Is it really just serendipity when a couple of bandmates put out solo albums containing songs with the same title? It wouldn't interest me too much if I hadn't been oddly obsessed with '80s Genesis for a while now. I'll try to explain later. Of course, Mike Rutherford's effort was summarily ignored, while the other guy got his goofy mug on many magazine covers. Actually, it's a little sad. Acting Very Strange isn't that bad an album. It's just that some guys are destined to be the bearded one with the bass (or double neck). But who knew his voice was so gruff!? This one's just honest-to-pop catchy. And the beat is hot, courtesy of Stewart Copeland, for any of you drumming trainspotters. Apparently, he was enlisted for the session while they were playing polo.
A confession — I love No Jacket Required. We used to listen to it in the car on special Saturdays when my mom would drive me and my sister an hour and half up South Jersey to the big mall that was noticeably less shabby than our local one. Phil Collins had accidentally taken over the charts, in the way that stars did back then—a breakthrough album pumping out hits like Hasidic babies. (Let's take a moment now to reflect on that simpler time, with seamless successions of albums soundtracking your life for months at a time, Thriller to No Jacket Required to Hysteria.)I found a vinyl copy of this album at a flea market last summer and it all came flooding back, the radio fodder mixed in with the tracks that insinuated themselves into mid-'80s mythology. And then, this song, with a strange power that arena-sizes the pop knack that had humbly plugged along for years previous. Good on him. Seriously, if you've got no love for the triumph of Sweet Phil, I've got none back for you.
Phil Collins - I Don't Wanna Know
Still love this album! It has some great uptempo numbers. The 16th note ostinato sound on Take Me Home set the tone for tons of copy cat stuff at the time. It set the tone for the rest of the 80's.
ReplyDeletePhil has been slagged for his ballads but the guy could write a catchy tune and actually had drum fills in his songs.These days it's all so boring.