Hits (CD - 1998)

Personnel includes: Phil Collins (vocals, keyboards, drums, tambourine, drum programming); Philip Bailey, David Crosby, Marilyn Martin, Amy Keys, Arnold McCuller (vocals); Dominic Miller, Daryl Stuermer, Michael Thompson, Michael Landau, Ronnie Caryl, Eric Clapton (guitar); L. Shankar (violin); Eric Rigler (Uileann pipes); Greg Phillinganes (piano, Wurlitzer piano); Peter Robinson

(piano, vibraphone, glockenspiel); David Frank (keyboards, Mini-Moog synthesizer, bass, DMX); Babyface (keyboards, drum programming, background vocals); Nick Glennie-Smith, Rob Mousney, Lesette Wilson (keyboards); Nathan

East, Leland Sklar, Cornelius Mims, John Giblin, Freddie Washington (bass); Sheila E.(percussion); Peter Gabriel, Sting, Marva King (background vocals).

The Phoenix Horns: Don Myrick (saxophone); Michael Harris, Rhamlee Michael Davis (trumpet); Louis Satterfield (trombone).

The Vine Street Horns: Andrew Woolfolk (saxophone); Harry Kim, Daniel Fornero (trumpet); Arturo Velasco (trombone).

Producers include: Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham, Babyface, Lamont Dozier, Arif Mardin.

Personnel: Phil Collins (vocals, keyboards, drums, drum machine, tambourine, background vocals); David Crosby, Amy Keyes, Amy Keys, Philip Bailey, Arnold McCuller (vocals); Daryl Stuermer, Dominic Miller, Eric Clapton, Michael Hart Thompson , Michael Landau, Michael Thompson (guitar); Lakshminarayana Shankar (violin); Eric Rigler (Uilleann pipe); Don Myrick, Andrew Woolfolk (saxophone); Daniel Fornero, Harry Kim, Rahmlee Michael Davis (trumpet); Arturo Velasco, Louis Satterfield (trombone); Vine Street Horns (horns); Greg Phillinganes (piano, Wurlitzer organ); Peter Robinson (piano, vibraphone, glockenspiel); David Frank (keyboards, mini-Moog synthesizer); Babyface (keyboards, drum programming, background vocals); Lesette Wilson, Rob Mounsey, Brad Cole (keyboards); Paulinho Da Costa, Sheila E. (percussion); Lynn Fiddmont, Helen Terry, Alex Brown, Marva King, Peter Gabriel, Sting (background vocals).

Illustrator: Janfranco Caro.

Arrangers: Tom Tom 84; Harry Kim; Phil Collins.

If Hits seems a little inadequate, even though it weighs in at 16 tracks, that's because Phil Collins had such a long, productive run. Also, to casual listeners (and possibly even some fans), it's hard to tell which singles are by Genesis and which ones are solo cuts. So, it's almost a certainty that listeners will find something missing from this disc -- and not just because Genesis cuts are absent, but because there's not enough space to fit all of Collins' solo hits, especially since the compilers decided to include a couple of lesser, latter-day hits at the expense of some earlier, bigger ones, while adding his non-LP cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" to entice hardcore fans. Thus, there are only 13 hits, which means some other big hits and good songs are absent -- "I Missed Again," "I Don't Care Anymore," "Don't Lose My Number," "Do You Remember?" are all MIA. A few of these omissions are quite regrettable, but in the end, Hits is nevertheless a representative and pretty entertaining collection. The sequencing is not chronological, so it doesn't develop a nice flow (although "Take Me Home" is admittedly the ideal closer), but the chief strength of this collection is that it puts all of the big hits - including "Easy Lover," "Against All Odds," "In the Air Tonight," "Sussudio," "One More Night" and "Separate Lives" -- in one place. No, it's not perfect -- and it's hard not to wish that it was -- but Hits still contains the majority of Collins' solo smashes, and that alone makes it a nice addition to his catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In the early '80s, Collins took a break from the helm of Genesis to inaugurate a solo career that abandoned his group's art-rock agenda for a mainstream pop approach. In the ensuing years, the king of Nice Guy Pop established himself as one of the world's premier top 40 balladeers, as evidenced by the wall-to-wall hits that make up the balance of this appropriately titled collection. HITS walks the listener through the smooth, well-produced Collins hits that have worked their way into the collective consciousness of radio listeners (even casual ones) over the years. There are majestic power ballads ("I Wish It Would Rain") to light-hearted, infectious pop-funk ("Sussudio") and moody atmospheric pieces ("In the Air Tonight") HITS represents the full range of material this prolific performer has turned out over the course of his wildly successful career. minimize