Customer Reviews

Going Back

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Phil Collins has never been in better voice than he is on "Going Back," his valentine to the musical influences - namely, Motown and soul of the 60s - that informed his early years.

True, he rarely breathes new life into these songs. It would be a lie to say he transforms into a full-on song stylist. The core audience for these tunes, however, is not looking for that, and the rich, well-informed voice he uses to navigate the record is still a damn fine pleasure to hear. His enthusiasm and vivacity cover the album like wallpaper.

The song selections are also excellent. "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me for a Little While)" (The Doobie Brothers) rolls and tumbles with excitable energy, and the slightly overlong but well-arranged "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (The Temptations) has a fine-honed, frothy disco-like flavor that throws an interesting curveball to the proceedings.

He can't fail with the likes of the swashbuckling, boundlessly frenetic "(Love Is Like a) Heatwave" (Martha and the Vandellas) and the timeless "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (Stevie Wonder). This is pop music as it should be - a great singer with great songs to sing.

Of course, new material would be welcome from Collins, who has not released a record since 2002's uneven but enjoyable "Testify," so in light of that "Going Back" may seem like a disappointment in theory. We all know that it takes only slight thought and little effort for someone like Collins to enter a recording studio and whip-up a CD that sounds more like karaoke than covers.

However, that is not the case here. Collins may not re-stylize these songs or cover new ground with them, but he displays passion and dedication to the project through every track. This is not just a vanity project.

The only major flaw in the record's execution is that 29 songs are on the deluxe version. 29! There is the standard 18-track CD and the 25-track deluxe version which includes an audio rip of 4 more additional songs on the accompanying bonus DVD.

The project would have surely had more focus had Collins chosen to slim down the track listing or possibly released the albums in two volumes. Since there are so many songs there is no thematic focus, giving the album sudden dramatic changes in mood, shifting between melancholy tunes like Stevie Wonder's "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and more boisterous material like "Standing In the Shadows of Love" (Four Tops) in slightly jarring fashion.

It certainly would have been a much more noteworthy project had Collins chosen fewer songs and taken the time to rearrange, reinterpret, restyle - in short, try something new - with them.

"Going Back" will dissapoint fans who want new material, but it is a well-wrought, slickly produced, ear-pleasing collection of tunes. It may not be particularly remarkable, but it is certainly welcoming to hear Collins' honeyed voice again.

Former Genesis singer/drummer/songwriter and solo superstar Phil Collins's new solo album of covers called Going Back is a must for Phil Collins and Genesis and Motown fans.
Before I continue the review, many of the bellyaching and complaining reviews are saying Phil has gone Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook approach to covers and so on and so forth. Many have either forgotten or failed to recognize that other rock legends from Paul McCartney (with his 1999 Run Devil Run (a covers album of 1950s rock songs plus three originals he recorded with the late Mick Green and former Pink Floyd singer/guitarist/songwriter David Gilmour on guitars and Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice)) to Canadian hard/prog rockers Rush (with their superb covers mini-album from 2004 called Feedback which saw covers of The Who, Cream, Yardbirds, Buffalo Springfield, Blue Cheer) and The Steve Miller Band (with his excellent Bingo which are all old blues numbers done in his own style was released earlier this year) in the last decade or so have put out great covers albums. There were some lemons of cover albums I admit with Queensryche's Take Cover, Styx's The Big Bang Theory (or as I call it The Big Bong Theory) and Phil's ex-Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back (was uninspiring and BORING in my view) being the offenders. Now I got that quip off my chest, back to the album. This is Phil's first solo album since 2002's Testify and while that album had its moments, it wasn't a way to finish a solo career. In recent years, Phil had developed hearing loss in his ear which put a kabosh on his touring days with a two year long farewell tour and having two young sons with his third wife. Plus he did one last tour with Genesis in 2007. Sadly, somehow during the tour, he injured his neck and spine to the point where he has problems with his left hand now from the tambourine jigs he did nightly and him not having played much drums in recent years by then. He managed to play all of the drums on the Going Back album with the drumstick attached to his left hand, his snare hand (right hand) is fine. When I heard Phil was doing a Motown covers album, I was ecstatic as he is a huge Motown and soul music fan and his covers of "You Can't Hurry Love", "My Girl" were all superb. Also having the legendary Funk Brothers (bass player Bob Babbitt and guitarists Eddie Willis and Ray Monette) backing him I knew I was going to be in for a treat.
Phil chose his covers wisely and very well. First Motown group he covers is The Temptations and are well represented by Phil's excellent covers of "Girl (Why You Want to Make Me Blue)" and their 1971 classic "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". He also takes on Martha and the Vandellas' classics like "Heat Wave" (done in the same key that The Who did on their second album A Quick One (Happy Jack) but unlike The Who's fast speed version, it's done in its proper tempo), "In My Lonely Room" and "Jimmy Mack", all done great. He also takes on Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", "Blame It On the Sun" and "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" all done well I may add. His take on The Four Tops' "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Something About You" and "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" are excellent. The Supremes is represented with "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone". Smokey Robinson and The Miracles' "Going to A Go-Go" is the best cover version I've heard since The Rolling Stones' take on it back in 1982 on their live album Still Life.
He does an excellent take on "Take Me In Your Arms" (which had been previously done by The Isley Brothers and more famously The Doobie Brothers in 1975). Then he covers Curtis Mayfield's "Talking About My Baby" with great results. Then we have a couple of Gerry Goffin and Carole King penned covers out of "Some of Your Lovin'" and the closing title cut "Going Back" (which had previously been done famously by the late Dusty Springfield in 1966 and in 1973 by the also sadly missed Freddie Mercury of Queen as the pseudonym Larry Lurex prior to Queen's debut album being released in 1973).
Going Back is hands down Phil's finest solo project since Dance Into the Light. His voice is in its finest form in years and his drumming is stellar despite his physical health issues and if this is his last solo album he releases, he is going out with a bang!
There is various versions available (the 18 track CD, a special version with seven more songs "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" (another Temptations tune and The Rolling Stones had done this), "You've Been Cheatin'", "Don't Look Back", "You Really Got A Hold On Me" (the Smokey Robinson classic which had been covered by The Beatles and Greg lake), "Ain't That Peculiar", "Nowhere To Run" (the Martha and the Vandellas classic which had been covered by Santana) and "Dancing In The Street" (the Martha and the Vandellas classic which had been covered by David Bowie/Mick Jagger and in a rock/funk way in 1982 by Van Halen). Plus a vinyl version. There's also another deluxe import version with a DVD which has all 25 aforementioned tracks plus four more covers out of "Too Many Fish In The Sea", "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (the Diana Ross and Supremes classic which has also been covered by Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart and Kim Wilde), "Tears Of A Clown" (originally by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles) and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" and an interview with Phil on how the album was made.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Oh dear. I am sure that Phil Collins deeply loves this music and to be fair he makes a decent fist of "Papa was a rolling stone" and "Uptight (Everything's alright)". He also frankly admits that this was a labour and love and as such "my idea...was not to bring anything 'new' to these already great records". The trouble with this statement it that it begs the question why record them at all or more importantly what additional dimension is the selling point for this? Doing an X factor style run through of these great songs as an exercise in reverence is laudable but as a scintillating piece of music it falls flat. Carole King's "Going back" has been better covered by other artists not least of all the lovely versions by Dusty Springfield and Nils Lofgren. "Heatwave" always sounded perfect when performed by the Motown female groups like Martha and the Vandellas or the Supremes, thus Collins is onto a hiding to nothing here. His cover of "Jimmy Mack" is truly excruciating (although not as bad as "You keep me hangin on" on the deluxe edition), while "Going to a Go Go" is so intrinsically associated with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles that any artist would be brave to cover it and Collins voice is just not up to this. Thus for anyone to fall deeply in love with this album they must already be deeply in love with Collins voice since he admits that these are ultra straight recreations of the originals and while the backing musicians playing may be impeccable the "shop window" is Collins himself. The previous recent take by a white singer on the Motown catalogue by Michael McDonald kind of worked (although not always) but that was fundamentally because the former Doobie Brother does sound like a black singer, with Collins you keep expecting him to break into "Abacab" at any minute.

Having listened to Phil Collins take on the work on these classics of Motown I would remind the new or discerning listeners that Motown Chartbusters Vol 3 remains available on Amazon for under four quid where this transcendent music can be heard in its glory, as vibrant today as it was in the Sixties. If you don't own the originals seek them out and get the most sublime pop music of the 20th century to rank with the Beatles. Finally while I am not overly fond of Brian Wilson's recent covers album of Gershwin songs to his credit he tries something different, alternatively Robert Plant presents a model for older artists to aspire to with his brilliant choice of music for "Band of Joy". At one time Collins produced an album with his jazz fusion group Brand X called "Unorthodox Behaviour" which actually rivalled Weather Report in its brilliance (more please) in contrast "Going back" stands as an exercise in treading water by a very likeable bloke.

I've listened to the album a few times now. I find it enjoyable and somewhat uplifting to hear these classic, sometimes obscure classic tunes in a similar, but different light. The band / production is superb. So good that it's not 'current' sounding -- it isn't supposed to be. The tone fits the perioid -- 40 +/- years ago!

Phils voice fits the majority of songs well. A handful seemed a bit out of reach though.

Highlights for me include:
Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)
Heatwave
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Papa Was A Rolling Stone (EXCELLENT!)
Blame It On The Sun
Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
Standing In The Shadows Of Love
Don't Look Back
Do I Love YOu
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
Really Got A Hold On Me
Dancing In The Street
and Going Back

As a casual fan of Motown, it's quite clear that Phil's affection for the period rings through on each track. I cannot understand why so many reviewers took the time to bash the record; almost as if they don't understand the point of the album.
Going Back is simply that...going back to a time of truly amazing and talented songwriting.

Hats off to PC for dusting them off the top shelf.

Phil Collins' brand-new album, "Going Back", is what it is---a Motown covers album. Heading towards his 60th birthday, Phil felt that now was the right time to pay tribute to many of the Motown classics that he grew up listening to, so, voila!---"Going Back". Having waited eight years for a new solo album from Phil, I'm not going to lie when I tell you that I would much rather have a new album of all-new material from the man, rather than wall-to-wall cover tunes (and how strange that Phil's former Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel *also* released a covers album recently....). But hey, Phil can make whatever album he wants to make. He's already left his mark in music (and he was FINALLY inducted into the Rock'N'Roll Hall Of Fame with Genesis this past March, thank you God), so Phil doesn't owe anybody anything. He wants to do an album of Motown stuff? Fine.

The good news, I'm happy to say, is that "Going Back" is a lot of fun. Phil worked closely with some dudes who helped shape the Motown sound all those years ago---songwriter Lamont Dozier, and the Motown studio musician wizards known as the Funk Brothers. The songs sound pretty damm close to the Motown originals, and Phil sings his heart out. His drumming here sounds a *little bit* watered down, like he's not really firing on all cylinders behind that drumkit. But to be fair, Phil is still in recovery from recent back surgery, and he had to tape the drumsticks to his hands in order to play on this album. Nevertheless, he still adapts his drumming style to the old Motown sound well enough.

This Amazon-exclusive version of "Going Back" gives you seven more songs, for a grand total of 25 tunes! But the songs fly by very quickly. Phil says that "Going Back" could be his last solo album ever. I'd like to think that Phil still has one more album of original material left in him at least, but if "Going Back" really is it for this wonderfully talented singer/songwriter/musician, it wouldn't be a bad exit. "Going Back" was obviously a labor of love for Phil Collins, and it's a fun album to listen to. And hey, it's nice to have *anything* new from Phil at all! So I'll take it. :-)

(This Amazon.com exclusive edition has the same tracks as the CD/DVD deluxe package - at a lower price, without the DVD. These songs are essentially a matter of more of the same - listeners who enjoy several should most if not all of them. This is not an album that takes chances.)

Phil Collins has never been in better voice than he is on "Going Back," his valentine to the musical influences - namely, Motown and soul of the 60s - that informed his early years.

True, he rarely breathes new life into these songs. It would be a lie to say he transforms into a full-on song stylist. The core audience for these tunes, however, is not looking for that, and the rich, well-informed voice he uses to navigate the record is still a damn fine pleasure to hear. His enthusiasm and vivacity cover the album like wallpaper.

The song selections are also excellent. "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me for a Little While)" (The Doobie Brothers) rolls and tumbles with excitable energy, and the slightly overlong but well-arranged "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" (The Temptations) has a fine-honed, frothy disco-like flavor that throws an interesting curveball to the proceedings.

He can't fail with the likes of the swashbuckling, boundlessly frenetic "(Love Is Like a) Heatwave" (Martha and the Vandellas) and the timeless "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (Stevie Wonder). This is pop music as it should be - a great singer with great songs to sing.

Of course, new material would be welcome from Collins, who has not released a record since 2002's uneven but enjoyable "Testify," so in light of that "Going Back" may seem like a disappointment in theory. We all know that it takes only slight thought and little effort for someone like Collins to enter a recording studio and whip-up a CD that sounds more like karaoke than covers.

However, that is not the case here. Collins may not re-stylize these songs or cover new ground with them, but he displays passion and dedication to the project through every track. This is not just a vanity project.

The only major flaw in the record's execution is that 29 songs are on the deluxe version. 29! There is the standard 18-track CD and the 25-track deluxe version which includes an audio rip of 4 more additional songs on the accompanying bonus DVD.

The project would have surely had more focus had Collins chosen to slim down the track listing or possibly released the albums in two volumes. Since there are so many songs there is no thematic focus, giving the album sudden dramatic changes in mood, shifting between melancholy tunes like Stevie Wonder's "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" and more boisterous material like "Standing In the Shadows of Love" (Four Tops) in slightly jarring fashion.

It certainly would have been a much more noteworthy project had Collins chosen fewer songs and taken the time to rearrange, reinterpret, restyle - in short, try something new - with them.

"Going Back" is nonetheless a well-wrought, slickly produced, ear-pleasing collection of tunes. It may not be particularly remarkable, but it is certainly welcoming to hear Collins' honeyed voice again.

I think this is probably a good time in Phil's musical career to release an album like "Going Back". When it comes to music, Phil has virtually done it all in his day. For decades we have heard him talk about his love of Motown and how much this music inspired him. If Motown is responsible for influencing Phil Collins to write and perform all those fabulous songs that he graced us with over all these years, then why shouldn't we feel good about Phil wanting to pay tribute to Motown now? When you listen to Phil on these songs, you can plainly hear that he put his heart and soul into these songs. Now, it is Motown music and admittedly it's not for everyone. But that's a broad statement -- no music is for everyone. If you like Motown, you should like this CD. I have seen reviews on Amazon complaining that Phil has done nothing new with these songs, but I don't think he intended to do anything new. This is his tribute to Motown...the way he remembered the songs. No, they are not the originals, but Phil never advertised them as such. These are very professional and personal remakes of some of Phil's favorite Motown songs. My favorite song on this album is the title track, "Going Back". I'm not a big Motown fan and I won't be playing this CD every week, but I will appreciate what Phil did on this album every time I do listen to it.

Phil is older now than when he wrote "In The Air Tonight" and all of his many big hits from the '80s and '90s, but he is still a very talented singer, songwriter and performer. I learned that our tastes in music change as we get older, which is not always a bad thing. Phil Collins was always my favorite performer since the 1970s when I first learned about Genesis. Despite my deep admiration for Phil, I sadly slammed him pretty badly on my review of his "Testify" album, which I think was released in 2002. Back then, I thought that album was completely boring and uninteresting. It's now been about 9 years since I did that review and I'm several months away from turning 50 years old. My music preferences have changed over those 9 years. I am proud to say that I now listen to Phil's "Testify" CD very frequently and it has actually become one of my favorites. I wanted to throw that out there to offer my opinion that, as the "Testify" album was for me, I think "Going Back" will most probably appeal more to the older crowd out there. I am personally quite glad that I bought the "Going Back" CD, because I consider it a special gift from Phil Collins to us all. And...he did a bang-up job with it!

It has been a long while since Phil Collins released a record. Eight years ago, he released Testify, and happily in tune with his wife, Orianne, and they had 2 beautiful children together. But the past few years had a set of heartbreaks for Phil, including a heartbreaking divorce with his wife and he had a injury that nearly cost Phil his ability to play the drums for the rest of his life. Thankfully, he was able to beat his odds, and he still showed his ability to deliver as a driven, with a reunion tour with Genesis back in 2006 and through 2007 and the groups' long-awaited induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, after nearly 40 years of highs & lows. But for Phil's solo work, he had been away from making anything new for his die hard fans. Phil said he wanted to make a covers' record, and he managed to make a good one.

Going Back (Deluxe Edition), Phil Collins' first solo album in eight years, bring in a more authentic classic era of Motown R&B, classic 60's style Soul, and a intimate sound that feels like it is authentic, and not watered down, unlike other recent cover albums from Barry Manilow (The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time) and Rod Stewart (Soulbook.) It feels like a really bright treat, unlike some other artists who've tried to do the same thing, where it feels like you've wasted your time, and wasted money from your pocket. The collection of songs deliver from the title track Going Back, to (Love Is Like A) Heatwave, all the way to You've Been Cheatin', to the intimate Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer. Every track feels like you're actually feeling that classic era well. Some of those songs also click through Phil well, which inspired him to make some of his classic hits during his solo greats era in the 80's like Two Hearts (Buster Soundtrack, 1988) and If Leavin' You Is Easy (Face Value, 1981.) I was absolutely amazed at the sound, it feels like a great trip down memory lane classic days of Malt Shops & 50's sock hop dances.

All in all, while there are other covers' albums out from Barry Manilow and Santana that've been wastes of time, Phil Collins' Going Back is a great buy for your money. While it might not appeal to those who're new to Phil Collins' classic voice and his music, or those who're just sick and tired of weak covers' records, as it might appeal better to his die hard fans of Phil Collins fans. I was absolutely amazed when I heard the albums songs earlier this year and I thought it was going to be a better album, and I really was right. I absolutely recommend this album as a nice buy for die hard Phil Collins fans', or for anyone who desires the classic authentic days of what soul music sounded like back in the 60's and 50's. Phil proved he was going back, and did it well.

Album Cover: B

Songs: B+

Price: B

Mastering: A-

Overall: B+

A brilliant labor of love. If you want to listen to the Motown originals, by all means, buy them and listen to them. In the meantime, lay off my boy Phil who knows the meaning of homage, respect, and fidelity. Bravo!

It has happened with Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart.
It has happened with James Taylor.
Michael McDonald also was 'caught' by the same 'disease' (and he even did it two times, UGH!).
(It seems that) Sadly, Carlos Santana is also walking in the same path.

No new tunes, no new composition work at all, old glories are just trying to 'recycle' themselves.
And the only way they have found to do it, it just by making new 'covers' of great 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and Motown greatest hits... As 'brand new' Hits...

Hit songs that by themselves (in their original versions), are truly music JEWELS.

But... Trying to make them 'new' hits when covered by performers that have musically nothing to do with the original performers, this becomes nothing than a real Bad Joke.

I admired Phil Collins when he became the leader of Genesis after the departure of Peter Gabriel. Even most of his solo works, in my opinion are truly good music efforts.

However... Now, a truly Brit trying to sound as a Motown singer...
PATHETIC. That's it... Don't waste your money on this album.