Phil Collins Solo LPs Get Full Bonus Treatment (Updates)

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The Collins reissue series also features updated artwork

10/15 Update: Due to recent emergency major back surgery, Phil Collins has been advised by doctors not to travel for the time being and as a consequence is unable to undertake the extensive promotion campaign and other creative obligations planned internationally on the upcoming “Take A Look At Me Now” retrospective campaign.

Atlantic Records, in conjunction with Collins, have therefore decided to postpone the release of the first set of albums Face Value and Both Sides from November 6th to January 29, 2016. The official announcement said that Collins “is passionately committed to the campaign and wants to be able to give his fans the best experience possible throughout the campaign, which would not be possible in November.”

Collins said, “I am so disappointed to have to delay the release but am looking forward to being able to properly get behind this release in the new year when I can move again!”

The eight solo albums from longtime Genesis frontman and drummer Phil Collins will be getting a complete overhaul from Rhino Records in the coming months. The “Take A Look At Me Now” retrospective reissue campaign boasts extended and remastered deluxe editions featuring live tracks, demos and B-sides, all curated by Collins.

The series kicks off with the November 6th (now January 29, 2016) release of two titles: his solo debut Face Value and 1993’s Both Sides. When the former was initially released in 1981, Genesis was on the verge of breaking through as international superstars.

Face Value’s first single, “In The Air Tonight,” features Collins’ pounding drums that are atypical of what listeners would hear then or now on Top 40 radio. The song became a huge worldwide hit – though it stalled at #19 in the U.S. – and has been used in numerous TV ads and films. The CD and digital reissues contain a dozen bonus tracks including live and demo versions of the Genesis hit “Misunderstanding,” a demo of Collins’ 1984 #1 hit “Against All Odds,” and live versions of “If Leaving Me Is Easy,” “Hand In Hand,” “In The Air Tonight” and the album’s other chart hit “I Missed Again.”

The less well-known Both Sides is a true solo effort on which Collins performs all of the instruments himself. The reissue features the single, “Both Sides Of The Story,” and 10 bonus tracks including live versions of “Take Me With You” and “Everyday.”

Both titles are also available on 180-gram vinyl without the bonus cuts. (Pre-order info available below.)

“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.”

Each album in the series will be remastered by Nick Davis, who earned a Grammy® nomination for Best Surround Sound Album for his work on the Genesis 1970-1975 boxed set. Davis has also worked on all of the Genesis retrospective reissues.

The series features a 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. Collins’ remaining six solo albums will all be re-released in the near future. #takealookatmenow