Phil Collins

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Face Value is the debut solo album by Genesis front man Phil Collins, released in February 1981 on the Virgin label internationally and Atlantic Records in North America. The album includes the hit single, "In the Air Tonight", whose dark mood was inspired by the fallout of Collins' first marriage with his wife Andrea.

By 1978, Phil Collins had been part of Genesis for eight years. After spending the first five of those years as a drummer, he reluctantly accepted the role of front man of the group following original vocalist Peter Gabriel's departure shortly after the release of their conceptual progressive rock album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The first album where Collins took over was 1976's A Trick of the Tail, which while still featuring the same type of progressive rock that the group had been recording since its 1969 debut, also featured several ballads and softer rockers. Their 1978 album, ...And Then There Were Three..., featured their first crossover hit, "Follow You, Follow Me". The song and the subsequent album were the beginning of the group's breakaway from their progressive rock past into a more commercial, radio-friendly pop sound which alienated older fans but brought out newer ones. Following ...And Then There Were Three... and a world tour across America, Europe, and Japan, Collins took a leave of absence from the group to deal with his troubled family life. Collins' first wife filed for divorce in 1979 and left Collins in the home they shared in England by himself. Collins reportedly stayed in his house for weeks working on songs that reflected his personal life. Initially, Collins did not want to record them for an album until Atlantic Records, Genesis' record label in America, and Virgin Records, his label overseas, offered him a solo contract. Collins would base the majority of Face Value on the divorce he had endured. Some of Collins' material that he wrote for Face Value made its way onto Genesis' subsequent follow-up, Duke. Collins' radio-friendly vocals helped to make Duke a major success.

Recording sessions for Face Value took place at the Town House in London between late winter of 1979 and early January 1981. According to Classic Albums, in what was then considered a controversial move at the time, Collins, who grew up listening to American R&B as a child in Chiswick, decided to incorporate an R&B horn section, hiring the Phenix Horns, who played backup for Earth, Wind & Fire. Collins refused to listen to friends who had advised him not to use the horns and they would play a major role for most of his solo career.

Collins also used another then-controversial method in using drum programming rather than just live drum instrumentation despite his reputation as a drummer. Collins said he wanted to experiment with different sounds and was inspired by the works of his former band mate Peter Gabriel, who had used drum programming on his last album. Collins was often part of these sessions. Many of the songs' arrangements were done by Collins and session arranger Tom Tom 84. He also incorporated some classical instruments, such as violins. The last recording session for Face Value was in January 1981 prior to the release of the first single, "In the Air Tonight". Atlantic CEO Ahmet Ertegun advised Collins to perform drums during the verses and opening of the song, whereas the album version did not feature live drumming until the bridge. Several songs on the album featured an autobiographical view into Collins' life at the time, mainly to the anger he felt at his impending divorce. Rumors about "In the Air Tonight" being similarly autobiographical were widely circulated in America; in fact, the lyrics were ad-libbed and have no actual meaning. Other songs such as "You Know What I Mean" and "If Leaving Me Is Easy" were solemn ballads that talked of heartbreak. "I Missed Again" also had a solemn tone but was revised as a peppier song while still focusing its theme of heartbreak. The jazzy ballad "This Must Be Love" focused on Collins' then new romance at the time with Jill Tavelman, who would be his second wife.

The album uses several genres. While technically a rock and pop offering, the basis of many of the tracks were strongly R&B with lite funk influences especially in the song, "I'm Not Moving", for which Collins sung his backgrounds with the vocoder. The two instrumentals, "Droned" and "Hand in Hand", were progressive rock instrumentals with the first featuring an exotic African sound, while "Hand in Hand", featured jazz elements and a children's choir humming the music and improvisational instrumentation by Collins and the Phenix Horns. "The Roof is Leaking" had Delta blues and country elements. Behind the Lines was originally released by Genesis on their Duke album as a progressive rock number, yet Collins worked up a new, horn-driven R&B/funk-inspired arrangement after speeding up the tape on the Genesis version and thinking that the sped-up version sounded like a Michael Jackson song. The album featured a cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", which included instruments and vocals playing in reverse while Collins provided multi-layered background vocals and sparse drumming. After the song ends, Collins can be heard almost silently singing "Over the Rainbow", the songs are listed as hidden tracks on the album, and would be the only time Collins used hidden tracks on follow-up releases. Collins omitted several tracks off the album including "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" because he felt the album had "too many ballads".

Released on 9 February 1981, Face Value became an immediate success, reaching number-one in the UK, Canada, and other European countries, while peaking at the top ten in the United States. "In the Air Tonight" became the album's biggest success, reaching number-two in the UK, number-one in three other countries, and becoming a top twenty hit in the United States. Other songs such as "I Missed Again" found modest success reaching number-fourteen in the UK and number-nineteen in the US, while the third single, "If Leaving Me Is Easy", reached number-seventeen in the UK but was not released in America. Sales of the album reached five million alone in the United States and went five-times platinum in the United Kingdom and ten-times platinum in Canada. No solo tour was produced from this album and Collins would not perform live as a solo artist until 1982.

All songs written by Phil Collins, except where noted.

1.  "In the Air Tonight"    5:32
2.  "This Must Be Love"    3:55
3.  "Behind the Lines" (Lyrics by Mike Rutherford; Music by Tony Banks, Collins & Rutherford)  3:53
4.  "The Roof is Leaking"    3:16
5.  "Droned"    2:55
6.  "Hand in Hand"    5:12
7.  "I Missed Again"    3:41
8.  "You Know What I Mean"    2:33
9.  "Thunder and Lightning"    4:12
10.  "I'm Not Moving"    2:33
11.  "If Leaving Me Is Easy"    4:54
12.  "Tomorrow Never Knows" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)  4:46