Phil Collins

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This is typical, almost paradigmic, pop music.

Review Score:

(8/10)
Of course the lyrics are about love and the social commentaries ultra-PC. Of course the voice is smooth and the melodies catchy. This is, after all, a musician, singer and songwriter who was never in a hurry to hide his identity as a pop performer. And was never ashamed of it.

And at his peak he was very good at it.

Though fitting snugly into the damned territory of "MOR", Phil Collins stood out from the crowd with his craft and the sheer joy of his performances. His drumming is always well done, and his instantly identifiable tenor tends to leap out to grab you at key moments -- "Against All Odds" was melodramatic balladeering of the highest order; "A Groovy Kind of Love" is a mellow but touching remake; "Another Day in Paradise" features killer backing vocals by David Crosby and an immediately affecting keyboard line; "In the Air Tonight" is apocalyptic and powerful; and "Separate Lives" (written by Stephen Bishop) delivers a biting confrontational lyric using . And unlike so many other pop performers, Collins often succeeds in giving some edge to his music -- the drums that burst forth onto "In the Air Tonight" and "Another Day in Paradise"; the throbbing strings on "Against All Odds" (courtesy of Arif Mardin), soaring vocals on "Separate Lives" (with help from duet partner Marilyn Martin) -- his background drumming for Genesis and Robert Plant may have given him the valuable knowledge that fluff without some kind of needling in its midst tends to float and then dissipate.

Many a sneering musician today, who would scoff at the thought of listening to "Phil Collins", could learn a thing or two from this sly, crafty songwriter. Aside from his mid-'90s trendchasing (starting with Both Sides and then more grievously on Dance into the Light), Collins has succeeded grandly in making his music powerful in its own way.

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