..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page      The Desert Island      Copyright Notice
 Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


Phil Collins: Going Back

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 2010.09.13
Time:
 57:16
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Phil Collins
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.philcollins.com
Appears with: Genesis, Brand-X, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
Purchase date: 2011.05.23
Price in €: 2,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) (Norman Whitfield, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 2:32
[2] (Love Is Like a) Heatwave (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:53
[3] Uptight (Everything's Alright) (Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy, Henry Cosby) - 3:03
[4] Some of Your Lovin' (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) - 3:19
[5] In My Lonely Room (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:25
[6] Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me for a Little While) (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:59
[7] Blame It on the Sun (Wonder, Syreeta Wright) - 3:27
[8] Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Whitfield, Barrett Strong) - 6:44
[9] Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer (Wonder, Wright) - 2:59
[10] Standing in the Shadows of Love (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:42
[11] Do I Love You (Peter Anders, Phil Spector, Vincent Poncia Jr.) - 2:50
[12] Jimmy Mack (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:56
[13] Something About You (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:47
[14] Love Is Here and Now You're Gone (Holland-Dozier-Holland) - 2:40
[15] Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Ivy Jo Hunter, Wonder) - 2:48
[16] Going to a Go-Go (Warren Moore, William Robinson, Jr., Robert Rogers, Marvin Tarplin) - 2:49
[17] Talkin About My Baby (Curtis Mayfield) - 2:47
[18] Going Back (Goffin, King) - 4:36

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Phil Collins - Drums, Vocals, Audio Mixing

Ray Monette - Guitar
Eddie Willis - Guitar
Bob Babbitt - Bass
Ronnie Caryl - Acoustic Guitar
Brad Cole - Keyboards
Connie Jackson-Comegys - Backing Vocals
Lynne Fiddmont-Linsey - Backing Vocals
Jason Rebello - Piano, Vibes
John Aram - Trombone, Handclaps, Fingersnaps
Guy Barker - Trumpet
Tom Rees-Roberts - Trumpet
Daryl Stuermer - Guitar
Phil Todd - Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo
Graeme Blevins - Tenor Saxophone
Menhuin Academy - Strings
Celeste-Marie Roy - Bassoon

Yvan Bing - Master Engineer, Audio Mixing
John Aram - Director
Michael Ochs - Photography
John Aram - Photography
Chris Walter - Photography
Gilles Pétard - Photography
Terry Rawlings - Photography
David Redfern - Photography
Barry Plummer - Photography
Dana Tyler - Photography
Mark Davinson - Photography
Lamont Dozier - Liner Note

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Going Back is Phil Collins's eighth studio album. It was released on 13 September 2010 in the United Kingdom[1] and 28 September 2010 in the United States.[2] and features covers of 60s Motown & Soul standards. It also was his first full solo release in eight years, Collins having primarily concentrated on soundtracks, compilations, and his extensive touring as a solo artist and with Genesis. Collins has previously recorded and performed covers of Motown songs in his career. Most famously, his cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" reached number one on the UK charts in 1983. In addition, the Motown-esque "Two Hearts", written in collaboration with Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier appeared on the original soundtrack album from Collins' 1988 film Buster, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' "Tears of a Clown" appeared as a B-side on the 2003 single "The Least You Can Do", and a live version of "My Girl" first appeared on the Japanese release Live from the Board in 1995 and later on the 2004 album Love Songs: A Compilation... Old and New. There are two editions of the album; one with 18 tracks and a limited Going Back Ultimate Edition 25-track CD/29-song DVD set.[3] Amazon.com also has an exclusive CD-R 25-track release. iTunes has an enhanced iTunes LP HD format release featuring 26 audio tracks, a music video and other enhanced content. The album was promoted with a series of live shows in the summer of 2010. Collins indicated in interviews that Going Back would most likely be his final project, and that he was considering retirement from music permanently. This was confirmed in 2011, making Going Back Collins' final work.

Collins reported losing his hearing in his right ear in 2000, and in 2003 announced his last solo tour. He called it the "First Final Farewell Tour", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the multiple farewell tours of other popular artists.Since releasing his seventh solo album Testify in 2002, Collins wrote the music for Brother Bear and a Broadway production of Tarzan. He remarked in several interviews during this time that he was in semi-retirement and even retired from recording music at one stage. Turn It On Again: The Tour with Genesis in 2007 included Collins on drums and vocals, but involved no new music or songwriting. In September 2009, it was reported that Collins could no longer play drums, due to a recent operation to repair dislocated vertebrae in his neck. However, a statement from Collins on the Genesis band website said, "There isn't any drama regarding my 'disability' and playing drums. Somehow, during the last Genesis tour, I dislocated some vertebrae in my upper neck and that affected my hands. After a successful operation on my neck, my hands still can't function normally. Maybe in a year or so it will change, but for now it is impossible for me to play drums or piano. I am not in any 'distressed' state, stuff happens in life." Despite these statements of retirement and the effects from his spinal operation, it was reported in October 2009 that Collins was to record a Motown covers album. He told a German newspaper, "I want the songs to sound exactly like the originals", and that the album would feature up to 30 songs.

At the press release, Collins said the idea behind the album was "not to bring anything ‘new’ to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them. My intention was to make an ‘old’ record, not a ‘new’ record". In the summer of 2009, Daryl Stuermer hinted Collins was in the studio working on an album. He was asked to send a transcript of a Temptations song for the album. Bob Babbitt, Eddie Willis and Ray Monette were the musicians during recording. The three were a part of the famous The Funk Brothers, session musicians who played on several Motown recordings from 1959 until 1972. Recording took place in Switzerland and work began on overdubbing 25 songs for the album on 11 January and finished on 20 January.[12] Phil said of having the Funk Brothers available to play on the album, "To be able to have three of the surviving Funk Brothers play on all the tracks was unbelievable. There was one moment when they were tracking 'Heat Wave' that I experienced a wave of happiness and wonder that this was actually happening to me!". In January 2010, Chester Thompson said that the album had been completed and would be released some time soon. He also revealed that Collins managed to play the drums on the album despite the adverse effects of his recent spinal operation.[13] Collins confirmed he has had to tape drumsticks to his hands in order to play. Bob Babbitt on his forum stated that the album would be released in September, and has confirmed that a filmed showcase will take place in Europe and the US during the summer.

Speaking at the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, where Genesis were inductees, Collins said of the album: "You know, I mean, I started it for fun, really, and just chose all the Motown songs, the darker songs that I liked, the lesser known ones. And I ended up with about 40 of them and finished, I’ve actually finished about 29 of them". Until early 2010, the album was going to be called 18 Good Reasons with the album cover stylised to recall the Motown era. But the chance discovery of a photograph of 13-year-old Collins playing drums in the Getty Images library caused a change in direction, resulting in the album being called Going Back. In an interview on Today in September 2010, Collins noted he actually had to pay for use of the picture of himself as the cover image.

Initial reception to the album has been mixed, as Metacritic gave it a score of 53 out of 100. David Sheppard of BBC Music said "So faithfully have Collins and his confreres recreated the Sound of Young America – shimmering tambourines drowning out drums, bass compressed to a fat, distorted throb –that it’s hard not to be swept along". The album was also featured as BBC Radio 2's "Album Of The Week" on 4 September 2010.

Martin Townsend of the Daily Express stated "You have to take your hat off to Phil Collins. Expressing the refreshingly modest desire to make an “old-sounding” album of cover versions the 59-year-old singer zips through a selection of mostly-Motown classics like Jimmy Mack and Uptight with the verve energy and wit of a man reborn."

Jack Foley of IndieLondon gave it 3 out of 5 stars, adding "The resulting album is as heartfelt and faithfully recreated as you might expect from an artist of Collins’ calibre...". Donald Gibson of SeattlePI said that "Going Back is an homage, plain and simple, with which Collins honors the songwriters, musicians, and vocalists who inspired him to pursue his own musical path as a young man."

Graeme Thomson of Uncut was not so impressed, giving the album 2 stars out of 5 and stating "You can’t fault the raw material, but Collins brings nothing new to these songs. If you have an overpowering desire to hear him gamely plough through renditions of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and "Uptight", step aboard. For anyone else, Going Back is a heartfelt but pointless exercise in ersatz soul." Terry Staunton of the British music magazine Record Collector is even more negative, defining the album a set "of 60s soul covers of baffling irrelevance" and wondering "what possible use could anyone have for weedy-voiced faded Xeroxes of songs readily available in their wondrously uplifting original form?"

Ross Bennett of Mojo gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and wrote "...all are faithful reproductions of the originals. The likes of "Uptight", "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" and "Jimmy Mack" capture the exuberance of those '60s sides, but the slower ballads - particularly "Blame It on the Sun" and a desperately cloying "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" - are plain dreary."

Legendary Motown songwriter and producer Lamont Dozier hailed Going Back; "Recording an album of Motown covers can be tricky, but I have to say this album has exceeded my expectations. Phil Collins has truly given us the real thing vocally, instrumentally, and production-wise... It's spectacular, making it impossible to pick a favorite because they're all masterfully done."

Going Back debuted at No.1 in the Dutch Album Charts for the week ending 18 September 2010.

Going Back reached No.1 in the UK Album charts for the week ending 23 September 2010. It was his first UK No.1 in 12 years (...Hits) and his first UK No.1 in 17 years (Both Sides) counting only albums with new material.



Long installed in popular music’s multi-million-selling pariah pantheon, there are fewer easy targets for arrows of critical opprobrium than 59-year-old Philip David Charles Collins. Granted, Collins has sometimes been guilty of painting the bull’s-eye on his own forehead (that self-aggrandising Live Aid Concorde business, the cringe-worthy lyrics to Another Day in Paradise, Buster, etc), but nonetheless, the sometime Genesis frontman’s canon is so substantial and his hits so profuse that it feels myopic to dismiss him merely as a haughty purveyor of tortured, romantic ballads for the middle income world.

Certainly, hip hop artists can’t get enough of the near-iconic In the Air Tonight, and Collins, lest it be forgotten, once lent his nimble stick-work to leftfield albums by the likes of Brian Eno and John Cale. All of which is a very long way from Motown: the adolescent Collins’ musical tipple and the inspiration for Going Back, his first solo album since 2002’s underperforming Testify.

An 18-track trawl through the Hitsville USA songbook, this is not so much an homage to Berry Gordy’s Detroit stable as a battlefield re-enactment, underpinned by three surviving members of The Funk Brothers, Motown’s peerless, 60s in-house studio band. So faithfully have Collins and his confreres recreated the Sound of Young America – shimmering tambourines drowning out drums, bass compressed to a fat, distorted throb –that it’s hard not to be swept along. Thus, Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) is as much a blast of toe-tapping euphoria here as it was for The Temptations back in 64, Collins’ reedy, helium-like vocals squeezed into a fair impersonation of the style, if never quite the gravity, of Messrs Ruffin, Kendricks and co. Sprightly versions of Martha and the Vandellas’ Heatwave and Stevie Wonder’s Uptight also stack up remarkably well against the originals.

Things go slightly awry when Collins swaps Motor City tropes for contemporary interpretations, synth pads and all; Some of Your Lovin’ and Blame It on the Sun being particularly saccharine casualties. When he recreates the finger-snapping brio of Standing in the Shadows of Love, Jimmy Mack or Going to a Go-Go, however, his reverence for the material is, whisper it, completely disarming.

David Sheppard - BBC
2010-09-02



"These 18 tracks span Motown's golden era, from Martha And The Vandellas' '(Love Is Like A) Heatwave' to The Temptations' 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone'..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 3 stars out of 5
 

 L y r i c s


Currently no Lyrics available!

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!