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Face Value was a revelation in how much it adhered to Genesis's prog rockishness (particularly as Genesis was leaving it behind) while at the same time diverging from it. Through the use of "In the Air Tonight" in Miami Vice and Risky Business, it helped define the cold, distant atmosphere of the early '80s. It was diverse stylistically but held together by a thread of melancholy. To its great credit, it is just as unique today as it was in 1981.
Hello, I must be going has highlights, but is easily a transition album between Face Value and No Jacket Required which has some of Phil Collins' most stand-out numbers ("Take Me Home" just does not get enough airplay on "hits of the 80s" radio). Still it has some serious limitations. "S-s-sussudio" and "Don't Lose My Number," hits that they were, are proof that Phil, as much as he wanted to be dance-pop, still couldn't let go of his prog tendencies. Try to dance to those songs, I dare you. The time signatures are just too effed up. He crafted a great illusion though. And the non-hits ("Who Said I Would," "Only You Know and I Know," "I Don't Wanna Know," "Who Said I Would") are so forgettable that by the end of a four-song list I'd forgotten that I already mentioned "Who Said I Would." It's an album of high highs and low lows.
...But Seriously, though, I think is the pinnacle of his output. In some ways it's the refinement of formulas he'd been working on with Genesis, as a solo performer and as a producer for other artist, and rehashes (and mostly improves upon) themes he'd tackled before ("Find a Way to My Heart" is "Take Me Home" again, but I can forgive because they are both so good). But on the whole, I think it's his first album to aspire to something truly grand and it achieves it. It's probably his best album lyrically, and let's face it, his lyrics have never been his strong suit (that would be being a passionate and compelling vocalist with a limited instrument). The arrangements are great, he finally uses his superb brass section up to their potential on tracks like "Hang in Long Enough," "Heat on the Street," and "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning." It recaptures some of the interesting musical textures he hadn't explored since Face Value ("Colours"). This all goes to make the non-hit tracks more listenable than on any of his previous albums. In 1989/90, when you couldn't stand to hear "Another Day in Paradise" or "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" again because of radio overplay, there was still plenty on the album to listen to. And the production value is crystalline. Listen to the album on a good sound system and its a vibrant example of good studio-craft. The album gets overlooked because it came along just as people were realizing they were getting tired of his reign over the 80s, but it really is a more solid album, front to back, than any of his other work.
After that, he released Both Sides, written, produced and with every instrument performed by Collins and what a mistake that was. The whole thing sounds like it was made in a tin can without a lick of inspiration. And then began Phil Collins' ascent (or descent) to Elton Johnnitude. No complaints against Elton John, but Phil Collins being Elton John will never be as good as Phil Collins being Phil Collins. box
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Just looking out of the window
Watching the asphalt grow
Thinking how it all looks hand-me-down
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