Hits - Collins, Phil (CD 1998)

I tend to live and die by the Greatest Hits collection. As a child of 80's-early 90's Top 40 radio, i've come to realize that most of the artists I liked from my youth sound best when they're distilled into a quick overview of their biggest pop moments. When you listen to greatest hits albums by the likes of Duran Duran or En Vogue (or the upcoming TLC one), it actually makes the case for that artist as a credible one, as opposed to a band that made a bunch of great singles on a bunch of average-to-slightly-above (or below) albums.

Phil Collins has had a very long career that may seem a bit underrated at first glance. After singlehandedly turning Genesis from a theatrical art-rock band to a Top 40 powerhouse, Collins decided to try his hand at a companion solo career, allowing him to pursue music that was a bit more commercial in nature while Genesis kept up their slightly left-of-center excursions (of course, we all know that didn't happen as Genesis basically turned into Phil Collins featuring Phil Collins). At any rate, this collection would make a great case for Phil Collins as a top-shelf singles artist if the right songs were included. However, there are enough omissions (and enough good Phil album tracks) to justify the purchase of this as an accompaniment as opposed to a substitution.

While Phil himself is a short bald munchkin, his throaty voice has a lot of power behind it, able to convey emotions ranging from slightly disturbed to deeply in love. Most of his songs have a bit of an achy streak, which may be the fault of not one, but two albums ("Face Value" and "Both Sides") being heavily inspired by divorce. He also has consistently included social commentary in his songs, not to mention a healthy appreciation for R&B music which occasionally seeps into his records.

Let's also not forget that Phil is probably one of the five best living rock drummers out there. He practically invented the "big drum" sound that ruled the Eighties, and although a lot of the percussion on his alter records has been provided by a drum machine, the man is truly a songwriting/singing/drumming triple threat.

Phil truly stands alone as an artist that understands heartbreak. The bitter "In The Air Tonight" is easily one of the most recognizable songs of the 80's, featuring Phil's electronically altered vocals, a slight pulse of a beat which turns halfway into wallsk of pounding percussion. Let's also not forget one of the most unforgettable opening verses in music history "Well, if you told me you were drowning/I would not lend a hand/I've seen your face before, my friend/but I don't know if you know who I am". The songs was featured on "Miami Vice" and has been wholeheartedly embraced by the hip-hop generation, as both Queen Pen & Li'l Kim have remade the song (with Phil contributing new vocals to both versions).

"Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)", "I Wish it Would Rain Down" and "Separate Lives" are all "love lost" ballads, the type Collins seems to gravitate to most. All feature powerhouse vocal performances, with "Odds"' as impassioned as 'Separate Lives" is restrained. "I Wish It Would Rain Down", one of my favorite Phil songs of all time, is bolstered by an electrifying Eric Clapton leaving his bluesy guitar footprints all over the track, and a gospel choir that shows up at the song's end.

Phil's love of soul music was evident ever since he hired the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section to play on "Face Value". He returned the favor for EW&F co-lead singer Philip Bailey's solo album "Chinese Wall". Phil produced the album and contributed lead vocals to it's biggest hit, the funk/rock fusion "Easy Lover", on which Collins thorat-shredding performance upstages Bailey's persistent falsetto. The track gave Collins his first of two top Ten hits on Billboard's R&B singles chart. The second was "Sussudio", a danceable love letter to some chick with a really weird name (who would ever name their child Sussudio??). If the music sounds familiar, there's a reason for it. Phil has freely admitted in a bunch of interviews that he basically borrowed the song's general sound from Prince's "1999". He also provided a carbon-copy cover of The Supremes "You Can't Hurry Love", which became his first Top ten hit in 1983, and then paid tribute to the Supremes' songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland and co-wrote "Two Hearts" with them. This finger-snapping Motown-inspired ditty was from his 1988 feature-film debut "Buster".

Phil has been the rare pop artist (much like the man he replaced as Genesis lead singer, Peter Gabriel) to consistently provide social commentary in his work. The melancholy "Another Day In Paradise" (the first #1 hit of the 1990's), raises a genuine sympathetic eye to folks who are less fortunate, as does 1993's "Both Sides To The Story", which adds domestic violence and racial politics to the mix, bolstered by a heavier rock arrangement and bagpipes (or synthesizers arranged to sound like bagpipes, anyway).

The album's token new song is a pleasant (if too fluffy) smooth-R&B cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" produced by then it-man Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. The song itself is fairly pleasant, but, like most covers, doesn't do justice to the original.

My personal opinion is that Phil Collins has gotten a bad-rap for being a bit too ballad-heavy, in addition for being a pop star with a dang-blasted social conscience. My take is that he's an excellent songwriter, an underrated vocalist (why do British artists often sing with more emotion than their "soulful" American counterparts?), and a remarkably consistent artist. Even though he's fallen into the same Disney soundtrack trap that briefly claimed Elton John, his last studio album, "testify", while not being fantastic, contaned at least a few decent songs.

The only problem I have with this album is that there wasn't enough space to provide an accurate accounting of the man's hits. The few duds that are here ("Something Happened On The Way To Heaven", "Dance Into The Light"), could have easily been replaced by "I Missed Again", "I Don't Care Anymore", "Don't Lose My Number", "Do You Remember?" and several other hits that are a bit stronger. Hell, they could've also thrown in a few minor hits/album trqacks that are among Phil's best work ("If Leaving Me Is Easy", "We Said Hello Goodbye", "Can't Turn Back The Years") However, it's only a minor quibble. For a brief summation of Phil's solo career, this is the way to go, at least until the inevitabe box set or comprehensive 2-disc anthology arrives.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Key tracks: "I Wish It Would Rain Down", "In The Air Tomnight", "Easy Lover"