Phil Collins

S

sam13

Member
Hello,

I'm pretty new here, I've only posted a few times.
One of my favorite drummers is Phil Collins...I love his work (drumming) with Genesis, as well as his solo stuff. Even the simple songs seem to have that "not as simple as it sounds" thing going on.
I haven't really seen much discussion about him here, and was just curious as to what others thought of his drumming.
 
Great great drummer, also in Band X. He later brought always a drum conversation with Chester Thompson for all the pop fans, which is awesome I think. Nowadays I guess most pop acts don't do 20 minute instrumental jazz tunes with an extended drum solo - but Phil did!
He also was the drummer for Eric Clapton. Great groove and a great musical drummer - genius!
 
I am surprised not to see more comments on Phil Collins' work in this thread. So many pages on some other great drummers, and only two comments on Collins ?

I think we tend to forget how good a drummer he is, after all the success he had as a singer...

He is for sure one of my favorite drummers, and probably to me the ultimate "play for the song" player... He was great when the songs called for astonishing technique, subtle cymbals playing (the lamb lies down is such a great cymbal album...) , tasty fills, and his playing is still allways very impressive in the more "self-contained" format of his pop song days (which I don't care much about though...).

"A trick of the tail" alos has great drum parts... Robbery assault and battery - Dance on a volcano. There is so much energy in his playing...

A great player, and a great composer as well - allthough each sides of his carreer is aimed at a very very different public....
 
Groovehigh said:
Great great drummer, also in Band X. He later brought always a drum conversation with Chester Thompson for all the pop fans, which is awesome I think. Nowadays I guess most pop acts don't do 20 minute instrumental jazz tunes with an extended drum solo - but Phil did!
He also was the drummer for Eric Clapton. Great groove and a great musical drummer - genius!
Click to expand...
i didnt know that he drummed for clapton but il also a huge fan of phil collions, have you heard any of his big band stuff?? they played at i think it was like the grammys or something last year, maybe it was the AMA's, but that is so sweet...i am completely stoked that he could do that...hes so cool...hes amazing!!!
tj
 
He can do big band , he can do jazz-fusion, odd-timed prog-rock, solid 4/4 pop...

His playing can be very light, as in the old Genesis days, or rock-solid as in "In the air tonight"

Allways just right for the song...


Oooohhh boy.
 
Phil Collins' drumming on Eric Clapton's August album is excellent. His work with Genesis was great until that band lost their soul (Abacab forward until their I Can't Dance spiral of death.) As for his solo work...um, yeah, uh...never mind.

TOMANO
 
On his own stuff he is wonderful I love Genesis, however he did go through a somewhat large ego phase.

During Live Aid he was playing with Led Zep and he totally missed the whole style of the songs, Robert Plant was ******* annoyed, and claimed the whole thing was a Phil Collins pr stunt.

Again when he played with Queen at the Party at the palace a few years ago he played in his own style and changed how the song felt, and that was Radio Ga Ga!!!! pretty difficult to screw up wouldn't you say!

Don't get me wrong I love him in his own world but when it comes to playing with others he seems to miss the point and play what he wants.

Led Zep never forgave him for it, it wrecked Live Aid for them, and there were lots of heated comments after the show, or so the story goes.
 
Togg said:
During Live Aid he was playing with Led Zep and he totally missed the whole style of the songs, Robert Plant was ******* annoyed, and claimed the whole thing was a Phil Collins pr stunt.
Click to expand...

Wasn't aware of those incidents.... But I can imagine he does have some ego...hard for me to imagine him out of style on a song though.

I found that the work he did on Robert Plant's solo album "Principle of moments" was pretty good, though not among his best....
 
Phil Collins, what an awesome career. Check out the Genesis Live album from 1973 And Phil driving a round badge Gretch 4 piece kit. And his Brand X stuff is just awesome. Perfect example of a guy who can do a balancing act. re-invent himself a few times. Be a pop star in one arena and do a whole prog-rock thing somewhere else. And when I saw him in 1994 he was still using concert toms, long after those have fallen out of fashion. Bravo. As far as the Page/Plant thang, just another case of ego's butting. Page did the Puff Daddy/Godzilla soundtrack song. Page/Plant did the Un-Ledded middle-eastern meets orchestra thing. And Phil gets called the "bad guy" for changing the vibe. It's only music people, no one gets hurt.
 
Nicolás said:
I love his Genesis work... Selling England By The Pound is one of my favorite records
Click to expand...

Great record! Used to love to play along to that last cut, "Aisle of Plenty". So many great licks and it's amazing how the song builds so beautifully to it's climax. A masterpiece with some of P. Gabriel's best work also.

Ditto for "Moroccan Roll" by Brand X.
 
Selling England by the pound ?

One could also note the snare work on "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight"... Great dynamics !
 
shuffle said:
Wasn't aware of those incidents.... But I can imagine he does have some ego...hard for me to imagine him out of style on a song though.

I found that the work he did on Robert Plant's solo album "Principle of moments" was pretty good, though not among his best....
Click to expand...

That was a good album, but I thought Phil sounding much better on Robert Plant's debut solo album. Is was heavier and not far from Plant's Zep style. Phil did a great job on that album!
 
Bobhead said:
I thought Phil sounding much better on Robert Plant's debut solo album.
Click to expand...

I like this one also. Cozy Powell also plays some songs on it.

Worse than Detroit has great drumming.
 
I have a huge amount of respect for Phil Collins. Anyone that can sing lead vocals and play drums and still pull off some great fills at the same time is highly skilled. You have to also respect the man that wrote "In The Air Tonight". What a great tune, it has still held it's popularity even today. When that famous tom fill kicks in the hair on the back of my neck stands up! Brilliant!
 
My Mom was at the first Genesis concert that Phil sang at. If anyone can tell me were it was I'll give them 1 000 000 cyberdollars.
 
'Firt of Fifth' in it's studio (Selling England By The Pound), and various live versions has some of my fave drumming, which is unmistakeably Phil's.
 
I'm more familiar with his drumming with Genesis, and I don't really think I need to touch on the huge success of his solo career. My mom worshipped that man in the 80's...moving on! SEBTP is one my fav albums, Dance on a Volcano is a good example of his ability and technique. Very powerful yet subtle.
 
I think Phil Collins is a more good singer than a drummer, but a great drummer too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top