Lawrence Person's Futuramen

Sorry, couldn’t resist. But this is actually a pretty interesting profile about how Phil Collins is really, really tired of being Phil Collins.

As a Peter Gabriel-era Genesis fan, my personal opinions of Mr. Collins are, um, conflicted. Even as late as Duke, Collins-era Genesis were still producing great albums, but after that each each album they put out was worse than the last. Collins’ solo output was mixed: some decent songs (“In the Air Tonight”, “Take Me Home”) mixed with wimpy schlock.

The article mentions criticism of Collins from the guitarist of Oasis being the thing that first damaged his reputation, but here in the states, Oasis was just another Brit band that never broke particularly big. (Personally I think Collins should have respond with a video of him lying in a giant pit full of money. “What’s that, Noel? Sorry, I can’t hear you with all these hundred pound notes clogging my ears.”)

I think the things that really turned public opinion against Collins (at least more so than any pop musician past their natural expiration date) were his taking the Concord to appear in both versions of Live Aid (what was the point), and the simultaneous one-two punch of Patrick Bateman’s oleaginous declarations of his virtues in American Psycho, and his appearance in the “Timmy 2000” episode of South Park within the same week in April of 2000.

Plus, anyone doing songs for Disney movies automatically earns the “lame” tag. It’s just the way the world works.

I do find it interesting that he’s a serious collector of Alamo relics and memorabilia. I mean, who would have thought? Although Phil Phillip, I hate to tell you, but those mystical “orbs” in your Alamo pictures aren’t paranormal energies, they’re dust specks catching the flash. It’s a pretty well-known natural phenomena. Sorry.