The Phil Collins “Take A Look At Me Now” reissue campaign from Rhino/Atlantic enters its third stage with deluxe editions of his albums No Jacket Required and Testify on April 15. The four albums that have been reissued so far – Face Value (1981), Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982), Both Sides (1993) and Dance Into The Light (1996) – have sparked a major rediscovery and reappraisal of his solo career.
The “Take A Look At Me Now” campaign finds the longtime Genesis lead vocalist, drummer and songwriter revisiting a career that has achieved over 100 million sales and numerous worldwide #1 albums. The remaining two solo studio albums will also be released in the same format in the summer.
(Click here for Best Classic Bands‘ coverage of the Hello, I Must Be Going! and Dance Into The Light reissues and here for our story about the Face Value and Both Sides releases.)
Entirely curated and compiled by Collins himself, his idea for the “Take A Look At Me Now” concept is to examine how his songs have evolved over time, with the majority of the additional content throughout the series focused on live versions of the tracks. By contrasting the original studio versions of the material with later performances, the series demonstrates how Collins’ songs take on a life of their own once they’re freed from the confines of the studio.
Released in 1985, Collins’ third album No Jacket Required topped the charts in the U.K., U.S., and numerous other countries and earned him Grammy® Awards for Best Album, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and Producer of the Year (for Collins and co-producer Hugh Padgham) and over 20 million sales. Mixing Collins’ trademark ballads alongside strong funk and R&B influences, the album’s hit singles – “Sussudio,” “One More Night,” “Don’t Lose My Number,” and “Take Me Home” – would also become staples of his live set in the years that followed.
Less well known is 2002’s Testify which remains his most recent album of original material. Perhaps his most low-key and reflective work, as demonstrated with “This Love This Heart” and “You Touch My Heart,” Testify also offers the escalating beats and rhythms of “Driving Me Crazy” and the gospel-tinged title track. The album’s lead single, an interpretation of Leo Sayer’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
The deluxe editions of the albums will also be completed with carefully selected demos and B-sides from their respective eras.
“I’ve always been quite proud of my demos and have often made them available as B-sides, but with a few exceptions, I have avoided including those on these collections,” says Collins. “Instead, I’ve focused on how nicely the songs developed when played on stage, rather than showing how they originated.”
As with the rest of the reissue series, No Jacket Required and Testify will be available as 2-CD and digital versions which feature the remastered album and the additional content, as well as the 180-gram heavyweight audiophile vinyl format which features the remastered album as a standalone product.
Each album in the series is being remastered by Nick Davis, who also worked on all of the Genesis retrospective reissues. Each album features a bold new artwork concept in which Collins has recreated his poses from the original album covers with new photography that was shot in the present day.
NO JACKET REQUIRED: DELUXE EDITION
Track Listing
Original Album Remastered
1. “Sussudio”
2. “Only You Know And I Know”
3. “Long Long Way To Go”
4. “I Don’t Wanna Know”
5. “One More Night”
6. “Don’t Lose My Number”
7. “Who Said I Would”
8. “Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore”
9. “Inside Out”
10. “Take Me Home”
Bonus Tracks – CD & Digital Formats Only
1. “Sussudio” – Live*
2. “Don’t Lose My Number” – Live*
3. “Who Said I Would” – Live*
4. “Long Long Way To Go” – Live*
5. “Only You Know And I Know” – Live*
6. “Easy Lover” – Live*
7. “Inside Out” – Live*
8. “Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore” – Live*
9. “One More Night” – Live*
10. “Take Me Home” – Live*
11. “Only You Know And I Know” – Demo
12. “One More Night” – Demo
13. “Take Me Home” – Demo
TESTIFY: DELUXE EDITION
Track Listing
Original Album Remastered
1. “Wake Up Call”
2. “Come With Me”
3. “Testify”
4. “Don’t Get Me Started”
5. “Swing Low”
6. “It’s Not Too Late”
7. “This Love This Heart”
8. “Driving Me Crazy”
9. “The Least You Can Do”
10. “Can’t Stop Loving You”
11. “Thru My Eyes”
12. “You Touch My Heart”
Bonus Tracks – CD & Digital Formats Only
1. “High Flying Angel” – B-side
2. “Crystal Clear” – B-side
3. “Hey Now Sunshine” – B-side
4. “TV Story” – B-side
5. “True Colors” – Live Rehearsal*
6. “Come With Me” -Live*
7. “It’s Not Too Late” – Live*
8. “Can’t Stop Loving You” – Live*
9. “It’s Only Loving” – Demo
10. “Tearing And Breaking” – Demo
*Previously unreleased on CD
We’ll have the pre-order info for the two latest releases shortly.
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI’m surprised No Jacket doesn’t have We Said Hello Goodbye. It was a nice bonus on the CD, and should definitely be here.
I agree that it’s a great song, but I think “Take Me Home” made more sense as an album closer. They should have put it on the bonus disc.