CD Review : Phil Collins - Going Back

Phil Collins - Going Back


Every once in a while an artist who is generally considered to be over-the-hill emerges from his or her retirement with a 'new' CD. These CD's typically repeat the period in the artist's life that he or she was most successful in a vain attempt to recapture the magic of those Golden Days. Phil Collins has taken a different approach.


Let's get the technical details out of the way first : In spite of the old songs on the disc, there is something refreshingly modern about this album too; the format of the double-pack. Disc One is the official audio CD that can also be bought separately(although I really wouldn't know why one would do so). The second disc is a DVD that contains not only the bonus video's; shove this disc in your computer's DVD-player and a menu will automatically appear giving you the option of copying all the songs to your hard disk. And to top that, the production company has already included all the official songs plus 5 bonus track in MP3- and WAV-format! No Jacket Required And No Ripping Necessary!


On to the music : Much has been said about Collins' physical problems; his back is shot to hell, he can no longer use his left hand to drum for any lengthy period, and so on. All this a result of his 40+ years of making music everywhere with anyone on anything. The chances that Phil Collins would record more music were therefore slim and yet Phil Collins wouldn't be Phil Collins if he could leave playing music alone. The man is and was a born musician.

On Going Back, Phil Collins faithfully copied the sound of the original Motown songs as much as possible. Normally this would turn out a boring repetitive album and of course Going Back is not your typical original album. What it turns out to be, is proof that Collins would have fit in with sixties groups like The Temptations seamlessly.

Every now and then the music veers off in the direction of sugary pop a bit too much. This flaw can be forgiven because some of the original versions of the songs were in fact, wel... saccharine would be the word. Fortunately this only happens on a few songs. As there are 25(!) songs on this album - not counting the bonus tracks - the damage from sugar-overdose is kept very limited. Songs like 'Standing In The Shadows Of love' and the inevitable but very well covered 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' have the upper-hand on this album. My personal favourite(so far) is 'Jimmy Mack'. I think the glorious Martha Reeves can be very happy about this version. This song is also the one that comes closest to Phil's original solo work. Indeed; when you listen to this record properly, you can definitely hear that Motown heavily influenced most of his 80ies solo efforts(even in the 'Real Original Phil Collins Songs').
All of these songs show us that, although his best work may be behind him, Phil Collins still remains a true musician at heart. Worse albums, much worse albums, have been released under the veil of being 'modern'. Phil Collins could grow older and older just making these kind of albums. It is unlikely that he will record another record like this but if he did my household would be playing it. Because there is nothing wrong with old music that is re-recorded and re-issued, as long as it is done well.

'Going Back' sounds like it was recorded in the sixties and that may very well be the biggest compliment you can give Phil Collins and his co-musicians.

Talk about Old School.