Free Download !!EXCLUSIVE!! Phil Collins Songs
Vaun Stokes
Phil Collins recently told the press that he's writing new songs and contemplating a return to the road, possibly with Genesis. He was the hardest-working man of the 1980s, but with the exception of the Genesis reunion tour of 2007, he's largely been retired for the past decade.
"I think he got himself into a bit of a hole and that's great news he's coming out of it," Peter Gabriel recently told Rolling Stone. "It doesn't have to involve work, but if it does, that's a great indicator." We asked our readers to select their favorite Phil Collins solo songs. Click through to see the results.
Genesis were in a rare period of downtime, so Phil went into his basement and poured all his heartache into a series of demos he cut with a drum machine. "I didn't see it as making a record," Collins said later. "It wasn't cathartic, but it was obviously therapeutic." The songs became the backbone of Face Value, Collins' debut solo album. Despair is evident on every song, particularly the gut-wrenching "The Roof Is Leaking." It's a sparse track, totally unlike anything the songwriter had done in his decade with Genesis. Few people could have imagined this material would kick-start one of the most successful pop careers of the decade.
Much like his debut album Face Value, the songs on Phil Collins' second LP Hello, I Must Be Going focus on his rather painful divorce. The five-minute leadoff track "I Don't Care Anymore" showcases Collins' impressive drum skills and his extreme anger towards his ex. "'Cos I remember all the times I tried so hard," he sings. "And you laughed in my face 'cos you held all the cards/ I don't care anymore." Collins plays every instrument on the song besides guitar. The song only reached Number 39 on the Hot 100, but it remains one of his most beloved solo works.
The soundtrack to the 1984 Jeff Bridges movie Against All Odds is like a mini Genesis reunion. Peter Gabriel contributed the track "Walk Through the Fire" and Mike Rutherford's solo song "Making a Big Mistake" also appears. However, very few people remember either of those songs since they were completely overshadowed by Phil Collins' powerful title track.
In 1985, Collins released his third album, No Jacket Required, which contained the hits "Sussudio" and "One More Night". He also recorded the song "Separate Lives", a duet with Marilyn Martin that reached number one in the US. No Jacket Required debuted at number one in the US and UK; it is the best-selling album of his career and has been certified Diamond in the US for sales over 10 million and six-times platinum in the UK.[3][5] In 1988, Collins contributed songs to the soundtrack of the film Buster, in which he also starred: "Two Hearts", and a cover of "A Groovy Kind of Love", the latter of which became a UK and US number one.[2][4] In 1989 Collins produced another successful album, ...But Seriously, featuring the anti-homelessness anthem "Another Day in Paradise", which peaked at number one in the US and number two in the UK.[2][4] A live album, Serious Hits... Live! followed in 1990.
Collins's fifth album, Both Sides, was released in 1993; although it was less successful than his previous albums and produced only one UK top-ten single, the album still reached number one in the UK.[2] His next album, Dance into the Light, was released in 1996 and was even less successful, peaking at number four in the UK and was only certified silver.[2][3] A greatest hits compilation, ...Hits, was released in 1998 and was successful, returning Collins to UK number one and multi-platinum status in the UK and US.[2][3][5] The album's sole new track was a cover of the Cyndi Lauper hit "True Colors". Collins also wrote and performed songs for the Disney animated films Tarzan and Brother Bear. Collins's seventh studio album, Testify, was released in 2002. It was a success in Europe, peaking at number fifteen in the UK and within the top five in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.[2][6] After the release of Testify, Collins announced that he was going into semi-retirement,[7] and released two compilation albums in 2004, The Platinum Collection and Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New. In 2010, Collins released his eighth and final studio album, Going Back, after which he went into a brief four-year retirement, before returning to the music industry in 2015. By 2016, Collins remastered and reissued all of his studio albums and released his fourth compilation album, The Singles.
Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on solo work; this included writing songs for Disney's animated film Tarzan (1999). He wrote and performed the songs, "Two Worlds", "Son of Man", "Strangers Like Me" and "You'll Be in My Heart", the latter of which earned him the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He rejoined Genesis for their Turn It On Again Tour in 2007. Following a five-year retirement to focus on his family life, Collins released his memoir in 2016 and completed his Not Dead Yet Tour in 2019. He then rejoined Genesis in 2020 for a second reunion tour, ending in March 2022.
From 1970 to 1975, Collins played drums, percussion, and largely sang backing vocals on Genesis albums and concerts. His first album as a member, Nursery Cryme, features the acoustic song "For Absent Friends" that has Collins singing lead vocal. He sang "More Fool Me" on their 1973 album Selling England by the Pound.[54] In 1974, during the recording of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Collins played drums on Brian Eno's second album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) after Eno had contributed electronic effects to two songs on the album.[55]
In February 1981, Collins released his debut solo album Face Value. He signed with Virgin Records and WEA for American distribution in order to distance himself from the Charisma label, and oversaw every step of its production; he wrote the liner notes himself and by hand.[68] His divorce was the focus of its lyrical themes and song titles: "I had a wife, two children, two dogs, and the next day I didn't have anything. So a lot of these songs were written because I was going through these emotional changes."[69] Collins produced the album in collaboration with Hugh Padgham, with whom he had worked on Peter Gabriel's self-titled 1980 album.[70] Face Value reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.[57] It was also an international success, reaching number one in six other countries and number seven in the US where it went on to sell 5 million copies.[71] "In the Air Tonight", the album's lead single, became a hit and reached number two in the UK charts. The song is known for the gated reverb effect used on Collins's drums, a technique developed by Padgham when he worked as an engineer on Gabriel's song "Intruder", on which Collins played drums.[70]
Collins's third album, No Jacket Required, was recorded in 1984 and marked a turning point in his output. He departed from lyrics about his personal life and wrote more upbeat and dance-orientated songs with strong hooks and melodies, such as "Sussudio", "One More Night", and "Take Me Home". The album also featured guest backing vocals from Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Helen Terry. No Jacket Required was released in February 1985 and became a huge worldwide success, reaching number one in several countries.[57] "Sussudio" and "One More Night" topped the US singles chart, and "Don't Lose My Number" and "Take Me Home" made the US top ten. The album remains the most successful of his career, selling over 12 million copies in the US where it was certified diamond, and 1.9 million in the UK where it was the second-best-selling album of 1985.[84]
Although the album was criticised for being overly commercial, David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote: "After years on the art-rock fringe, Collins has established himself firmly in the middle of the road. Perhaps he should consider testing himself and his new fans' expectations next time around."[85] "Sussudio" attracted negative attention for sounding too similar to Prince's "1999", a charge that Collins did not deny,[86] and its hook line has been named as the most widely disliked element of his career.[87] No Jacket Required earned Collins the first two of his six Brit Awards, winning Best British Male and Best British Album.[88] Collins scored three US number one songs in 1985, the most by any artist that year.[60] No Jacket Required won three Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.[89]
The No Jacket Required World Tour saw Collins perform 85 shows between February and July 1985. On 13 July, Collins took part in the Live Aid concerts, a continuation of the fundraising effort started by Band Aid. Collins was the only performer to appear at the London concert at Wembley Stadium and the US concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on the same day.[90] After performing what Ultimate Classic Rock called "an especially crowd-pleasing selection of songs" in London, with "Against All Odds", "In the Air Tonight", and playing alongside Sting, Collins flew to Philadelphia on a Concorde to perform his solo material, play drums for Clapton, and drum with Plant and Jimmy Page for a Led Zeppelin reunion.[90] The latter performance was poorly received and later disowned by the band.[91] Page later said that Collins had not learned his parts for the set.[92] Collins responded that the band "weren't very good", that a "dribbling" Page had made him feel uncomfortable, and he only continued with the set rather than leave the stage in order to avoid negative attention.[93] In November 1985, the song "Separate Lives", a duet featuring Collins and Marilyn Martin for the musical drama film White Nights, was released and became a US number one hit.[60]
After touring with Genesis in 1987, Collins was aware that his music had gained too much exposure and took a year off from writing and recording. He took on his first acting role since the late 1960s, starring as Buster Edwards opposite Julie Walters (who played his wife, June) in the romantic comedy drama-crime film Buster which centred around the Great Train Robbery from 1963 in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire. Reviews for the film were mixed and controversy ensued over its subject matter; Prince Charles and Princess Diana declined an invitation to the première after it was accused of glorifying crime.[99] Collins contributed four songs to the film's soundtrack; his ballad rendition of "A Groovy Kind of Love", originally by the Mindbenders, became his only single to reach No. 1 in the UK and the US. The film also spawned the US #1 single "Two Hearts", which he co-wrote with Lamont Dozier and won the pair a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and an Oscar nomination in the same category. Film critic Roger Ebert said Collins "played [the role of Buster] with surprising effectiveness".[100] In 1988, Collins was the subject of an episode of the British TV series This Is Your Life.[101] In 1989, Collins was among the musicians who donated their own clothes to Madame Tussaud's Rock Circus, an exhibition held at the London Pavilion celebrating the history of rock and pop music featuring its major figures recreated in wax.[102]
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