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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The beginning of Phil Collins's massively successful solo career coincided with the discord in his first marriage, turning Face Value into a compelling churn of emotions, from the utter disgust of "In the Air Tonight" (where Collins dryly comments, "If you told me you were drowning / I would not lend a hand") to the delight he feels in exploring a new relationship ("This Must Be Love"). Collins' thundering drums and punchy horn arrangements--a close approximation of Earth, Wind & Fire's sound, actually--clicked with the public, turning "I Missed Again" and "In the Air Tonight" into Top 20 singles and launching Collins' career as one of the biggest and most unlikely stars of the 1980s. --Daniel Durchholz
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CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By BenF
Format:Audio CD
In 1981, before he discovered his social conscience, he wrote a great album about problems that he really understood, and sentiments that he really felt. There's real edge here, in the menacing bassline and explosive drums of 'air tonight'. There's some funk in the riffs 'behind the lines'. And genuinely exotic world influences in 'droned' and 'the roof is leaking'. He even picked a great, neglected Beatles track to cover. So don't buy anything he's ever written - except this. 20 years ago, he got it absolutely right. Swallow your pride and put it in your basket.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Dave_42
Format:Audio CD
Phil Collins has had an interesting career. Coming in for Genesis' third album to be the drummer, he then went on to become the lead vocalist after Peter Gabriel left. He also joined the Fusion group Brand X while in Genesis. In 1981 he launched his successful solo career with this album, "Face Value". He has even had a small acting career to go along with his career in music. Far from one expects from a star, at least in the way he looks, one has to respect his career and what he has accomplished. This first album from him very much fits his career. There is an iconic song, some puzzling song choices and some hidden gems as well.
The album opens with "In the Air Tonight", a piece which has staying power as we near 30 years later, and with no end in sight, nor would one expect there to be. It is a simple piece, and yet masterful in the way it is executed. I suppose it didn't hurt that it spawned an urban legend about its origins either, but it would still be with us even if that had not happened. Next up is "This Must be Love", a nice pleasant piece but one which is easily forgotten after the opener. Next comes an odd choice as Phil chooses to cover "Behind the Lines", a Genesis song which had originally been released less than a year before on the "Duke" album. It is a different version, but it seems like a strange thing to do. "The Roof Is Leaking" is the next track, a nice track which has a different feel than the first pieces, with Phil on piano, and it blends well into two instrumentals (though with voices as instruments) called "Droned" and "Hand in Hand", which closes out the first half of the album.
"I Missed Again" opens the second half of the album, once again a decent piece but not a classic, which made the top 20 as a single.... Read more ›
The album opens with "In the Air Tonight", a piece which has staying power as we near 30 years later, and with no end in sight, nor would one expect there to be. It is a simple piece, and yet masterful in the way it is executed. I suppose it didn't hurt that it spawned an urban legend about its origins either, but it would still be with us even if that had not happened. Next up is "This Must be Love", a nice pleasant piece but one which is easily forgotten after the opener. Next comes an odd choice as Phil chooses to cover "Behind the Lines", a Genesis song which had originally been released less than a year before on the "Duke" album. It is a different version, but it seems like a strange thing to do. "The Roof Is Leaking" is the next track, a nice track which has a different feel than the first pieces, with Phil on piano, and it blends well into two instrumentals (though with voices as instruments) called "Droned" and "Hand in Hand", which closes out the first half of the album.
"I Missed Again" opens the second half of the album, once again a decent piece but not a classic, which made the top 20 as a single.... Read more ›
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
His first solo album and he never bettered it. He will never write anything as good as In The Air Tonight. The man talents are immense and he has done great things since but this is Collins at his best.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
I first heard this album in the season of autumn and, for me, it will always be an autumn album. That said, it is an outstanding piece of work and a musical rarity i.e. not a weak song in sight. "In the air tonight" is so listeningly beautiful that,up until that famous drum solo occurs, you can almost heard a pin drop. Then there is the most romantic of love songs "this must be love" before the mood is again broken by the dispairing tones of "roof is leaking" and "Droned". The album takes this high to low mood swing throughout but it certainly keeps you interested. My personal favourite is "thunder and lightning" with lines as strong as " I never believed in second chance...you just get one crack of the whip and thats all...". Overall the album has great variety, great lyrics and music that seems as important now as it did in 1981. My only regret is that it was never repeated. Perhaps a case of too many eggs in the one basket..?
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Gavin Wilson
Format:Audio CD
Phil Collins' reputation has suffered substantially over the past twenty years. He may not have been mentioned by either David Brent or Alan Partridge, but it feels like it. Many Genesis fans haven't quite forgiven him for admitting that, before the 'We Can't Dance' album, the band deliberately decided to "sell out", in his words. Maybe it was the rapid drift towards MOR in his solo albums, the chain of failed marriages, or simple jealousy of his money-making, but the critics have not been kind to our Phil in recent years.
I bought this LP when it first came out, and have now bought it as part of the new 3CD pack released in 2004 that is excellent value. I must admit I hadn't played the album for 20 years, and it really takes me back. In 2001, his stock was really high: he had been a fantastic vocal replacement for Peter Gabriel in Genesis, and he had won critical acclaim for his spare-time band, the jazz-rock specialists Brand X. So what if he did the odd cover of a Motown hit, or did the occasional pop video? It just added to the fun, and potentially seemed capable of bringing a mainstream audience to jazz-rock.
People coming to 'Face Value' for the first time may wonder what the dominant style is, 'In the Air Tonight' apart. And the answer is jazz-rock. Well, one band in particular: Weather Report. Listeners are strongly advised to buy that band's 'Heavy Weather' and 'Black Market'. (It is no coincidence that Genesis's concert drummer was Chester Thompson, who had also played drums on 'Black Market', nor that the bassist on that album was Al Johnson, who also plays on 'Face Value'.) Basically, 'Face Value' was a popularised version of Weather Report, updated with vocals and drum machines.
... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellant
I generally only buy albums that I have heard before usually as a replacement for a copy that has been damaged. Read more
Published 4 months ago by stewart d herd
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phil Collins
Brilliant! A lot cheaper to download than buy and very good quality. As for the album, Phil's fantastic work - as ever!
Published 5 months ago by Sharon Alford
1.0 out of 5 stars
Awful release,music and sound
If this is a good album Genesis' "We Can't Dance" was written by God himself.
I really can't stand this poor Cd, Collins could at least make it sound better-
Found in my... Read more
I really can't stand this poor Cd, Collins could at least make it sound better-
Found in my... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Lucazest
5.0 out of 5 stars
BRILLANT PURCHASE
WONDERFUL PURCHASE I BROUGHT FOR MY FELLA'S BIRTHDAY ITS A AWESOME COPY AND LOVE PHIL COLLINS IS THE LEGEND! MY FELLA LOVED THE PRESENT THANKS FOR GETTING HERE SO FAST :D
Published on 1 May 2011 by Zoe
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Makings of a Hypocritical Scumbag
I'd like to make one thing clear. I am a big fan of Phils music but I dislike him as a person very much so when I insult him, it is not a reflection on his music. Read more
Published on 22 April 2011 by Greg Boyd
3.0 out of 5 stars
What was all the fuss about!?
What makes a Number One Album? This apparently!
Whist never a big fan of Phil Collins, he's always been highly regarded in the Music Industry. Read more
Whist never a big fan of Phil Collins, he's always been highly regarded in the Music Industry. Read more
Published on 1 May 2010 by FAMOUS NAME
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Do you like Phil Collins?"
Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2009 by Billy Ray Cyrus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind Genesis
Phil Collins debut, an instant smash, revealed why Genesis' music was taking a more mainstream direction, and is far more impressive than that band's contemporaneous release,... Read more
Published on 3 April 2008 by D. J. H. Thorn
2.0 out of 5 stars
1st Track = Brilliant, the rest?....mediocre at best!
I'm going to go against the rest of reviews here. First, let's get it clear in your heads, I love Collins' music. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2007 by Matthew Fenn
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