#12
January 25 1985
Phil Collins
No Jacket Required
Genre: MOR Rock
3.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Only You Know and I Know
Long Long Way to Go
Take Me Home
In New Jersey we had an FM station, WDHA. They were “The Parkway to Rock”. And this is exactly what Rock sounds like if it was a Parkway.
It’s polished. It’s got sheen. And it’s not terrible. It skews older, of course. I think I like this better than I did when I heard in 10 years ago. It’s no Face Value but it works more often than it fails.
I’ll be honest, while the hit singles are fine and all, they aren’t the highlights for me. “One More Night” is almost as much of an ear worm as “I Wanna Know What Love Is” by Foreigner.
There. Now one of those is in your head.
You’re welcome.
Perhaps the song that most exemplifies this record’s modus is “Who Said I Would”. It's Prince, dressed in a Miami Vice jacket with rolled up sleeves. It doesn't break a sweat, though you imagine the performers bouncing back and forth, high fiving each other. Smiling, and swaying. It's also soul but has no real soul. No heart. It's empty calories but chewing it isn't even satisfying. The whole experience is nowhere near potato chips. It's more like flavored, sugar free gum. The taste lasts about as long as it takes to roll up and toss the paper the gum came in. Never “awful” but never good.
“Long Long Way to Go” is almost like an interpolation of The Police’s “Tea in the Sahara” only poppier and more accessible, so it’s fitting that it features Sting.
While being a consummate musician and brilliant drummer, Phil is also a softy with an ear for the inoffensive. He's a “nice guy”. His music is “nice”. He won't challenge you. He won't inspire you. He might bore you a little. And he might actually get you to sing along a bit.
He's average.
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