Phil Collins – Face Value CD

Phil Collins – Face Value

The five-times platinum album Face Value was the first solo album by Genesis drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins and was released by Virgin Records in February 1981. The album was recorded from mid-1980 to early 1981 with Collins and Hugh Padgham as producers. Other musicians included the Phenix Horns, Alphonso Johnson and Eric Clapton.

Face Value was an instant commercial success, reaching No. 1 in the UK album charts for three weeks and No. 7 in the US Billboard 200. Since then, the album has sold more than 5 million copies in the US and more than 1.5 million copies in the UK and has been highly praised by critics. The lead single "In the Air Tonight", released in January 1981, reached number 2 in the UK singles charts and became famous for its drum arrangement and use of gated reverb.

Like "Misunderstanding" (one of Genesis' best songs), "Face Value" is pop music about personal turmoil: in this case, the dissolution of Collins' marriage. Rolling Stone wrote, "Sometimes the singer wears his broken heart too plainly on his sleeve, and musical missteps abound: the annoying Munchkin-esque vocoder effects in 'I'm Not Moving,' some rote horn charts, a series of indistinguishable ballads and a limp cover of the Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows.'

"But Collins hits more often than not, skillfully mixing moody keyboard trills and bone-crunching drum beats in 'In the Air Tonight' and shifting with surprising surefootedness from the Eno-esque repetition of 'Droned' to the percussive horn sections of 'Hand in Hand' to the compelling intimacy of 'If Leaving Me Is Easy.

AllMusic gave the album 5 stars, with reviewer Tim Sendra writing, "Phil Collins' first solo album, 1981's Face Value, has been a long time coming, but it's been worth it, both for the Genesis drummer/vocalist himself and for fans of thoughtful, emotionally charged pop.... (He made) an album that is considered a classic moment of '80s pop/rock.... Collins felt driven to make this album to heal himself. It's not a career move or a fundraiser; it's a transmission of a wounded soul delivered with a gentle touch and sensitivity." This reissue of Face Value by Analogue Productions (Atlantic Series) has the essential elements to make it a standout in your collection. First, we reached out to Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering to cut the lacquers from a 1/4" EQ'd Dolby tape copy of the original master. The album was pressed by Quality Record Pressings and RTI, and the album is packaged in an old-style gatefold sleeve with foil lamination by Stoughton Printing.

Tracklist:
1. In the Air Tonight (5.31)
2. This Must Be Love (3.56)
3. Behind the Lines (3.55)
4. The Roof Is Leaking (3.19)
5. Droned (2.5)
6. Hand in Hand (5.24)
7. I Missed Again (3.46)
8. You Know What I Mean (2.33)
9. Thunder and Lightning (4.14)
10. I m Not Moving (2.35)
11. If Leaving Me Is Easy (4.56)
12. Tomorrow Never Knows (4.48)

Label: Rhino
Released: 1981/2026