads clearly has both casual and
devout fans in mind.
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Among the non-album tracks are "Tearing
and Breaking", which is a John Martyn collaboration Phil Collins
recorded during the Testify sessions; a live sound check version of
"True Colours" recorded on the 2004 First Final Farewell Tour in
Toulouse, France; "I've Been Trying", which was previously
released on A
Tribute to Curtis Mayfield; "Somewhere", which was
previously released on The
Songs of West Side Story; a cover of Smokey Robinson's "My
Girl" which was previously available on the now out-of-print Songs
From The Board EP from 1994; and Irving Berlin's "Always"
and Jerome Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight" which were recorded
on Phil Collins' 1990 ...But Seriously Tour and his 1998 Big Band
Tour respectively. Among the more subtle gems on this collection for
the more serious collector are a new stereo mix of "One More
Night" (which sounds true to the original), "I've Forgotten
Everything" from Both Sides and "It's In Your Eyes"
from Dance Into The Light have been sped up a few beats per minute
(BPM), "This Must Be Love" from Face Value fades more
quickly than the original album version, and the version of "Least
You Can Do" from Testify is a clearly different mix. All
in all, both passive fans and Collins enthusiasts will find Love Songs
to be a solid offering. |
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