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38 of 39 found the following review helpful:
 Terrific CD!Jan 29, 2000
By Katarina
As a Phil Collins fan for many years, I was really glad to see a compilation of hits that included many of the songs I have loved for a long time. To just mention a few tunes, one of my favorites of all time, "Against All Odds", is on this CD, and if you have never heard the song, the CD is worth buying for this song alone. No wonder it was nominated for an Academy Award as part of the soundtrack for the movie bearing its title. "Against All Odds" is a song that certainly makes you feel something, and his voice stirs deep emotion, at least in me. Another of my favorites, "Easy Lover", is a fast-paced hit that makes the best of a combination of Phil Collins and Phil Bailey on vocals. Definitely a likable hit. The passionate "Separate Lives" is also a duet, a beautiful one, and one of the reasons I truly love this CD. If you turn up the volume when Phil comes on the radio, you can bet that you will covet this CD full of hits. "In the Air Tonight" is one reason to turn up the volume, with its smashing drum beats and the sultry, almost angry, lilt in Phil's vocals. Upbeat hits like "Two Hearts","Can't Hurry Love" and "Dance into the Light" really throw an added spark into the mix. Phil's remake of Cindy Lauper's "True Colors" is well done and of course what Phil Collins hits CD would be complete without the catchy "Sussudio". Songs like "Groovy Kind of Love", "I Wish it Would Rain Down", "Take Me Home", "One More Night" and "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" round out this album. Many of the songs included on the CD were favorites of mine that I hadn't heard in a long time and hearing them again was truly great. A must-have CD for any Collins or Genesis fan. It earns every one of the five stars I gave it.
22 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Almost PerfectJun 21, 2002
By David
This greatest hits volume of Phil Collins is "Almost Perfect". The reason I say almost, is because the cd leaves off a very important song that was essential to Collins 80's sucess. Yes you guessed it, "Don't Lose My Number". This is one of Phil's great catchy 80's tunes from the late summer of 1985 which is when in my opinion, he was at his pinnacle of success. You just don't leave that song off of the cd, and put on the song "True Colors" which was a far cry from the greatest version done in the winter of 87' by Cyndi Lauper. Besides that, this cd is a winner and has most of Phil's best solo work. My choice, buy this cd and also "No Jacket Required". It will give you the best of both worlds.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
A great album!Nov 18, 2005
By Kurt A. Johnson
Phil Collins has been a presence in world-wide rock scene since the 1970s. He has a great tonal quality to his voice, and his music has moves from the impudent to the sensitive and soulful. This album came out in 1998, and is a nice selection of Phil's songs. It has the brash In The Air Tonight, the pop-hit Sussudio, and the reflective Both Sides Of The Story.
Overall, I found this to be a great album, which I have listened to many, many times. My favorite tracks are Against All Odds, Separate Lives, and In The Air Tonight. I love this album, and highly recommend it to all fans of great music!
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
a heck of a collection of hits from an artist with a seemingly golden touchAug 18, 2005
By Dave
"missing person"
Released in 1998, this CD is a heck of a collection of "Hits" indeed. That said, it's true that this disc is missing LOTS of Phil's hits--not just smaller hits/ radio favorites, but big hits like "I Missed Again", "Do You Remember?", and "Don't Lose My Number". Phil's got so many superb hits that they easily could have made this an extraordinary two disc set, and that's not even including his Genesis hits. Still, what we do get here is a heck of a SINGLE disc. (Clever album cover, too.)
Excluding Phil's 1990 "Serious Hits...Live!" album, this "...Hits" disc brings together half a dozen songs that weren't on any prior Phil Collins album, and this time all the songs are in their original studio versions. There's the ultra-catchy duet with Philip Bailey "Easy Lover" which appeared on Bailey's 1984 album "Chinese Wall". There's the regal, soaring power ballad "Against All Odds", a smash hit from the soundtrack to the movie of the same name (it's actually based on a song Collins had 'left over' from the "Face Value" era but hadn't used). There are his two contributions to the soundtrack for the movie "Buster" which Phil starred in--the intoxicatingly infectious feel-good tune "Two Hearts", co-written by Lamont Dozier; and his brilliantly reinterpreted version of the Mindbenders' mid-'60s hit "A Groovy Kind Of Love" (no offense to Eric Stewart).
As has become the custom, Phil added one new song, but it's not a Collins composition--it's a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". Babyface produced it and did the drum programming on it, and it ends up having a frighteningly "contemporary" sound to it a la the Backstreet Boys or N Sync, but thankfully, this production style has proven to very much be a "one shot deal" for Phil, and basically all of his subsequent music has found him staying true to himself. (Thank goodness Phil hasn't done a full album with Babyface producing.)
Another downside is the Phil Collins-Marilyn Martin duet version of the Stephen Bishop composition "Separate Lives". I've always found this track to be utterly uncharacteristic of Collins, and it just doesn't suit him. Bishop's own solo acoustic version of it recorded in the '90s was a revealation to me, but the hit version here is frustratingly sappy and I've never been a fan of it.
There are a couple other iffy inclusions too. The cliche-ridden "Something Happened On the Way To Heaven" is one of Phil's worst hits and really doesn't belong here; it should have been left off in favor of one of his numerous superior hits that DIDN'T make the cut. Also, his cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" is a blast, and I actually prefer it to the famous hit version, as I feel Phil's version kinda 'cleans up' the arrangement, but it arguably should have been left off to make room for one or two more Collins-penned songs. I also want to point out, as other have, that the songs are NOT sequenced in chronological order.
Despite all the gripes, the positives of this disc steamroll the negatives. Very minor trimmings aside, the songs are all full-length and the sound quality on the disc is superb. And of course, there's simply no arguing with most of the inclusions--"Another Day In Paradise"; "I Wish It Would Rain Down"; "Both Sides of the Story"; "One More Night"; "Dance Into the Light"; "In the Air Tonight"; "Take Me Home"--all great songs, and all collected on one disc, along with the aforementioned gems.
Phil's ability to excite and/ or move you with his music is truly incredible. In my book, Phil is a true 'album artist'--you really need all of his proper albums from 1981's "Face Value" through 1993's "Both Sides"--each of them are masterpieces in and of themselves, and I can't fathom any serious 'pop' music listener feeling otherwise. And really, to put it a certain way, "Face Value", "Hello, I Must Be Going!", "No Jacket Required", and "...But Seriously" are practically "greatest hits" albums unto themselves, with many of the 'lesser known' songs having received significant radio play or having been big fan/concert favorites. So, "...Hits" is certainly high on great songs, but by all means, get the individual albums if you haven't already.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
4 1/2 stars--missed some key hits but not soundtrack songsNov 05, 2001
By Brad
Phil Collins was everywhere in the 1980s and early '90s. From his Genesis work to his solo stuff, he was heard on the air with new music each and every year from 1980 through 1993. An unbelievable run by a very talented musician with one of the best voices in popular music history. The songs on this solo collection speak for themselves: from the mystical "In The Air Tonight" and "One More Night" to the catchy "Susudio" and "Easy Lover" to the downright beautiful "Against All Odds" and "Separate Lives". Even the remake of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (which I was not too fond of in its original form) is nice. At least one track is included from each and every Phil solo album, and all of those movie soundtrack songs that were big hits are included. Once I bought this collection I was able to clean out a few record singles!Now the downside, as is often the case with artists who have as much great material and hits as Phil has that decide to put out greatest hits albums: there are several key songs missing. A chronological list of other songs I would liked to have seen is as follows: "Missed Again", "I Don't Care Anymore", "Don't Forget My Number", "Inside Out", "We Said Hello Goodbye", "Do You Remember", "Hang In Long Enough", and "Everyday". Throw that in with some other album tracks and maybe a few rarities if they exist, and you could have easily made this a two-disk set. No matter. This collection is still very enjoyable if you're a fan of the man, his music, and his amazing voice. Definitely a worthwhile listen that is guaranteed to bring back memories.
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