(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sat 18 October 2025 20:15, UK
Any prog musician like Phil Collins is never going to settle for being in a band that plays strictly Top 40 music.
While Collins loved that style and would become a chart darling when he reached the 1980s, it was always important for him to have a lot of different projects going at the same time so that he could be satisfied. Rubbing elbows with Philip Bailey and Led Zeppelin may have been a dream come true, but Collins would always feel most at home when he was playing the most complicated music in the world.
After all, Genesis had first formed with the intention of making music that was off the beaten path, and when looking at the Peter Gabriel era, Collins was more than willing to throw in the strangest ideas he could think of. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was already a bit nutty by most lyrical standards, but if you don’t bother listening to Gabriel’s Alice in Wonderland trip, Collins’s drums sound absolutely massive going through every single tune.
It was all meant to serve the song half the time, but whenever listening to Collins’s solo work, he put as much attention to detail into the percussion as he did into the vocal melody. It did feel a little bit odd not to hear as much punch to a song like ‘Against All Odds’, but anyone would have gone down in rock and roll history even if they did nothing else but that massive drum fill on ‘In the Air Tonight’.
But right around the time that Genesis was turning a corner, Collins needed a bit more of an outlet, and Brand X was the perfect way for him to let off steam. They were the epitome of what a fusion band was supposed to be, but listening back to their records, it’s not like anyone was surprised when they didn’t set the world on fire. No, if Collins wanted to have those kinds of chops, he would have to work with the true legends in the rock field.
He had already developed a massive love of R&B, but the idea of producing a record with Eric Clapton was going to be daunting. Here was one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and now Collins was expected to go from a friend to a collaborator within the space of a few months. The albums that he worked on like Behind the Sun may have been a mixed bag altogether, but when the drummer found himself on his throne with Clapton’s backing band, there was a good chance he would never leave.
Considering how every other player was an absolute monster, Collins felt that everything was right with the world when he played with them, saying, “I love to play, and also these were great gigs. I produced two albums for Eric, and then we took it out on the road, and it was the best band I’ve ever been in, Eric, [bassist] Nathan East and [keyboardist] Greg Phillinganes. We used to call it ‘The Heaven Band.’ Man, it was wonderful. I had so much fun.”
And while East and Phillinganes were among the best session players on the scene at the time, it was about more than playing insane runs when they were onstage. ‘Slowhand’ encouraged the idea of jamming all the time, but whereas Cream may have taken things to a new level, his solo band always knew the importance of restraint and making sure that they don’t take away from the tunes.
There were bound to be more session players on the scene that could have filled those slots, but even if someone like Jim Keltner could have made the band jump, having Collins among them gave them an impromptu supergroup every time they got onstage. That may have upped the pressure to play well, but even if they would be judged, Collins never forgot the importance of having fun whenever he played.
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