Face it Phil Collins has great musical Value

It was nice to be a teenager when Miami Vice was on network TV.  Miami Vice was a great prep on Friday nights before going out.  The best thing was the music.  The soundtrack was dark and modern noir.  A song that goes hand in hand with the mystique of Miami Vice was Phil Collins' smash In the Air Tonight.  The song is a brooding sparse masterpiece whose wildly interpreted lyrics only add .to the legendary status of the song.  Also there isn't a person alive who hasn't played Air Drums during the drum solo.

The album that In the Air Tonight was on was released in 1981 so still a little early for me to have gotten into when it was released.  If any of Phil Collins' CDs I listened to it was No Jacket Required, the monster that was released later in the 80's

So let's give the Face Value CD a listen.  My first reaction to the CD was to come to Phil Collins' defense.  When Peter Gabriel left Genesis there was a huge knock on Phil Collins.  There was feeling that he took the band too pop and less progressive rock.  This CD is very stripped down and other than the track I Missed Again not a pop album at all.  On many tracks you can tell Phil Collins is a drummer first and on others you hear the horns that will be all over the smash CD No Jacket Required.  Any one who thinks Phil Collins doesn't write serious music needs to give this CD a listen.

Unfortunately upon repeated listening to the CD I came away not fully happy with it.  It's very dark and disjointed. The breaks between the happy and the very painful slow tracks are uneven and sudden.  You can tell Phil Collins was not in a good place, going through a divorce with his first wife, when writing this album.  Even the upbeat pop song I Missed Again upon deeper listening is not a happy subject mater.

If you are a fan of Phil Collins this is a great release, but for the casual listener be forewarned the first track on the Album is In The Air Tonight.  That track alone tells you what mood you should get into for rest of the release.

Til next time listen to the best your ears deserve it.