Face Value (studio album) by Phil Collins

I like Phil Collins but like many in the 80's got sick of seeing him as he inundated the album charts with solo albums, Genesis work, on other artists records, movies (Buster), Live Aid (both UK and US), etc. you get the drift. I haven't recovered from this saturation decades later. I only own this record and Hello I Must Be Going, by the time Sussudio came out I was done. Face Value is the exception, I still listen to this album on a regular basis. It balances the arty prog style with Phil's more pop side and works better than most of the pop oriented Genesis material - I prefer it to Abacab, Genesis, or any of their later albums. Its a diverse collection of songs that I don't tire of, a shame he moved towards more pop and ballads.

Tier List for my preferences of the tracks on this album:

Top: 1-12

The Roof Is Leaking is the forgotten gem of this album.

Crimson; what the hell are you talking about?

People have 3 faces: The one you show to society, the one that you show yourself, and the one you have when you listen to Phill Collins.

This is Collins', blood on the tracks, his break up record. It's really a mixture of Collins' more arty sounds and his more commercial songs. Obviously, in the air tonight, is fantastic, an early 80's classic. This must be love, is also an excellent track. There's a some other great moments here too, especially the, the roof is leaking/droned/hand in hand sequence. Occasionally, Collins slips into that poppy groove, but thankfully there's nothing bad here, the cover of The Beatles, tomorrow never knows, is very good, it sticks true to the original, but Collins makes it his own too. This really is the Phil Collins album for people who don't like Phil Collins. It's not perfect, and it probably could have been a lot better, but still, it's very good.

Not enough alt rock on this album for many here :P

Love "In The Air Tonight" and "The Roof Is Leaking." Always wondered what In The Air Tonight would have sounded like had Genesis not dismissed it from their album "Genesis." If you like Phil Collins pop this is a very good album. Always wondered if putting Phil Collins' mug on the cover was a response to Peter Gabriel putting his mug on his album covers.

Very good album that happens to be underrated

From junodog4 07/28/2013 20:03

Could have been so interesting... could have been the start of a dynamic solo career... but there's too much filler on this album, and his subsequent work follows the 'filler' trend.