This album was the beginning of the end of me loving PC solo albums. I did see the tour for this one which was great. With the exception of Dance into the Light this was the last PC solo album I still listen to often.
Agreed. It’s all just fantastic. Also crazy that every song has been performed live except Father To Son. Phil at his absolute best that I don’t feel he ever got to again except with Tarzan.
No hesitation on this one. My favorite Phil album, and my favorite song is Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. His best song of his entire catalog in my opinion.
I really have grown to love Colours, this is one song on this album I could’ve seen Tony really getting behind in a band context. I think it’s great when Phil goes into an epic mode in his solo efforts!
Honorable mentions for this album are Paradise, Hang In Long Enough, Rain Down.
Will always be my favorite Phil album because of the nostalgia. My Dad was a big fan and had this album on cassette. I would steal it from him and take it upstairs to my room to jam to it on my am/fm cassette boombox. We listened to it on every road trip in the early 90s. One of those records that brings all those warm fuzzy memories back.
Probably my favourite PC album and it’s difficult to choose but for the purposes of Tom’s poll my vote is heat on the street. Upbeat track and like many of the songs it deals with social issues of the day but there’s a feel good vibe which I’ve always liked.
So many good tracks to pick from here. If I have to pick one, it would be Hang in Long Enough – another entry in the long list of Genesis-related album openers… this one packs a punch.
Colours feels a bit proggy with its different sections.
To me this album was a welcome return to form. He was such a big star when this came out-it seemed he had forgotten his roots or something. But every song is excellent, he pulled out the acoustic drums again…it was all good. Darryl plays his ass off on this record too! And that suspended cymbal makes “Do You Remember” my favorite track on this one!!
Also my favourite album of Phil’s entire catalog. Every song is fantastic. Was a real toughie to choose a favourite but went for Colours because the whole thing feels like a story (prog style), despite it being a massive statement, but told in 3 chapters.
I do think Another Day In Paradise is a great song off the album and that is my choice to answer your question. Sadly, Phil was everywhere when this album came out and his fame became a negative to some fans as they found him annoying. I remember being out to dinner with Steve Hackett in Boston when Do You Remember came on in the restaurant and he joked to me…..”I still cannot get away from Phil” noting that there was a point where it seemed every fourth song on the radio had Phil on it
This was a very difficult choice. What a solid album from start to finish. It’s the first Phil album I got on CD only, so I never listened to it with sides like his previous three, just as one long brilliant listen. Plus, the Seriously Live Tour is one of my favorite concerts ever.
This is one of those “could do the album in our sleep” records, which sounds like a knock but it’s meant as a positive. It compares to “We Can’t Dance” in that there are no real bold chances taken, no real duds… it’s just a satisfying album by an artist fully in control of his talents. “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven” is probably the song that means the most to me personally; it’s another in a long line of broken relationship songs that Collins is well know for. But my favorite song, the one that gets me every time, is “All of My Life.” While many of his songs deal with the heartbreak associated with the end of relationships, few seem to take ownership of the protagonist’s role in the breakup. Most of the time, things just happen to Phil. It’s a best-selling formula. However, in “All of My Life”, he seems to be looking inward, and he’s admitting he doesn’t like what he’s seeing. With lyrics like:
“Just reaching past the goal in front of me
while what’s important just slips away”
and
“All of my life there have been regrets
That I didn’t do all I could
Playing records upstairs while he watched TV
I didn’t spend the time I should
And it’s a memory I will live with all of my life”
we get a glimpse into a more introspective and critical version of Phil. Once we get past the initial feelings of sadness and betrayal when relationships go south, we start to look inward. Here, Phil laments the lost opportunity of bonding with his spouse and/or his children. I can’t help but think back to the lyrics of my personal favorite of his, “Please Don’t Ask”, and his sad cry of “I miss my boy, and I hope he’s good as gold.” “All of My Life” isn’t the banger I crank up every time I cue up “…But Seriously” but it’s the track that gets me the most.
A much tougher decision than I expected. I went “Find a Way to my Heart” as it was my favorite track 34(!) years ago when the album first came out. (The opening . . . noise…scared the crap out of my then-girlfriend, now wife.) That track was the one of only two that seemed to have interesting drums. “Hang in Long Enough,” though, is a fantastic opening track, “Somewhere in Heaven” always gets me excited, while “Do You Remember?” has become much more impactful as the years go by.
Thinking about this survey made me realise what a wonderfully consistent album we have in But Seriously. It includes a song for every mood I might be in. You get reflective (All of my life, Father to Son), Nostalgic (Do you Remember), Thoughtful (Another day…), Uplifting (Hang in Long Enough, Something Happened), Soulful (Wish it would rain down) and then political (Colours). This is a class album that Phil should be very proud of. I think I will vote for Paradise as it is a perfectly crafted song with lovely backing vocals from David Crosby but this is the hardest one of your surveys which shows just how good the album is. In contrast I struggled to pick a track on the I/O album as they all just seemed to merge into one.
It’s another great album, although it didn’t initially gel with me the same way that Phil’s previous releases did, and took more effort to appreciate as a whole, but there are nonetheless some tracks that really stood out for me.
It was tough to decide between That’s Just The Way It Is and Find A Way To My Heart, I love both but for the vote I went with the latter. I really appreciate the uplifting quality of the song at the end of what I’ve always considered a more serious album. This song also reminds me a lot of Power Windows era Rush, especially in the second and third verses where I hear slight similarities to Middletown Dreams in particular.
This album is really where it started for me and Phil. I remember saving my paper round money to buy the lp on its release (my Amstrad midi system didn’t do cds!). As such I’ve gone with what I know as side 1, track 3 – Find a way to my heart. So many wonderful teenage memories captured by this song (which, having bought the remaster a few years ago on cd, I now appreciate as the perfect album closer!).
This album was the beginning of the end of me loving PC solo albums. I did see the tour for this one which was great. With the exception of Dance into the Light this was the last PC solo album I still listen to often.
I love this album – probably his strongest aside from “Hello I Must Be Going”. It’s the only album of his that has no weak tracks. Love it.
Agreed. It’s all just fantastic. Also crazy that every song has been performed live except Father To Son. Phil at his absolute best that I don’t feel he ever got to again except with Tarzan.
Completely agree. A return to form after the unexpected and disappointing dip of No Jacket Required.
When making Phil compilations or playlists, I always find it a challenge to leave out any tracks from But Seriously.
No hesitation on this one. My favorite Phil album, and my favorite song is Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. His best song of his entire catalog in my opinion.
I really have grown to love Colours, this is one song on this album I could’ve seen Tony really getting behind in a band context. I think it’s great when Phil goes into an epic mode in his solo efforts!
Honorable mentions for this album are Paradise, Hang In Long Enough, Rain Down.
Will always be my favorite Phil album because of the nostalgia. My Dad was a big fan and had this album on cassette. I would steal it from him and take it upstairs to my room to jam to it on my am/fm cassette boombox. We listened to it on every road trip in the early 90s. One of those records that brings all those warm fuzzy memories back.
“I Wish It Would Rain Down” is Phil’s magnum opus.
Probably my favourite PC album and it’s difficult to choose but for the purposes of Tom’s poll my vote is heat on the street. Upbeat track and like many of the songs it deals with social issues of the day but there’s a feel good vibe which I’ve always liked.
The song that has remained with me for years is ‘do you remember’.
Phil at his best for writing raw and emotional lyrics that anyone who has been through an unwanted break up can relate too .. or is it just me?
‘There was always something more important to do, more important to say. But ‘I love you wasn’t one of those things … and now it’s too late’.
Gets me every time.
So many good tracks to pick from here. If I have to pick one, it would be Hang in Long Enough – another entry in the long list of Genesis-related album openers… this one packs a punch.
Colours feels a bit proggy with its different sections.
To me this album was a welcome return to form. He was such a big star when this came out-it seemed he had forgotten his roots or something. But every song is excellent, he pulled out the acoustic drums again…it was all good. Darryl plays his ass off on this record too! And that suspended cymbal makes “Do You Remember” my favorite track on this one!!
Also my favourite album of Phil’s entire catalog. Every song is fantastic. Was a real toughie to choose a favourite but went for Colours because the whole thing feels like a story (prog style), despite it being a massive statement, but told in 3 chapters.
I do think Another Day In Paradise is a great song off the album and that is my choice to answer your question. Sadly, Phil was everywhere when this album came out and his fame became a negative to some fans as they found him annoying. I remember being out to dinner with Steve Hackett in Boston when Do You Remember came on in the restaurant and he joked to me…..”I still cannot get away from Phil” noting that there was a point where it seemed every fourth song on the radio had Phil on it
This was a very difficult choice. What a solid album from start to finish. It’s the first Phil album I got on CD only, so I never listened to it with sides like his previous three, just as one long brilliant listen. Plus, the Seriously Live Tour is one of my favorite concerts ever.
This is one of those “could do the album in our sleep” records, which sounds like a knock but it’s meant as a positive. It compares to “We Can’t Dance” in that there are no real bold chances taken, no real duds… it’s just a satisfying album by an artist fully in control of his talents. “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven” is probably the song that means the most to me personally; it’s another in a long line of broken relationship songs that Collins is well know for. But my favorite song, the one that gets me every time, is “All of My Life.” While many of his songs deal with the heartbreak associated with the end of relationships, few seem to take ownership of the protagonist’s role in the breakup. Most of the time, things just happen to Phil. It’s a best-selling formula. However, in “All of My Life”, he seems to be looking inward, and he’s admitting he doesn’t like what he’s seeing. With lyrics like:
“Just reaching past the goal in front of me
while what’s important just slips away”
and
“All of my life there have been regrets
That I didn’t do all I could
Playing records upstairs while he watched TV
I didn’t spend the time I should
And it’s a memory I will live with all of my life”
we get a glimpse into a more introspective and critical version of Phil. Once we get past the initial feelings of sadness and betrayal when relationships go south, we start to look inward. Here, Phil laments the lost opportunity of bonding with his spouse and/or his children. I can’t help but think back to the lyrics of my personal favorite of his, “Please Don’t Ask”, and his sad cry of “I miss my boy, and I hope he’s good as gold.” “All of My Life” isn’t the banger I crank up every time I cue up “…But Seriously” but it’s the track that gets me the most.
A much tougher decision than I expected. I went “Find a Way to my Heart” as it was my favorite track 34(!) years ago when the album first came out. (The opening . . . noise…scared the crap out of my then-girlfriend, now wife.) That track was the one of only two that seemed to have interesting drums. “Hang in Long Enough,” though, is a fantastic opening track, “Somewhere in Heaven” always gets me excited, while “Do You Remember?” has become much more impactful as the years go by.
Thinking about this survey made me realise what a wonderfully consistent album we have in But Seriously. It includes a song for every mood I might be in. You get reflective (All of my life, Father to Son), Nostalgic (Do you Remember), Thoughtful (Another day…), Uplifting (Hang in Long Enough, Something Happened), Soulful (Wish it would rain down) and then political (Colours). This is a class album that Phil should be very proud of. I think I will vote for Paradise as it is a perfectly crafted song with lovely backing vocals from David Crosby but this is the hardest one of your surveys which shows just how good the album is. In contrast I struggled to pick a track on the I/O album as they all just seemed to merge into one.
PS Love the podcasts!
It’s another great album, although it didn’t initially gel with me the same way that Phil’s previous releases did, and took more effort to appreciate as a whole, but there are nonetheless some tracks that really stood out for me.
It was tough to decide between That’s Just The Way It Is and Find A Way To My Heart, I love both but for the vote I went with the latter. I really appreciate the uplifting quality of the song at the end of what I’ve always considered a more serious album. This song also reminds me a lot of Power Windows era Rush, especially in the second and third verses where I hear slight similarities to Middletown Dreams in particular.
I seemed to have forgotten that this song only has two verses, my memory was playing tricks on me
This album is really where it started for me and Phil. I remember saving my paper round money to buy the lp on its release (my Amstrad midi system didn’t do cds!). As such I’ve gone with what I know as side 1, track 3 – Find a way to my heart. So many wonderful teenage memories captured by this song (which, having bought the remaster a few years ago on cd, I now appreciate as the perfect album closer!).