Phil Collins

I guess I posted the query as you hear more of his solo music on the Radio which has more commercial refrained drumming in it but was listening back to some of the genesis tracks and had almost forgotten how good some of it was and was interested to hear others opinions.

Found some quite good covers out there and have posted a few links below, the top one's one of my faves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZPwvYV5lmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A2DrBYmakE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHmIA6INnLE

Check out the Genesis album "A Trick of the Tail" It's got some fine playing on it.

Love him! No amount of Disney can tarnish his standing with me. Okay, maybe a little bit, but his drumming has always been a hit with me. Brand X, Genesis, solo, Philip Bally, that ABBA chic,... Whatever, dude rules!

Always loved his work with Brand X! There's not much video out on that period of his career it would seem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmP8NC2EOLE

Loving the punchy drum sound on the remastered Abacab album... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zLz8G6ZiuU&list=PLYqm0WQOJy2PbVtbtLShFBKlFo7o1w8lh

Thoughts on Phil Collins:

Don't particularly like his voice, and his songwriting on pretty much everything after 'Abacab' is utter crap.

But the man is absolutely one of the finest drummers who ever lived. I recently saw a documentary called 'Genesis: Sum of the Parts', and the drumming clips of Phil's beginnings with the band were truly eye-opening. I'm not the biggest fan of prog rock, but the way Phil played with such precision, groove, and aggression on such complex parts is truly inspiring. Even the peripheral band personnel at the time point to the addition of Collins' drumming as the moment that Genesis really took off musically.

And where most of his fans feel that the stripped-down drumming on 'Abacab' was a betrayal of his earlier groundbreaking stuff, I always loved the tight, solid, tasteful grooves he plays on songs like the title track and 'Keep It Dark'. It ain't fancy, but the feel is something most drummers would give their last drum key to attain.

For my money, Collins can hold his own compared to just about any drummer in history. I just can't ever forgive him for 'Sussudio'.

philrudd said:

I just can't ever forgive him for 'Sussudio'.

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lol - that's the 80s. That decade had a corrupting influence on many bands. Its influence on prog was especially sad because the expectation was to play 3-minute pop songs with lots of four on the floor, pretty well opposite to prog. Even King Crimson played pop in the 80s so Phil was in good company.

No doubt he's a better drummer than a songwriter, though I think if they had a warmer sound in the studio rather than that clinical, gated, compressed, over-cleaned 80s thing the music would have sounded a whole lot better.

One of my favourite all time drummers and a huge influence on me as I was growing up. I saw Brand X twice at The Venue in London in the 70s, once was with Phil. He had the kit set up at the side facing in towards the centre of the stage so we could watch his incredible footwork. That band/gig was spectacular. Percy Jones, Morris Pert, Robin Lumley, John Goodsall and Phil.
I also saw him with Genesis at the Hammersmith Odeon when he'd just taken over as lead singer. The Trick of the Tail tour (someone mentioned this album earlier - it's a great album). One memorable moment was his tambourine solo - I think he may have been a little bit influenced by Airto on that one.
He used to play these wonderful Herta fills, the same as Billy Cobham used to play.
Then all of a sudden in the early 80s he started playing this fabulous solid groove stuff. he really had his own feel.
I don't know that it was just him learning from Chester, I think they may have learned from each other. I loved Chester's feel too - I saw him doing a clinic at Ronny Scott's around 82 and I remember him saying how he took a while to get the feel of one of Genesis' songs and Phil kept saying to him it's just like walking, and then Chester said, 'ah, it's because we walk differently in America!'
Unorthodox Behaviour, yep that's a beautiful album, as is Masques, Livestock and Product.
Phil also played on some Brian Eno tracks as did Percy Jones - check out Before and After Science for some nice examples.
Another album worth a listen is Peter Gabriel 3. Apparently when Phil was setting his kit up PG told him leave his cymbals in their bags. The drumming on that album is unique. Tribal and cymbal-less. The track No Self Control has one of those lovely Herta fills I mentioned earlier.
I love the drumming on I don't care anymore - it's a study in Flam accents and Flam Taps around the toms.
As I understand it, though I could be wrong, Hugh Padgham and Phil Collins pioneered the gated tom sound, which PG also used on PG3.

very talented but every time I turn around he is whining about something.

Love him. Stuff like Paperlate and Home by the Sea are among my faves. Also really enjoyed the stuff he did with Clapton. However, I wish he'd get his *^#* together and get rid of the ego and do a Genesis reunion already. Keep hearing teases but nothing ever seems to materialize.

MaryO2 said:

Love him. Stuff like Paperlate and Home by the Sea are among my faves. Also really enjoyed the stuff he did with Clapton. However, I wish he'd get his *^#* together and get rid of the ego and do a Genesis reunion already. Keep hearing teases but nothing ever seems to materialize.

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Well, stuff like this won't help with the "now you see him, now you don't" disappearing act

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/phil-collins-cancels-first-performance-in-four-years-20141207

I'd give anything to see him back on stage with Chester, so this really bums me out

As a drummer - brilliant, one of the best ever UK or prog drummers
As a songwriter- great until 1980, terrible thereafter
As a singer - dire, just dire
As an actor - not as good as he is a singer........

Phil's Career in photographic history:

mpthomson said:

As a drummer - brilliant, one of the best ever UK or prog drummers
As a songwriter- great until 1980, terrible thereafter
As a singer - dire, just dire
As an actor - not as good as he is a singer........

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An accurate breakdown on Mr.Collins!

regarding JohnW's pic#5.
Always amazed how low his snare is in that picture.

Ian Williams said:

An accurate breakdown on Mr.Collins!

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Really? At the very least, he was quite a capable singer, especially in 70s era Genesis. His backing vocals were an integral part to their sound with Peter Gabriel, and as the lead vocalist he was more than capable. Seconds Out is a great testament to his meeting the challenge of taking on front man status.

Anon La Ply said:

lol - that's the 80s. That decade had a corrupting influence on many bands. Its influence on prog was especially sad because the expectation was to play 3-minute pop songs with lots of four on the floor, pretty well opposite to prog. Even King Crimson played pop in the 80s so Phil was in good company.

No doubt he's a better drummer than a songwriter, though I think if they had a warmer sound in the studio rather than that clinical, gated, compressed, over-cleaned 80s thing the music would have sounded a whole lot better.

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That's part of the reason that 'Abacab' is the latest I can go in the Genesis catalog. On that album, you can hear the beginnings of the slick 80's sound you describe, but the drums still sound like drums - huge, concert-hall, reverb-heavy drums, but still DRUMS; not the horrible electronic facsimiles that came soon after.

And 'Abacab' still has enough of an analog flavor that you can really feel the groove Collins adds to even the simplest beats. I can play the parts - lots of people can play the parts - but few can infuse those parts with the same 'danceability' that Collins just does naturally. I'm not an Eric Clapton fan, but the filmed concert he did with Collins and Greg Phillinganes features some really beautiful drumming.

he did some great stuff on Robert Plant's first 2 solo albums, too. Plant always seemed to let the drummers go off on his records, i.e. Richie Hayward also who played some killer stuff on Shaken and Stirred.

philrudd said:

That's part of the reason that 'Abacab' is the latest I can go in the Genesis catalog. On that album, you can hear the beginnings of the slick 80's sound you describe, but the drums still sound like drums - huge, concert-hall, reverb-heavy drums, but still DRUMS; not the horrible electronic facsimiles that came soon after.

And 'Abacab' still has enough of an analog flavor that you can really feel the groove Collins adds to even the simplest beats. I can play the parts - lots of people can play the parts - but few can infuse those parts with the same 'danceability' that Collins just does naturally. I'm not an Eric Clapton fan, but the filmed concert he did with Collins and Greg Phillinganes features some really beautiful drumming.

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I agree, he has fantastic flow and an ear for detail. When I first saw the clip for the Abacab single on TV I remember being especially taken with his fat China groove in the bridge.

Shame about the 80s, though. Oh well, it's spilt milk now

Phil Collins is probably the most underestimated and overlooked drummer in history. People mistake his often simple approach to the drum section of his songs as a lack of talent/ability. Phil can RULE on the freakin' drums, man. He is one of the best in my opinion. A stupid assumption is thinking that if a drummer has a simpler approach to a song, that they are one to mess with. Phil Collins is not a drummer to hate on. Listen to Brand X sometime and see what I mean.