Customer Reviews

Dance Into the Light

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Phil Collins took a daring new turn in his music with this excellent but sadly underrated masterpiece. The music on here is less ambient, more optimistic and generally more upbeat than the dark depressing masterpiece Both Sides. There is some African sound on a few songs here.

Dance Into The Light is a fun, upbeat, almost tropical song with lots of trumpets. It's like a backlash at I Cant Dance from several years before. It's a great song that you should give a listen to. That's What You Said is a cool with a more acoustic sound. Lorenzo is a beatiful song with some African drums combined with African flutes and phat beats. It's one of my favorites on this CD. Just Another Story is a laid back song with a light beat and a high pitched trumpet like the kind that Miles Davis played. It's kind of a song that I would play when walking down a city street approaching downtown. Love Police is a great simple song. It's a little hard to describe exaclty how it sounds like but it's a must hear. Wear My Hat is the fastest song on this CD. It's very tropical sounding with some Jamaican drums and some Big Band horns. It's In Your Eyes is an OK song. I'm not very moved by this one. Probably one of the most boring tracks Phil has ever written. It's not bad but average. Oughta Know by now brings back the Phil that we know from the But Seriously days with the thundering beats and the great guitar playing. It sounds kinda like I Wish It Would Rain Down but not quite as 'BIG' sounding. Take Me Down is a very groovy song with a strong big band sound. I play this one alot. It's one of my favorites on this CD. The Same is a haunting song with a dark sound kind of like Father To Son from But Seriously. I love how the last five seconds fades out into the next song. River So Wide is the winner on this CD. It a very intense song with thundering drums and heavy guitars that make the perfect song for a jungle action movie. No Matter is acoustic song similar to It's In Your Eyes but better. Not my favorite but good. The Times They Are A Changing is a great closer to this CD. Its a very well done cover version of the 1963 version done by Bob Dylan. The beats are phat.

This CD will have to grow on you but in the end you'll love it. I do. I listen to this one a lot. While it may be his weakest solo album to date that does not make this CD less than five stars. Go out and buy it. I recommend this one.

Well, I must say that I completely disagrees with the reviewer below! This is to me one of Phil's best albums, and though a few of the songs ought to have been left off, that is no problem - I do have a programable CD-player, and the rest is just nice stuff!

Best track is the title track - fantastic rhythm and horn arrangement, and wonderful happy lyrics. I can't sit still while hearing this one, it's such a happy tune. Lorenzo is fantastic as well - great lyrics and wonderful african inspired music. The Bob Dylan remake The Times They Are A-Changin' is terrific! I would never haver believed this to be a succes, but here it is, complete featuring Phil on bag-pipe and all! Wow. The Same Moon is the only more silent song of the album, featuring a fantastic guitar sounding quite different from anything I've herd elsewhere - deffinitely another favorite!

Add to this wonderful african inspired sound on River So Wide, Phil's first venture into blues (Oughtaa Know By Now, Just Another Story) a couple of plain but lovely pop-rockers (It's In Your Eyes, No Matter Who) and a couple of funny uptempo songs (Wear My Hat and Take Me Down) - well, what more can one ask for?

I only really dislike That's What You Said, which is plain and boring, and Love Police, which has some awful lyrics (but a wonderful melody) - but as I said, a CD-player may be programmed. That several of the songs were done much better live (especially Wear My Hat) makes this album slightly less enjoyable, but oh well.

"Dance Into The Light" is one of Phil Collins' most overlooked albums. It was released in 1996, during a time when Phil wasn't as popular as he was all throughout the 80's, and still three years off from his comeback with the "Tarzan" movie soundtrack. It's really too bad that not too many people checked out this disc upon it's release, because "Dance Into The Light" is one of Phil's best albums, and his finest solo work since 1981's "Face Value." Highlights include "Lorenzo," a brilliant tune with lyrics from a poem by Michaela Odone, the young boy who inspired the film "Lorenzo's Oil." Phil supplies a powerful music bed for this piece, complete with slammin' African drum beats & instrumentation, and heartful vocal delivery. "Just Another Story" is another work of genius, with it's atmospheric, late night stroll-down-the-street vibe, as Phil tells a gripping tale about some people's lives in the big city. It's a very memorable song. "Oughta Know By Now" SHOULD have been this album's secret weapon. With a great guitar hook, tight brass arrangement and powerful drumming and singing from Phil, this song has all the makings of a smash hit, and could've been the song that saved the album from commercial disappointment. And "No Matter Who" is a wonderfully light, breezy number that also could've been a surefire hit. "Dance Into The Light" is a terrific hidden gem from one of the hardest working men in the music biz, Phil Collins. Check it out!

I never heard Love Police on the radio, even though it was the best song on the entire album. I just never wanted the song to end. It's in your Eyes turned out to be the hit of the album even though Dance into the Light was intended to be. The Same Moon is another one of Collins' beautiful love songs. This wasn't Phil Collins' best but it still deserves five stars. And to comment on one of the reviewers...this album was not garbage, and Phil has many black friends and co-musicians. Just because you didn't like the album, don't force your racist tendencies upon us who liked it. By the way, posting your message twice doesn't make you look much more intelligent than you already are.

This is the second best Phil Collins album. Phil has grown. He has been through quite a range. I find this album refreshing and incredibly insightful. Lorenzo is my absolute favorite. This song has so much to offer the fan, great percussions, moving lyrics and a great rythm! He does a great job. KUDOS to you Phil... hope there's another to come soon

After the personal and exprimental "Both Sides" Phil went back to his trademark sound again with horns and happy vibes with "Dance Into the Light" in 1996, the album was a mix of dance-pop and sensitive ballads. If you look at the cover you'll find out that it was the first time you didn't see Phil's head shot on the cover, but rather a full profile of him. It was a new-start for him, and he took his freedom to explore some African music along the way. The idea was to make a personal version of Paul Simon's 1986 album "Graceland" with inflerunts from all over the world.

"Dance Into the Light" the title track is a very happy uptempo song, it sound like "Hand in Hand" from Face Value but this time around with lyrics and even more dance feeling. It was a rather big hit in Europe in 1996. "That's What I said" is a good old Collins song, a midtempo rock-pop song about love. "Lorenzo" is what's new with Collins on this album, it's a world music song with African infleunted drums and sound all over it. Sound like taken from "The Lion King" or something. "Just Another Story" is jazzy with piano and horns, but melancholy. I like this song alot. "Love Police" is a uptempo song, not the best here but alright. "Wear My Hat" was a minor hit, and it's rather unique. Sound like taken from the movie "The Mask" or somnthing. It's funny and catchy, surprising that Collins released it. "It's in Your Eyes" is a ballad, one of few here. "Oughta Know by Now" is a midtempo with 80's feeling, with drums, horns, synths and a awesome guitar solo. "Take me Down" sound like "My Hat". "The Same Moon" is another ballad, musically it's very beautiful with a guitar solo. "River So Wild" follows the Africa path. "No Matter Who" is a midtempo song, quite forgettable but ok. Last song "The Times they're A Changin" is a Bob Dylan cover, he does it very well with a cathcy 90's feeling to it. Collins make it his own.

Overall, a great comeback afer "Both Sides". This album experience a new side of Collins again with world music and many catchy uptempo songs. This album is rather underrated, cause it's beautiful to listen to but also entertaining with it's immense diversity. If you liked older albums, I'm sure you will enjoy this one aswell.

Phil Collins returns in stark contrast to the dark, sadness of 'Both Sides' with the much brighter, but less fulfilling 'Dance Into The Light'. One of the first thing fans will notice is that the cover photo isn't a close-up of Phil's face -- a minor departure from the rest of his work.

Even while generally regarded as the weakest effort from Phil Collins, 'Dance' still has 4 or 5 catchy tunes that should satisfy Phil-fans. The bouncy title track takes us back to the '80s with lots of horns and some earth-shattering drums. Kind of reminds me of 'Something Happened On The Way To Heaven'. There's the signature ballad that ranks right up there with the best love songs Phil can give us on 'The Same Moon'. One wonders why it was never released as a single - it might have nudged up the album sales altogether. With 'Lorenzo' Collins delves into the "world beat" scene and gives us a mind blowing display of the drums like only he can. Other tracks that work well are 'Ought To Know By Now', the upbeat 'Take Me Down', and the twangy 'No Matter Who'.

Unfortunately, the album is littered with songs that should have been B-sides. 'Love Police' does absolutely nothing. 'That's What You Said' sounds like somebody's been influenced by too many 50's bee-bop albums -- and that's just not Phil. Mysteriously, one of the weakest tracks, 'It's In Your Eyes' was released as a single and charted about exactly where it should: at #79. Some reviews dismissed 'Wear My Hat' as a Paul Simon rip-off. I liked it. Puzzling is the Bob Dylan cover that ends Collins' sixth studio album.

Overall, it's not bad by any means. While a few songs are vintage Phil, some of the album appears rushed, forced, and just doesn't seem to gel like his first four classic albums. This one's strictly for the devoted fans.

As a fan of Phil since his late Genesis days, I have all his albums and "Dance Into The Light", is almost the best album he's ever done, second only to "No Jacket Required". The title song, almost a club anthem for the New World Order wakes up the listener and gets him anticipating more, and it's not a disappointment. "That's What You Said" is a traditional PC troubled love song, followed by the very different "Lorenzo". The next 2 songs are pure Phil, one ranting, one introspective, and "Wear My Hat", is a hilarious take on how he's treated by some of his crazier fans. "It's In Your Eyes" harkens back to his pre-breakthrough, "Face Value" sound, while the next two songs recall the tones of "...But Seriously", one with angst, one more lighthearted. "The Same Moon", although best heard live, stands out as possibly Phil's best ballad since "I Wish It Would Rain" or even "One More Night". Another call to dance, another smooth love song, and the album closes with Phil's stirring cover of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'", which well sums up the album's, and in its way, Phil's spirit. For those who love PC, or are just starting to listen, "Dance Into The Light", with its variety and upbeatness, is an album not to be missed!

I have to disagree with the "music fan". This album proves that Phil Collins still has the steam that helped him produce albums in the 80's. My favorite songs are "Dance Into The Light", "Oughta Know By Now", and "Wear My Hat". Great going Phil, you still have it.

These songs are great to dance to. Phil's drum work here is astonoshing! Some of the songs have to do with freedom. I like the African style he had in these songs. Wear My Hat was NOT Phil at all. That was the only song that drove me mad! Other than that this album was a definet buy for me. You should consider it too.