URBAN RENEWAL feat. The Songs of Phil Collins – review

Preface

The first judgement:

When Urban Renewal was released in 2001, I quickly ticked it off in my head as ‘superfluous’ and ‘annoying’. Without even listening to it in its entirety. Of course, I did take note of the two singles that were released, Another Day In Paradise by Brandy and her brother Ray J, and In The Air Tonite (even the attempted cool spelling made me wonderfully annoyed at the time) by Lil’ Kim feat. Phil Collins (not a “real” Collins, by the way, but a sample of his old hit). Both singles were hard to ignore as they were quite successful in Germany. The re-release of In the Air Tonight made it to number 3, while Brandy and her brother even stormed one place higher up the charts.

But as I said, despite my great passion for Collins, that wasn’t what interested me. Rather, it confirmed my prejudice that rappers and musicians from the hip-hop community have no musical ideas of substance of their own, and therefore have to shamelessly and unoriginally steal melodies and hooks from good pop songs in order to be able to market their annoying raps in a halfway useful way. Incidentally, the high point (or low point) of this ‘creatively uncreative music abuse’ from my point of view at the time was I’ll Be Missing You by Puff Daddy. Oh man, how I hated that song!

The second chance

But time passes, you get older and maybe a little mellower with age. In March 2022 Phil Collins will end his great career as a musician (probably forever). Reason enough for me to take another look at his work. Most of it was already on my CD shelf, but then I bought the Plays Well With Others CD box set and expanded my view of the incredibly versatile network of drummer Phil Collins. Once again I realised how much Phil was and is appreciated as a musician by colleagues from a wide range of genres and backgrounds.

At some point I went back to Andrä in Dortmund (my favourite second-hand media shop) and, out of habit, rummaged through the Phil Collins CD section. I would have loved to buy the Big Band album, but it wasn’t there. Instead there was Urban Renewal. And for the first time my antipathy was overcome by a certain curiosity. You don’t really know this album, I thought. The next thought was: you should take the time to see if the judgement you made at the time was right. And finally: if you want to live up to your self-imposed claim to know the master’s work as completely as possible, you have to listen to this CD. So take the opportunity!

And since you don’t have to look a second-hand horse in the mouth too much, I invested a bit of change and bought the album. I don’t want to give too much away at this point, but I can already say that I have had to revise my earlier opinion quite thoroughly.

Concept and choice of tracks

Urban Renewal feat. the Songs of Phil Collins, is the full title of the record. It’s a tribute album with two main approaches:

First:

This is a tribute to the singer and songwriter Phil Collins. The drummer Phil Collins and his recent statement in the Drumeo documentary (‘I’m more of a drummer who sings a bit’) are therefore in the background. Consequently, the song selection only includes songs written by Phil himself (or in two cases co-written by him). Furthermore, the selection is limited to songs by Collins as a solo artist. Genesis are not included (although Misunderstanding would have fit into the song selection…).

The focus is still clearly on successful singles (with the emphasis on the mega-sellers No Jacket Required and …But Seriously). All Of My Life and Can’t Turn Back The Years are two deep cuts from the Collins oeuvre. Can’t Turn Back The Years is also the most recent song, i.e. everything after 1993 is ignored here. So is there anything missing? In terms of songwriting quality and popularity, perhaps You’ll Be In My Heart. But you have to consider that this song was released in 1999, shortly before the tribute album. In this respect, the track list as a whole is a well-rounded affair.

Second:

All of the musicians involved come from a particular musical genre, which is described here as ‘urban’, but which could just as easily be described as ‘R&B’ or ‘black music’. Accordingly, with one small exception, we are only concerned here with black artists who interpret Phil’s songs. As a musical genre related to R&B, rap/hip-hop stylistic devices are also used to a certain extent. So you can definitely call it a cover album, because these artists cover Phil’s songs. But what is meant by covers is so complex that I will come back to it later. First of all, it is important to clarify another question.

Phil Collins and Black Music:

How is it that black musicians pay homage to the singer-songwriter Phil Collins? The apparent contradiction that this question poses can be resolved relatively quickly. Of all the members of the classic Genesis line-up, Phil is the least marked by what in its extreme form represents the Charterhouse boarding school where the white English upper class was brought up according to conservative and traditional standards. From an early age, Phil had the relaxed attitude that Tony, Mike, Steve and Peter largely lacked. And he has a musical approach that, unlike the others, is much more direct, spontaneous and ‘from the gut’. This applies to both his lyrics and his compositions (with the exception of a few drum arrangements), which are much simpler and not as complex, intellectual and ‘cerebral’ as many of his colleagues.

„… it was … amazing how difficult it was to sing obscure Genesis lyrics. I’m a direct, emotional composer and singer. I sing: I love you and I miss you and I want you, no matter what it is“ (Phil Collins, Come Rain Or Shine-film)

This simplicity, which is often a thorn in the side of many prog fans (because they mistakenly equate it with ‘lowbrow’), now finds great favour with musicians who, for their part, do not think music with their heads first and foremost, but let themselves be guided by their feelings and their ‘musical soul’. Soul music, as a component of black music and a handcrafted forerunner of modern R&B, harmonises perfectly with what Phil wants to express musically.

But the relationship between Collins and black music is much more diverse and clearly demonstrable. It is certainly no coincidence that Phil brought a black jazz-rock drummer, Chester Thompson, into Genesis when he became the band’s frontman. He wasn’t looking for the best technician, but someone with the right feel. And when he recorded Follow You, Follow Me in the studio, he said he did so by imagining how Chester would have drummed the part (cf. Chapter & Verse, p. 227).

Collins’ most enduring musical imprint was not white, but black. It was the sound and songwriting of Motown that launched his solo career (You Can’t Hurry Love), was later revived with Lamont Dozier for Buster, and to which he created a brilliant monument at the end of his recording career with Going Back.

And it was his debut album, Face Value, which was also largely a declaration of love to black music and musicians. The comments of those involved confirm this: Face Value is a record with a lot of black influence. … His (Phil’s) feelings and his soul are expressed in terms that are very much influenced by black American music’ (Ahmet Ertegun) ‘Alphonso Johnson was one of my heroes from Weather Report’ (Phil Collins)

„This track (I missed again), it had that real Earth, Wind and Fire quality to it“ (Alphonso Johnson) Not to forget that Collins was a kind of pioneer with this fusion of white and black music. „White guy with a black horn section? That’s not right. … They should all be black. Or all be white“ (Hugh Padgham)

„We in the horn section didn’t know who Phil Collins was. … He’d played with Genesis, which meant nothing to us“ (Tom Tom Washington)
all quotes are from the Classic Albums: Face Value DVD

Throughout his musical life, Phil Collins was someone who was deeply influenced by black music and who in turn influenced black musicians. This influence was expressed not only in his work as a producer and drummer for artists such as Philipp Bailey, the Four Tops and Chaka Kahn, but also as a role model for a whole generation of black singers who grew up listening to his hits in the 1980s and felt a kinship with his songwriting and way of singing.

The range of covers

Urban Renewal is a cover album that makes the listener realise how different the approach to covering songs can be. Collins himself always tried to get as close as possible to the original in his Motown covers. There is not a single track on Urban Renewal that is so similar to one of Phil’s originals. There are tracks with minor changes that are easy to spot. But there are also some that seem so independent or ‘distorted’ that they are sometimes almost impossible to identify. However, the mixture between ‘fairly faithfully covered’ and ‘completely rearranged and reinvented’ is well balanced. In other words, there are plenty of new things to discover. But there are still enough familiar melodies to make the whole thing recognisable as a tribute to Collins.

Involved artists

If you look at the list of artists involved, you have to say that this is not the top league of R&B. Some of the hottest stars of the time, such as Whitney Houston, Usher, R. Kelly, Toni Braxton, Puff Daddy, Boyz 2 Men, Mary J Blige and Jay-Z, are missing. The careers of Beyoncé (as a solo artist) and Alicia Keys were still to come. Only Mariah Carey’s absence can be excused. She had only paid tribute to Phil in 2000 with a cover of Against All Odds.

Nevertheless, Urban Renewal brings together some familiar faces from the charts as well as names that are rather unknown in this country, such as Deborah Cox, Malik Pendleton, Joe, Debelah Morgan, Changing Faces and Terence Quaites. First and foremost, of course, Brandy, whose song (together with Monica) The Boy Is Mine was also a hit in Germany in 1998. Montell Jordan‘s No.1 hit This Is How We Do It (from 1993) may also still be ringing in your ears. Also Brian McKnight‘s Back At One (1999, despite the title ‘only’ a No.2). Ol’ Dirty Bastard was involved in the Bee Gees recycling Ghetto Superstar (1998), while Lil’ Kim was involved in the remake of Lady Marmelade (2001).

Coko sang the chorus to Will Smith’s Men In Black (1997, although the original by Patrice Rushen is much better). Kelis was not yet a star at the time of Urban Renewal, but two years later she served up her incredibly annoying Milkshake. All in all, enough celebrities for a tribute album that is not only interesting for Collins fans, but also for genre fans. And this should also be made clear to the lesser known names: This is no amateur ensemble, because they can all sing or rap!

Tracklisting:

Ray J Prelude (Ray J)
Another Day In Paradise (Brandy & Ray J)
Sussudio (Ol‘ Dirty Bastard)
Something Happened On The Way To Heaven (Deborah Cox)
This Must Be Love (Dane Bowers from Another Level feat. Kelis)
In The Air Tonite (Lil‘ Kim feat. Phil Collins)
Gotta Hold Over Me (Easy Lover) (Coko)
I Don’t Care Anymore (Kelis)
Can’t Turn Back The Years (Joe)
Do You Remember (Debelah Morgan)
Against All Odds (Montell Jordan)
One More Night (Changing Faces)
All Of My Life (TQ)
I Wish It Would Rain Down (Brian McKnight)
Take Me Home (Malik Pendleton)

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URBAN RENEWAL – Track by track

Ray J Prelude (Ray J):

The album opens with a 40-second prelude that anticipates the song to follow. To a droning keyboard sound, we hear a short echo-like excerpt from the chorus of Another Day In Paradise. A very successful atmospheric introduction.

Another Day In Paradise (Brandy and Ray J)

The first song on the album is almost a 1:1 copy of Collins’ original in terms of tempo, structure, harmony and melody. The only changes are the omission of the intro and a slightly transposed key (a semitone higher than the original). Brandy sings the first verse, her brother Ray J the second and they share the third. Even if they do not imitate Phil’s vocals exactly, but sometimes phrase them in a typical R&B way, they always stay close to the original. The arrangement relies on beats, bass and (synthetic-sounding) guitar sounds typical of the musical style. As the changes here are more on the sound level and the substance of the song is not touched, this is a good introduction to the album that will appeal to Collins fans and R&B fans alike.

Sussudio (Ol‘ Dirty Bastard)

And then things get more experimental. Ol’ Dirty Bastard (member of the Wu-Tang Clan) only borrows the chorus from Phil’s Sussudio, which here is sung by a woman. In between, Bastard serves us conventional rap parts and a bit of vocoder singing after the second chorus. The verse and chorus run over the same basic harmonies (a-e-d-e), which gives the whole thing a slightly bluesy feel. Otherwise, this version is considerably slower than Phil’s (100 instead of 121 bpm), which emphasises the hip-hop character. I wonder if Sussudio is a man here? In any case, the ‘she’ in the chorus is changed to ‘he’. All in all, this version is a far cry from the original and certainly a challenge for the classic Phil fan.

Something Happened On The Way To Heaven (Deborah Cox)

Deborah Cox dares to change some essential things in her version of Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. Firstly, her song is much slower (60 instead of 115 bpm), which is perceived as ‘halftime’. Then, unlike Phil, she garnished the rather original melody with mainly minor chords. While Phil’s rather thoughtful lyrics are contrasted with a lot of musical major and uptempo (which I also like), Cox’s lyrics, tempo and harmony form a much stronger unit. She has now clearly positioned this song as melancholic, which is a plausible and creatively interesting decision. She also gives the whole thing its own intro and dispenses with the lyrically (superfluous) third verse of the original.

This Must Be Love (Dane Bowers from Another Level feat. Kelis)

Dane Bowers (by the way the only white voice in the black tribute ensemble) from the English boy band Another Level is supported here by Kelis. The cover version is slightly faster (3 bpm more) than Collins’ version and largely identical (key, melody, harmony). The lyrics are true to the original up to the 3rd verse, which is then missing and is replaced at the end by own variations on the title line. The biggest change here is a rhythmic one: while Collins’ original is ternary (i.e. based on a shuffle or swing), this cover version is binary.

A little digression: If you want to get a feel for the difference between binary and ternary rhythms, you can compare Collins’ I Missed Again (binary) with the original demo of the song (ternary). The song Willow Farm by Genesis also alternates between ternary (beginning and end) and binary (middle) rhythms.

In The Air Tonite (Lil‘ Kim feat. Phil Collins)

The special thing about this song is that it is the only one on the album that makes extensive use of samples from the original. Right from the start we hear Daryl’s guitar and the famous drum machine. Phil’s voice can also be heard here, as his vocals are the mainstay of this track. The chorus and the whole first verse are used. The second verse (‘Well I remember’) is only touched on briefly. The tempo and key of the samples correspond to the 1981 version. Between the numerous sound and melody quotes from Collins (including the iconic drum break), Lil’ Kim has now added his own rapparts, which – as far as I could and wanted to follow – deal with the typical gangster rap themes in a rather clichéd way, i.e. money, violence, fame and dissing colleagues. These rapparts are set to typical beats.

Lyrically and sonically it is sometimes far from the comfort zone for Collins listeners. Does that make it annoying or interesting? That’s for you to decide. You have to admit that Lil’ Kim has opened up a new generation and target group for the Collins classic. Collins probably sees it in a similarly positive light. He chose the song for his compilation Plays Well With Others.

Gotta Hold Over Me (Easy Lover) (Coko)

Let’s move on to the most unusual song on the album. Gotta Hold Over Me (Easy Lover), sung by Coko, is – as the title suggests – basically a completely independent R&B song with a chilled tempo. It is also the only track on which Collins (and in this case Greg Phillinganes and Nathan East) are credited as songwriters alongside the original authors. Which is fine, as Dove Daniels and Olivia Pam composed and wrote the lyrics independently of Collins.

Nobody listening to this song on the radio would think it was a cover of Easy Lover, even though the song title is quoted. But someone must have asked Coko to include an audible reference to the original, and so at 2:27 we hear someone singing the original chorus for 15 seconds. Still, you can’t cover a song much further than this. Whether you like it or not is up to you.

I Don’t Care Anymore (Kelis)

Collins’ original is one of his most emotionally convincing performances, somewhere between disappointed self-reflection and outburst of rage. Kelis’ cover is in no way inferior. With a significant increase in tempo (96 compared to 70 bpm), it seems even more restless and aggressive. Melodically Kelis orientates himself mainly on Phil. Also the lyrics are basically taken over. There are hardly any harmonies at the beginning, instead a repetitive pattern of beats and keyboards drives the song forward.

The bridge is also harmonically close to Collins and calms the song down a bit. But that’s just the calm before the storm, because now comes one of the lady’s own creations, a screamed part (“Do you care?”), to which a backing gang answers with “Hell no! Quite unconventional, but absolutely fitting to the song. At the end there is a small variation of the lyrics (‘We don’t care anymore’). All in all, an interesting cover version that matches Collins’ level of anger.

Can’t Turn Back The Years (Joe)

Joe’s cover of Can’t Turn Back The Years should appeal not only to Collins fans, but also to Collins himself, as this song is one of his favourites. Joe changes almost nothing compared to the original, but he sings really well and the instrumental arrangement is also tasteful. I would like to point out that the ‘squeaky keyboard’ of the original has been replaced by a saxophone, which brings out the melody very sensitively. In this way, what always sounded like a demo with Collins here becomes a full-fledged arrangement. Whether this sonic solution is ultimately better remains a matter of taste.

Do You Remember (Debelah Morgan)

Debelah Morgan’s cover is also very close to the original. She adopts Collins’ lyrics, melody (transposed to suit her vocal range), harmony and tempo. However, she adds a few flourishes to her phrasing, which really brings out her great voice. The polyphonic passages are also beautiful here. Otherwise, the arrangement is decorated with beats and a few voice samples (‘Put your hands up’), typical for the genre, and is quite spartan.

Against All Odds (Montell Jordan)

Montell Jordan has the honour of interpreting one of Collins’ greatest classics. Not an easy task, because he can hardly do any better, and too much change would not be good either. He stays very close to the original in terms of tempo, melody and harmonies. The lyrics are also taken over almost 1:1. Instead of the piano intro, the song starts with a solemn chorus before the beats start with the first verse.

This is perhaps the biggest difference to Collins, where the first half of the song is completely without drums. This means that Jordan has to do without the dynamic ‘wow’ effect of the drums coming in. Instead, he relies on the same typical R&B sounds. The last chorus of the song features the (very gospel-like) chorus again. In contrast to Collins, the outro is a bit longer. All in all a rather unremarkable cover version, but well sung.

One More Night (Changing Faces)

Changing Faces are Cassandra Lucas and Charisse Rose. They took an interesting approach with their cover of One More Night. Only one parameter is changed, namely the harmony. All the others (melody, tempo, structure and lyrics) remain the same. The accompanying chords, on the other hand, are given a lot of freedom and are given very jazzy tones. The result is a recognisable Phil ballad that doesn’t sound as ‘sweet’ as the original, but somehow more exciting. Anyone who has always found this Collins song too schmaltzy should give this version a try. However, the impressive saxophone solo is missing. Apart from that, the arrangement (typical R&B beats instead of Collins’ iconic drum machine) sounds relatively unremarkable and true to the genre.

All Of My Life (TQ=Terence Quaites)

The tempo, key, melody and harmony of this version are taken from the original by TQ. What stands out here is the arrangement, in which guitars play the main role alongside genre-typical beats. At first they function as a loosely strummed acoustic accompaniment. But where Collins’ saxophone solo comes in, we actually hear a distorted guitar solo. Unexpected, but quite effective. A small lyrical change was made at the end. Playing records upstairs while he watched TV” becomes “Playstation upstairs while he watched TV” in 2001. Where the records used to spin, the joypad now plays. A nice idea.

I Wish It Would Rain Down (Brian McKnight)

Brian McKnight’s version of I Wish It Would Rain Down strikes a good balance between keeping and changing. Collins’ lyrics are retained, but the tempo is increased considerably (87 compared to 63 bpm). He jazzes up Collins’ rather clear harmonies and also “disturbs” the rather tight rhythm. With the melody he starts very close to Phil in the first verse. Then he moves away from him in the chorus and finally creates a bridge that is almost unrecognisable. He then sings the last verse over the accompaniment of the chorus. However, there is no counterpart to Clapton’s brilliant lead guitar. All in all, this is a respectable interpretation that dares a lot and yet remains recognisable as a cover.

Take Me Home (Malik Pendleton):

Take Me Home was often the closing track in Collins’ own setlists. So it makes sense to put it at the end of this album. Malik Pendleton’s version is slightly slower than the original (112 bpm compared to 120 bpm) and transposed down a semitone. In terms of melody, he borrows heavily from Collins at the beginning, but also takes liberties as the song progresses. The harmonies he uses are jazzier than Collins’. The tempo, the harmonies and the minimalistic arrangement (the typical Collins dynamic build-up with the drums is missing) create a cool club jazz feeling. The chorus (beautiful backing vocals!) is close to Collins again, apart from the ‘prisoner’ line.

The biggest change in the song is the omission of the entire third verse. Instead, Malik takes us on a tour of his own hometown (“l’ma tell you what home is to me”). For him, this includes a typical Southern meal at Grandma Lily’s house, a visit to an old church, putting his feet up and remembering his mother, who sometimes trimmed him with a switch. In this way, Pendleton makes the song his own in an endearing and authentic way, and provides a beautiful finale to the album.

All in all

I have to say up front that I am neither an expert on the black music scene nor a big fan of the R&B style. And for me as a Collins fan, the originals remain unrivalled anyway, especially in terms of Phil’s unique voice, his outstanding drumming and the often convincing handmade arrangements with the participation of great studio musicians (e.g. Daryl Stuermer, Leland Sklar, Pino Palladino, Dominic Miller and the fantastic horns). All in all, however, I have to admit that Urban Renewal is a surprisingly good album to listen to and enjoy. The musicians involved here have succeeded in creating a colourful and varied tribute album. It is a successful transfer of Phil’s songs into the soundscapes of modern R&B and Hip Hop.

It helps that not everything is covered by playing it safe, but that certain song parameters are sometimes tweaked very specifically and effectively. Vocally, the ladies and gentlemen all show great potential. The passion with which they sing here makes it clear how much soul there is in Phil’s (often criticised) lyrics. And there is no doubt in my mind that all involved here see Phil Collins as a great inspiration and pay tribute to him here.

For fans of Phil who have everything or think they have, Urban Renewal can certainly be an enrichment. At least I have not regretted buying it. Entering this unfamiliar musical terrain was a lot of fun for a few weeks. The CD will certainly be in my player from time to time in the future.

The closing words should come from Collins himself at this point. „I am deeply flattered that these songs have transcended and crossed barriers that some assume are there not to be messed with“. (CD Booklet Urban Renewal)

Author: Rainer Löser