Customer Reviews

Testify

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

After "Dance Into The Light" was released, I'm sure all of us feared the worst: That Phil Collins had lost his touch. Fortunately we were all proved wrong when Tarzan was released, and showed us just how much talent Phil still had, and Testify is no different.

On this album, Phil has returned to a more grassroots approach to his music. The whole album has a decidedly dark feel to it, the kind we havent seen since But Seriously, or even Hello I Must Be Going. To casual fans, it must sound hard to believe, since DITL is still fresh in our minds (And Cant Stop Loving You isn't very dark). BUT, once you get a listen to the rest of the album, I think you'll be surprised at what you hear....

The most agressive track, by far, is The Least You Can Do, Phil actually starts yelling towards the end of the song. It's almost as if this track were taken directly from "Hello, I Must Be Going!", it's old Phil back again! Incidentally, many people say this is their favourite song on Testify.

Then there's Driving Me Crazy, which is incredibly upbeat, and by far the most hip thing Phil has ever done. A fantastic and agressive track that would make a fantastic single.

And then there's Wake Up Call. Give this song a few listens and it becomes amazing, its got the best beat to it, very fast paced and VERY experimental. Lots of digital effects going on as well. I great way to open up the album. I get goosebumps every time that I hear the intro to this song as well. The best thing hes done for a long, long time.

There's some other songs that are agressive musically, but arent angry songs. Testify is a powerful love song, fit to be a single, Cant Stop Loving You is an extremely powerful track which is already at the top of the AC chart, It's Not Too Late has those breathtaking, crashing drums toward the end, and This Love This Heart has a very "Classic Phil" sound to it. In fact, the whole album feels like "Face Value" lots of emotional, and powerful songs, yet all of them remain dark.

Is this album experimental? Absolutely. In every way. Lots of the music has been done digitally, or remixed through use of a computer to get some amazing sound effects. Great drumming on most of the tracks, some powerful songs scattered throughout the album, and a distinctly DARK feel to the whole thing. Swing Low actually references the legendary "In The Air Tonight" in the lyrics, and most of the tracks have fresh, very modern sounding intros. Love songs? Yes, there are a ton of love songs on here, but theres a point to that.

"Testify" is meant to be a collection of songs relating to the new life Phil is leading. His happiness with Orianne, his child, and his newfound use of computers. Thus the themes, most of them, tend to relate to his marriage situation now. But despite being ballads, most of them have an edge to them, and remain curiously dark in feel. This is no Dance Into The Light, for sure!

Even for a huge fan like myself, Testify was a disappointment on the first listen. However, the more I played it, the more I began to love it. It took about 3 or 4 listens, but eventually I "got it." I have a message for those who believe that Phil Collins has lost it: Give the album a few more listens, and you might change your mind. This is certainly an album which grows on you quickly, if given the chance, and I'm afraid too many people haven't given it the fair chance it deserves.

So, listen with an open mind, and an open heart, and you too will find that Testify is the best thing he's done since But Seriously. And that says alot.

Welcome back, Phil. We missed ya. :)

NO one- and I mean NO ONE- can tell you what is good music and what isn't....it depends on your mood, your taste, your understanding of music....I read both good reviews and bad reviews and then got the cd....was it good music??? for me...yes...very good...did I expect it to sound like the old phil collins? ofcourse not...we don't always want the same old music....in my opinion THIS IS A GOOD QUALITY music cd and I loved it....don't let people make up your mind for you....go listen to it yourself and then decide.

I'd like to thank the reviewer for the heads up that this CD may be copy protected. I do note however that he is from the UK and the US version may be different. I have a hookup from my PC through my stereo and converted MP3's are my preferred way of storing and using my music.

Without getting into the controversy over copy protection in general (it [is unsatisfactory]), I think that we as consumers at least have the right to this information before buying a CD. If they choose to copy-protect, we should be able to choose not to buy. I won't buy this CD online because of this question, however I will check it out at [at another retail location] and quiz the clerks. I'll decide on that basis if they seem to know what they're talking about.

One thing for sure - I will never buy a CD I know to be copy-protected.

As a huge PC/Genesis fan (in high school I owned nothing *but* Genesis and Phil Collins albums!), I was pretty excited when I saw that PC had released a new album, so I snatched it up. I wasn't too thrilled with "Dance" but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. But disppointment was all that awaited me.

As mentioned by other reviewers, the music is generic, contains very little lyrical "grit" and is overly synthesized. One of the biggest reasons I used to enjoy PC's music was for the sheer power in his drumming. The man used to play "with his heart on his sleeve" but it seems that Phil thinks that "the old days are gone, and they're better left alone."

I know we all mellow-out a bit as we get older, but this is ridiculous. The only reason I'm not throwing this CD away is because I paid good money for it. If you grew-up listening to Phil Collins through the late 70's (in Genesis) and early 80's (when he went solo), you'll probably want to bypass this one.

Phil Collins certainly has a lot to be happy about these days. A recent Oscar winner for the "Tarzan" song "You'll Be In My Heart," he's also newly married, and a new father as well. "Testify," Phil's first new solo album in six years, is a reflection of his personal happiness, as the bulk of the songs are obvious love letters to his wife Orianne and their new baby son. But if you're concerned that Phil might have put a little too much "lovey-dovey" material on this album, you needn't worry. "Testify" is a fine Phil Collins album that just gets better & better with repeated listenings. It's light, breezy & simple, with great melodies & emotion. While there's no real *rockers* on display here, the album still has it's share of edgy stuff, like the punch of "Wake Up Call" and the driving electric guitar, gospel choir & Phil's trademark bashing of the drumkit on the masterful title song. "Swing Low" has great mood to it. "This Love This Heart" is a beautiful love song---I'm already thinking of playing it at my wedding! "Driving Me Crazy" is bouncy & appealing, and Phil also serves up an excellent cover of Leo Sayer's "Can't Stop Loving You" (the first single). Phil's classic voice & musical chops remain intact, and the album's sparkling production quality is also a plus.With the whole music business having changed considerably since Phil Collins' glory days of the 80's & early 90's, it's highly unlikely that "Testify" will give Phil any hit singles or multi-platinum album sales. But, as Phil himself has said recently, he's okay with that. And so am I---the man has nothing more to prove to anyone, the new album will sell whatever it sells, and to heck with radio & MTV. I'm just happy to have a new Phil Collins CD at last, and "Testify" is a darn good one. Welcome back, Phil! :-)

After the disappointing "Dance Into The Light" Phil returns after six years with a pretty good recording. There are catchy melodies and intelligent lyrics reminiscent of his 80's work. This self-produced effort covers love--but not really in a bland way. It really seems as if Collins is content with where he is in his marriage. You can hear it in the title song "Testify", and you can hear it even more in the moving ballads "Come With Me" and "You Touch My Heart". Collins sounds sincere for the first time since 1993's "Both Sides". He tackles his usual staples--social consciousness in "Wake Up Call" and "Don't Get Me Started", giddy love songs like "Can't Stop Loving You" and "Driving Me Crazy" and the dissolution of a relationship in "The Least You Can Do". There's also the opportunity to change yourself with "It's Not Too Late" and "Thru My Eyes". Overall, this is a pretty satisfying adult contemporary offering. Collins no longer sounds angry "In The Air Tonight", "I Don't Care Anymore", and no longer sounds depressed "Another Day In Paradise", "Everyday", and doesn't sound falsely positive "Dance Into The Light". This is a step in the right direction though not a "No Jacket Required" or "Both Sides". Collins fans should be satisfied if you're not looking for old Genesis or old Collins.

Phils 1st solo effort in 6 years proves to be a fantastic one. It seems he's used some new equipment, a new producer, and some new musicians that gives this record a bit of an edge to it that Phil needed. Not to say his 2 prior efforts arent good. They are. Boths Sides is Phils best album ever and is grossly underrated. Phils experimentation with the computer on TESTIFY has produced some atypical "phil collins tunes"; Wake Up Call, Dont Get Me Started, and Driving Me Crazy are truly a suprising treat. Naturally the album also contains a good bit of the typical Phil Collins ballad that all the TARZAN fans will ABSOLUTELY LOVE.
Keep up the good work Phil.

I've been a long-time fan of Genesis, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins; so I was ecstatic when PG and PC were releasing new albums this Fall. And the result: I like PG's Up over PC's Testify. With Up, PG continues to expand his musical vocabulary, despite its gloomy, dreary songs of death and tragedy. Up is a challenging listen, with little pop or radio-friendly flavors; but after dozens of listens, I've gotten to know the songs, and I think it deserves 4 starts out of 5. With Testify, PC does the exact opposite of PG, returning full-bore to mid-tempo adult-contemporary radio-friendly pop with no experimentation whatsoever. While I expected this, I still held out hope that perhaps he might sneak in 2 or 3 tracks to satisfy his old-time fans. Not so. So while I find PC's Testify consistently pleasant to listen as background music at home, I keep returning to PG's Up to engage me in the car.

Why artists (new) albums are critiqued at such a high standard is, a mystery, if u dont like phil collins, maybe this isnt the album you should be reviewing. Anyway, The success of Face Value to But Seriously declined with an underatted album, Both Sides. Then came another underated album, Dance Into The Light, now continuing that tradition is Testify. Depsite the songs 'Testify', 'Cant Stop Loving You', 'Dont Get Me Started', 'Wake Up Call', 'Driving Me Crazy', 'Thru My Eyes', 'Come With Me' & 'This Love This Heart' the album is a real bomb. PLEASE NOTICE THE SARCASM. I cant wait for the new tour dvd, the upcoming love songs dble album (his first) and maybe a new album soon, a live album maybe...ooooh how about a serious hits live re-issue...mmmm i smell another dble cd there!
Enjoy fans.
Also recommend: PC-HITS
Peter Gabriel UP (underatted)
Genesis Invisible Touch (yeah thats right you peter gabriel fanatics, there is life in the band w/o PG!)

By the way, the correct spelling of overated escapes me

It's not bad, but it's not one of his best either. Phil seems to have just taken it easy on this one - the drums, bass and synthesizers are pretty much the same throughout the album, just sped up or slowed down. Not much in the way of guitars or horns, either. It's like listening to 12 of the slower songs from Dance Into The Light.

I'm a bit disappointed after waiting all this time. It says he took two years to put this album together. You would have hoped or thought there was more range on it.