Artist’s Remorse: The Hit Album Phil Collins Regrets Making Quite So Poppy

In retrospect, it can appear that Phil Collins’ rise from progressive rock and jazz fusion drummer to one of the world’s biggest pop stars was a sudden, viral phenomenon. His popularity did explode around the time he released his third solo album, No Jacket Required, in 1985. And in fact, that release is one album Phil Collins regrets—at least to the extent that it didn’t represent the real him.

Collins’ emergence as a superstar was many years in the making. No Jacket Required is a special album in Collins’ discography, because it represents the end of his decade-long transformation. It’s also unique in that Collins singled it out for criticism years after it dominated the charts. To understand how No Jacket Required was a defining moment for Collins and for the mid-’80s—and why Collins doesn’t remember it with complete fondness—we have to look back at the years that led up to its recording and release.

A Slow March Toward Superstardom

When Genesis released their four-sided concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974, Collins was miles away from rock stardom. Though he occasionally sang lead for Genesis, his main role was as the band’s drummer. Moreover, all eyes were on Peter Gabriel, whose theatrical performances as the band’s frontman commanded attention.

Not long after Gabriel’s departure from Genesis in 1975, the band chose Collins as their lead singer. Even from their earliest videos with Collins as the face of the band, such as the ones for “A Trick of the Tail” and “Robbery, Assault and Battery,” he looked comfortable in his new role. (Collins, after all, had been a child actor.) In 1977, the band would make its first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Your Own Special Way,” which peaked at No. 62. Gradually, Genesis would write more pop songs for their albums, and their collection of Top 40 hits grew slowly.

Even Collins’ debut solo album, Face Value, took a while to achieve the status it holds today. The lead single, “I Missed Again,” reached No. 19 but spent only 16 weeks on the Hot 100—the same total as his 1996 minor hit “Dance Into the Light.” “In the Air Tonight” was the second single, and it was far from the iconic presence that it is all these years later. Like its predecessor, it only went as high as No. 19.

In the aftermath of Face Value, Collins would release his second solo effort, Hello, I Must Be Going!, and Genesis would put out Abacab (1981) and their self-titled album (1983). From those three albums, Collins would hit the Hot 100 a combined 11 times, but only Genesis’ “That’s All” and Collins’ cover of the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” reached the Top 10. Collins hit a higher gear in 1984, topping the Hot 100 with “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” and taking his duet with Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey, “Easy Lover,” all the way to No. 2.

The Floodgates Open

The success of “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” and “Easy Lover” raised Collins’ profile considerably, so when No Jacket Required hit the shelves in February 1985, expectations were high. The lead single, “One More Night” went to No. 1, as did the second single, “Sussudio.” “Don’t Lose My Number” followed at No. 4. Even the nearly-six-minute album closer, “Take Me Home”—shaved down to 4:37 for Top 40 stations—reached No. 7.

With each of his first three solo albums, Collins’ sound became increasingly radio-friendly. The bright and brash soundscape of No Jacket Required was not only a shock to longtime Genesis fans. It was a far cry from Collins’ first two albums, which included acoustic numbers and jazz-fusion instrumentals along with pop-oriented songs. The relentless pace and relative lack of variety on No Jacket Required disappointed many of Collins’ existing fans, who thought he was selling out.

Those same features earned him plenty of new admirers. No Jacket Required was Collins’ first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, and it stayed in the top spot for seven weeks. Having established himself as a superstar, Collins’ next solo album, …But Seriously, also went to No. 1, and Genesis’ next two albums, Invisible Touch and We Can’t Dance peaked at No. 3 and 4, respectively.

Is No Jacket Required Really an Album Phil Collins Regrets?

With his successive releases, Collins signaled that he understood he may have alienated some fans with his most successful album. Just the title of …But Seriously alone feels like an acknowledgement that No Jacket Required was perhaps a little too lightweight. On his 1993 self-produced album Both Sides, Collins returned to the more organic, stripped-down sound that permeated Face Value.

We don’t have to look for clues in Collins’ later recordings to conclude that he was less than happy with No Jacket Required. In 2016, he did an interview for a Rolling Stone piece, “Phil Collins: My Life in 15 Songs.” When the interview got to “Sussudio,” Collins remarked, “Why do you have to bring me down by asking about this one? It’s from one of my least favorite records, No Jacket Required.” Then he expounded on why it brings up bad memories for him. “At the time, I wasn’t being me. I’ve grown up a bit now and much prefer to play songs that are me. I only play a bit part in that one.”

With these comments in mind, we can see that the stylistic changes that Collins employed on his subsequent albums were made consciously. Whereas Collins didn’t feel present for the making of No Jacket Required, he has said that on Both Sides, the songs had “more heart and soul than anything I have done before.” Collins’ self-appraisal is also something of a validation for the fans who sensed that something was missing from No Jacket Required. It turns out that “something” was Collins himself.

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