Phil Collins

In the early 80's I became a frothing-at-the-mouth Genesis fan, which of course automatically made me a Phil Collins fan as well. His music style and my tastes parted ways about 1989 or so and these are probably the only Collins CD's I'll ever get.

Phil is one busy little beaver...he has produced and/or performed on numerous albums by other artists, including Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Adam Ant, Eric Clapton, Brand X, and Frida, as well as contributing to the soundtracks for Against All Odds, White Nights, and Buster.

Oh, and in case you haven't heard yet, Phil Collins is no longer part of Genesis.

"Face Value"

  1. "In the Air Tonight" (5:32)
  2. "This Must Be Love" (3:53)
  3. "Behind the Lines" (3:53)
  4. "The Roof is Leaking" (3:16)
  5. "Droned"--instrumental (2:55)
  6. "Hand in Hand"--instrumental (5:12)
  7. "I Missed Again" (3:41)
  8. "You Know What I Mean" (2:33)
  9. "Thunder and Lightning" (4:12)
  10. "I'm Not Moving" (2:33)
  11. "If Leaving Me is Easy" (4:54)
  12. "Tomorrow Never Knows" (4:46)

Can't think of much to say about this CD, except that "Behind the Lines" is a jazzed-up version of the Genesis song, and "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a real psychedelic Beatles tune. (Trouble also does a mean version of that song.) Also, the loud, echoey drums on "In the Air Tonight" was a style Phil first created when he played on Peter Gabriel's 3rd solo record.

"Hello, I Must Be Going!"

  1. "I Don't Care Anymore" (5:00)
  2. "I Cannot Believe It's True" (5:14)
  3. "Like China" (5:05)
  4. "Do You Know, Do You Care" (4:57)
  5. "You Can't Hurry Love" (2:50)
  6. "It Don't Matter to Me" (4:12)
  7. "Thru These Walls" (5:02)
  8. "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" (4:43)
  9. "The West Side"--instrumental (4:59)
  10. "Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning?" (3:01)

This album came out about the same time as Abacab (or maybe afterwards, I don't remember.) Anyway, Phil really got into the jazzy stuff and the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section here. Not everything is jazzy, of course--the quiet, emotional "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away" is particularly beautiful, my favorite of all of Phil's work.

"Behind the Lines" (CDR bootleg; 12/19/82, Perkins Palace, Pasadena, CA)

  1. "I Don't Care Anymore" (6:03)
  2. "I Cannot Believe It's True" (7:26)
  3. "Thru These Walls" (5:10)
  4. "I Missed Again" (3:39)
  5. "Behind the Lines" (3:54)
  6. "The Roof is Leaking" (3:39)
  7. "The West Side"--instrumental (6:09)
  8. "In the Air Tonight" (5:23)
  9. "You Can't Hurry Love" (3:26)
  10. "It Don't Matter to Me" (4:38)
  11. "People Get Ready" (4:05)

At last, the legendary Perkin's Palace show! Err, most of it at least -- there's quite a few songs missing, such as "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away", "And So to F", and "Hand in Hand", which were all played on King Biscuit at one time or another. This particular source apparently comes straight from the video of this show, the most telltale sign being how "I Don't Care Anymore" fades in just as the vocals start (thereby cutting out the interview snippets that were dubbed over the introduction.) As such, it's a heavenly A+ recording, just a shame that I still have to track down a more complete source one of these days (and find one with better artwork -- that picture of Phil isn't even from this tour! Sheesh!!)

Ok, seriously folks...you've GOT to get this show, one way or another. Not only is the band's performance spot-on (and yup, Daryl & Chester and the Phoenix Horns are all in attendance) but Phil's quirky comments are a total hoot. Especially the introduction to "Thru These Walls", which Phil says dedicates "to all the perverts out there!" And during "In the Air Tonight", Phil shines a spotlight on some guy in the audience, then announces how he wrote the song about that guy witnessing a murder and doing nothing to stop it...oh wait, that last part never happened. Never mind. :)

"No Jacket Required"

  1. "Sussudio" (4:23)
  2. "Only You Know and I Know" (4:20)
  3. "Long Long Way to Go" (4:20)
  4. "I Don't Wanna Know" (4:12)
  5. "One More Night" (4:47)
  6. "Don't Lose My Number" (4:46)
  7. "Who Said I Would" (4:01)
  8. "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore?" (4:18)
  9. "Inside Out" (5:14)
  10. "Take Me Home" (5:51)
  11. "We Said Hello Goodbye" (4:15)

Phil came up with the title for this album when he was turned away from a posh nightclub because he wasn't wearing a jacket. So he went home and got a jacket, but still they wouldn't let him in, saying, "It's the wrong kind of jacket." This album came out at the height of my Genesis/Phil Collins craze and I still enjoy it, except for the horrid ballad "One More Night" which unfortunately was a sign of where things were headed! "Long Long Way to Go" features Sting on backing vocals.

"Phil Collins 12"-ers" (EP)

  1. "Take Me Home"--12" mix (8:06)
  2. "Sussudio"--12" mix (6:34)
  3. "Who Said I Would"--12" mix (5:50)
  4. "Only You Know and I Know"--12" mix (6:55)
  5. "Don't Lose My Number"--12" mix (6:36)
  6. "One More Night"--12" mix (6:25)

I don't think I've listened to this CD a single time since I bought it 14 years ago. Yet the other day I looked at it and it was all scratched to hell! It came in just a cardboard sleeve thingy instead of a plastic jewel case, so that probably explains it.

"...Hits"

  1. "Another Day in Paradise" (5:22)
  2. "True Colors (w/ Babyface)" (4:34)
  3. "Easy Lover (w/ Philip Bailey)" (5:02)
  4. "You Can't Hurry Love" (2:52)
  5. "Two Hearts" (3:25)
  6. "I Wish It Would Rain Down" (5:28)
  7. "Against All Odds" (3:23)
  8. "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" (4:52)
  9. "Separate Lives (w/ Marilyn Martin)" (4:06)
  10. "Both Sides of the Story" (6:39)
  11. "One More Night" (4:47)
  12. "Sussudio" (4:23)
  13. "Dance into the Light" (4:24)
  14. "A Groovy Kind of Love" (3:28)
  15. "In the Air Tonight" (5:32)
  16. "Take Me Home" (5:51)

Not a bad compilation, since only six songs overlap on my collection. Goes to show you how much Phil-baby gets around: many soundtrack songs, including "Against All Odds" from the movie of the same name (and I finally did get that soundtrack!); "Separate Lives" from White Knights (hardly worth mentioning), and two songs ("Groovy Kind of Love", "Two Hearts") from Buster, which Phil also starred in (but wait...no "Big Noise"?? That kinda sucks...) Most importantly, it's also got "Easy Lover", Phil's duet with "the other guy named Phil" from Earth, Wind & Fire! The "True Colors" duet (a Cyndi Lauper song...ack), however, pretty much sucks. One big disappointment is no b-side tunes, namely "Man with the Horn", "And So to F", and "I Like the Way"...how come he couldn't put out a limited edition 2-disc version like U2 did?? Ah well, life just sucks sometimes...


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