I know I should feel like this about it, I can see all its faults on paper. But somehow it's not that terrible when I actually hear it. Which is quite an unusual statement, coming from me
Driving Me Crazy We start with a fairly uptempo flourish of synth and guitar, that moves int a slightly unusual for Phil piece of music, that sounds contemporary.... or perhaps it is trying to sound contemporary ... it is hard to tell from such distance in time, and being new to the album. It has a nice rhythmic feel, and it isn't a bad song at all, but it sort of doesn't sound like a Phil song. I think this actually works quite well. To some degree most of my statements here are going to be fairly brief, because I am just not close enough to these songs to have any great insights. Give us the lowdown guys.
Driving Me Crazy Second half/side. In short: I could completely live without it. Thing is: the previous track would be fine to me (all things considered), while still being a minor one in the album. If it was alone. But now something weird happens: we have four (4) breakup/without you songs in a row, equivalent to one third of an album that reportedly is about celebrating happy love and family. I wonder if Collins is really objective on his overview of the album posted above or if it’s more of a justification he came out for himself after the album’s failure (or both). This group of songs, aside ending up thematically boring and repetitive (bland and simplistic lyrics don’t help) makes for a heavy detour from the themes the album established in the first half, which would be repreisd only at the very end, and not exactly with memorable songs. This very one “without you” song in particular sounds yet another attempt to stay in the loop by adopting some EDM language (but I don’t think I’d like it more if it was a pure rocker). Initially I tried to see thi song biographically and put it song in context, declining it into the "my family now" narrative. I thought it could be Phil describing (taking narrative liberties) the absence of the young wife-in-career of his. The song is mostly ambiguous about the nature of the separation after all and doesn't state "breakup" openly. Yet, it seems a little too stretched up a reading, to me (and some verses seem to be openly negating it). So I'll take it as a character song, not a biographic song. But even like this, there’s something more odd in this main character's statements: lines like “There's no escaping me / I'll be like your worst enemy / I'm right behind you every place you run to I'll be there with you” bring back memories of his old obsessive (borderline stalker) mode songs from the Great Divorce Narrative (TM). This happens to other lyrics in the batch: they seem to revert back from the subtleties and maturity reached in Both Sides. The seem like repertoire lyrics, put down by the numbers. Anyway, starting with the lukewarm dance infusion, this song is unbearably boring to me, and once the novelty worn out (kind of three listens) it became a definitive insta-skip.
This one is not bad. I can enjoy it. It's not one of the best on the album but also not one of the worst and it's better than skipper status. Here's a live version from 2002.
I know we're already right in the middle, but here's an EPK for the album, if you're interested. I've never seen it before.
Driving Me Crazy A strange track this. I like the sound of the track, I just find the lyrics all a bit he has done that better before; and as a song it is OK, but nothing special, as its repetitive elements drag it down.
"The Least You Can Do" Single by Phil Collins from the album Testify B-side "Hey, Now Sunshine" Released 2003 Format CD single Recorded 2001 Genre Pop, pop rock Label Atlantic Songwriter(s) Phil Collins (lyrics), Daryl Stuermer (music) Producer(s) Phil Collins, Rob Cavallo "The Least You Can Do" is a 2003 single release by English singer Phil Collins from his seventh solo album Testify, released in 2002. The song was released as a double A-side format alongside "Wake Up Call". The song was written and arranged with Daryl Stuermer. Stuermer also provided the arrangement for other songs in Collins career, such as "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have no problem with mellow music, and this song is pretty decent, but by this stage of the album, I am thinking of taking the disc out to be honest. It isn't that it is bad, but it isn't holding my attention. It's nice to hear the reall drums kick in and give the song a little more punch. The vocal is nice, but I guess I was a fan of the over extended vocals a little earlier in his career. It was funny on the genesis thread when many folks were talking about Phil "over-emoting" because that is one of his vocal characteristics that I always enjoyed. Anyway I like this song well enough, but it isn't something that draws me back to it.
Hey Now Sunshine This is a little more upbeat, but it still has a sort of beige sheen that leaves me waiting for something else to come along.
So, according to Collin's interview above, Driving Me Crazy should be about the little demons in your head... I can't really see it but... 'mkey.
The Least You Can Do I didn’t really research it that much but, as far as I understood, Collins worked for a while to a “love songs” project in 2000 (not to be confused with the 2CD anthology of some years later or the 5-songs fan-only promo), but it was dropped midway. Three shelved songs were recycled for Testify, in a way or another. One was an original song, The Least You Can Do; the other two were covers: Can’t Stop Loving You (Leo Sayer) and Tears Of A Clown (Stevie Wonder, Hank Cosby, William 'Smokey' Robinson). The last one went straight to a b-side and was later re-recorded for the super-ultra-expanded edition of Going Back. The other two were incorporated in the tracklist despite their apparent non-conformity with the “celebration of love and family” supposed intent of the album (not that I’m buying it anymore). Anyway... First thing I thought when I heard The Least You Can Do is “Phil is going Bryan Adams or something”. This one smells like american-power-ballad all over the place to me. And it lacks any kind of subtlety. And... you don’t say? It’s another Stuermer/Collins penned song and I can easily imagine who wrote what. Especially because the lyrics, contrary to the music, are very “old Phil”: they seem to revert (again) to the old model with the main character in a state of post-breakup confused denial and (conveniently) projecting emotional responsibility on the woman. A curious U-turn to a narrative that the maturity of But Seriously and Both Sides had overpassed. It’s almost like Collins is writing out of repertoire, dusting out old clichés: there’s the broken trust, the sense of betrayal, the she-has-another-one thing and all the tricks and trades from the FV/HIMBG era. But no trace of the hard-earned sense of guilt/awareness that made the later great songs. “The least you can do is give me back my heart” can have its fair share of poetry and romanticism for a 16-year old girl, but it’s also totally a ridiculous concept in an "Adult" oriented song. It might be me, but I'm tired of this perpetration of projective models in popular culture. Nobody is responsible for our feelings except ourselves. And that “So I can move on with my life” line is so embarrassingly and cringeworthy prosaic I’d be willing to candidate it for his absolute lyrical lowpoint. On the positive side. Stuermer is happily welcome back at lead guitar. He’s been missed. (I’d never say that for Genesis, but he works fine with Collins music ) And finally Phil dropped the samples and used real bagpipes (Uilleann pipes, actually) like he did, IIRC, for True Colors..
Hey, Now Sunshine This is a rare 3rd person narrative song with overly obvious lyrics. The narrative flow reminds a bit of the Me And Virgil lyrics. But the theme is much less dramatic here: the first summer heartbeats of a teenage girl, with just a hint of melancholy for the time passing too fast. It drags along, after a while. Definitely, the music is not catchy enough to sustain such an unremarkable story. Also, not a fan of that “Hey Now” thing. (It reminds me of something, btw).
There's still one left I like (more than the others anyway). Though I can't guarantee you'll like it too. But yeah, this 4-songs block is definitely a downer after the first half managed to keep itself up, one way or another. It's what makes his style. He never spared himself. That's partially why he burnt out his voice in the end.
"Least You Can Do" is ok. Again, not a highlight, but I wouldn't necessarily skip it either. Though I could. It's borderline.
A note on the b-sides in general. As skippable as some of the album tracks are, I don't think I would replace any of them with any of the b-sides. They're all varying degrees of lackluster. The originals, that is.
The Least You Can Do A nice track. But the truth is it sounds more like a The Corrs album track, especially with the Irish musical influence, the vocal harmonies, & the way it goes through the musical gears/key changes (with PC drumming on it) than a Phil Collins track. Hey, Now Sunshine True this is a bit more upbeat. However, it feels like it was very mechanically written, and rather uninspired & lightweight.
I like the Least you Can do and think it’s a cut above some of the other songs on the album so a bit surprised to see it lumped in with them all here. I’ve been out of the thread for a while partly because I just don’t have much to say about this album as others have written it’s all a bit bland. However I will stand up for Don’t Get Me Started which I think is among his best later songs the melody is great, the vocal is passionate and the chorus is just fantastic. Lyrics are a bit naff but you can’t have everything. outside of that song it’s a shame and slightly telling that the best song by a country mile is a cover version which is about to come up and which he absolutely nails and makes his own.
I don't want to go off tangent or even Talk On Corners but the beautiful Corrs had a part of their live set where they would do two Irish traditional instrumentals "Toss The Feathers" & "Haste To The Wedding" that required two sets of drumkits. When they got big, they frequently had a famous drummer come out and join them on the other drumkit. They included the likes of Mick Fleetwood; Nick Mason; Charlie Watts; Roger Taylor (Queen not Duran*2); Kenney Jones; Larry Mullen Jr; & the ubiquitous Dave Grohl; etc .... but Phil Collins never ever joined them on stage!
Very good. And while musically I could probably forget the Corrs (although Runaway is a quite brilliant pop song) there are a couple of good reasons to keep them front of mind
Can't Stop Loving You Single by Phil Collins from the album Testify B-side "High Flying Angel" Released 28 October 2002 Format CD Recorded 2001 Genre Pop rock Britpop Label Atlantic Songwriter(s) Billy Nicholls Producer(s) Phil Collins Rob Cavallo I actually like this version. I am most familiar with the Leo Sayer version, but I think this was a nice, mildly rearranged version. I don't have too much to say here really. I like the song, and Phil does a good version.
High Flying Angel This was the b-side to the single. It has a moderately quick rhythm track with a spare mix that has just some keys making the main base of the song. Some nice layered vocals here and there. As far as this replacing something on the album .... I wouldn't be here or there about it. It is a pleasant enough song, but still falls into the somewhat ho hum category for me... It isn't particularly bad or anything, it just doesn't grab me like more of his earlier stuff did.
