No Jacket Required
Ah Phil Collins debut. Back before the world developed a gag reflex to his voice, Collins was still considered a respectable artist, from his work with Genesis and his more technical work with the jazz fusion band Brand X. However Phil was not satisfied with such roles. No, he had a love of old Motown records and 1960s R&B. He was not able to use his song writing talents in this vein with his other bands, so he struck out on his own while remaining in Genesis. The world would never be the same would it?
Miami Vice is a great show. What makes the pilot of said show so special is a scene where Crockett and Tubbs are driving down the highway of Miami, on their way to make a drug bust and avenge the death of Tubb�s brother and Crockett�s partner. The song playing is the one that everyone on the face of the planet knows, that of �In the Air Tonight.� This song and that one scene sum up all that was badass about the 80s. From the slow buildup with the restrained wailing of a guitar, all the way to that momentous drum breakdown that comes from nowhere to slam the listener with its power, this song is pure solid awesomeness. How does one follow up a defining cultural moment? Well by Collins writing a Collins ballad. �This Must Be Love� is a laid back song with the usual Collins� production techniques. You know what I�m talking about, the rain drop percussion hits. The mood created is pretty nifty.. �Behind the Lines� is a do over of the Genesis song from the Duke album. Here Phil speeds up the tempo and adds some groovy horns and poppy bass. Nice. �The Roof is Leaking� is odd for a Collins song as the production is limited to the sound of crickets chirping, creating a Southern feeling. Phil sings against a banjo and piano and actually sounds vulnerable under such cirumstances. This song leads into �Droned� an instrumental that sounds exactly like its title. This leads into �Hand in Hand,� a lengthy instrumental this time that has the usual rainforest production and some chanting voices. It�s not that engaging though, and at five and a half minutes it overstays its welcome.
�I Missed Again� is the best forgotten song off the album. It was a single at the time and spawned a neato video of Phil pretending to play instruments. It is incredibly catchy and an anthem for those of us who always feel like we are missing the mark. �You Know What I Mean� brings the volume down again for a short slower tune, which explodes as much as Phil Collins can, into �Thunder and Lightning� another great poppy song with a cool chorus. The song could use a bit of a kick, possibly making it faster would make it better. �I�m Not Moving� is a great little song that reaches a nice level of cool during when Phil sings the title over what sounds like a flute. Pretty much all of these songs have dealt with Phil�s recent divorce from his wife. That will teach her to divorce and piss off a famous music personality. �If Leaving Me is Easy� begins to wind things down as Phil realizes it is time to move on from mourning over the dead relationship. Ending on a perfect note is a cover of the Beatles� �Tomorrow Never Knows.� Now off course it can�t hold a candle to the original, but Phil does a darn good job at it, ending the album on a down note. Phil would of course be back, but a little less dour and more hopeful.
Final Comment: Phil�s best album. His more famous ones were to come though. While not the greatest thing ever, my fanboy mentality took over in scoring this. Deal with it folks. I deal with the fact no one reads these.
Score: ****
Phil Collins was clearly at the end of his enormous popularity with the release of this album in 1997. The backlash that had been gathering for years was unleashed here as seen by the general indifference that the public greeted Dance Into the Light. While not particularly offensive in any way, the 12 songs here are all faceless tunes searching for an identity.
The title track kicks things off and is the best song on the album with its uplifting lyric and slight hook. Also I am a sucker for power horns so this track has an allure to it that brings me in. However, the rest of the album is all downhill from there. Whether it�s the weepy sentiment of �Lorenzo� or the ridiculous Paul Simon rip off of �Wear My Hat� Collins seems to hit on every bland adult contemporary convention in the book. Not to say that those conventions can�t be enjoyable, its just that when they are chock full of naive cliches and �heart tugging� lyrics of "hope" it can wear on the listener after awhile. Which reminds me, this is one long album. Well I suppose its only around an hour but come on guys. Just because you can now put over an hour worth of tunes on a cd doesn�t mean I want an hour of crap. Give me 40 minutes of good stuff and cut the filler. Another strike is the horrendous Bob Dylan cover at the end: �Times They Are A-Changin�.� I�m sure old Dylan thought in the 60s �Oh man I�m writing this song about political rebellion (or something who knows with a pretentious coot like Dylan) and I think Phil Collins and his bald head would be the perfect person to cover this song and turn it into a sappy personal statement on how his career is changing. As in being flushed down the drain of mediocrity!� Harsh I know, but I love you Phil.
Final Comment: Not that he ever had much of one in the first place, but Collins desperately needed an edge of some sort at this stage in order to remain artistically relevant. Unfortunately �Tarzan� doesn�t count as artistic growth.
Score: * �
If I saw you drowning, I wouldn't lend a hand. Mainly cause I'm Lazy. Back to Homepage
