Now Available: Phil Collins, …But Seriously: Deluxe Edition / The Essential ‘Going Back’

As you should be more than aware at this point if you frequent this website even fleetingly on a regular basis, 2016 has been the Year of Phil. We’ve been rolling out deluxe reissues of Phil Collins’ studio albums at a clip of two at a time on a monthly basis, and while this week marks the last pair of the bunch, and they’re both notable in their own way: one remains his most recent studio album to hit #1 in America, and the other remains his most recent studio album, period.

…But Seriously: If you don’t already know half the songs on this album, which was initially released in 1989, then you clearly weren’t listening to radio as the ‘80s were wrapping up and the ‘90s were kicking off, because literally six of its 12 tracks were issued as singles. Granted, someone had greater chart success than others, but between “Another Day in Paradise,” “I Wish It Would Rain Down,” “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven,” “That’s Just the Way It Is,” “Hang in Long Enough,” and “Do You Remember,” we’re betting you know enough of the songs from their titles alone to say, “Oh, yeah, I do remember!”

SPOTIFY: Listen here

Going Back: Given Phil’s success with his interpretations of The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” and The Mindbenders’ “A Groovy Kind of Love,” it’s a wonder he didn’t opt to record a covers album sooner than he did, but in 2010, after going off the radar for several years, he issued Going Back, which featured Collins tackling 18 of his favorite soul songs from the ‘60s. You will please note, however, that although this reissue of Going Back is deluxe in the sense that it’s a 2-disc set, it’s called The Essential ‘Going Back’ because it’s been streamlined somewhat, losing five of its songs while also getting a slight reorganization of the remaining tracks in the process. If you liked Phil’s versions of “In My Lonely Room,” “Blame It on the Sun,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Jimmy Mack,” and “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” you’re out of luck, but there’s an up side: there’s a new track in the mix – “Too Many Fish in the Sea” – that wasn’t on the original release.

SPOTIFY: Listen here