The 1993 album Phil Collins called his best work: “My favourite”
Naturally, artists like Phil Collins have a completely different relationship to their back catalogue than the fans who decide whether it’s a roaring success or a flop.
Once it’s out in the world, it’s no longer in the hands of its creator, whose job is done, and in all likelihood, they’ve already moved on to whatever comes next. With Collins, as much as the 1980s albums Face Value and No Jacket Required had the greatest impact on his career from a commercial perspective, neither are his proudest moment personally.
While receiving a plaque for a number one record always makes for a nice bathroom ornament, it’s never been his motivation for making an album in the first place.
Instead, for Collins, songwriting is more than an occupation; it’s also been a better form of therapy than any $2,000-an-hour shrink. It’s a cathartic lifeline that artists turn to at their lowest moments, using it to pick them out of the ground and contextualise their complex feelings.
In the early 1990s, after a decade that made Collins one of the biggest stars in the world and his life seemed perfect, his existence was suddenly turned upside down. While feeling overwhelmed with a sense of despair, Collins used songwriting as a crutch and, in his opinion, produced the best album of his career.
In a similar path to his personal life, Collins’ career has been full of triumphant highs and heartbreaking moments of sorrow. During the most testing times for the musician, he’s always had his craft to fall back on and use as a source to navigate the pain, a channel to make sense of the endless thoughts rushing around his brain.
His love life has been far from straightforward, as he’s always been open about it in his music. Collins first encountered divorce in 1980 when he split from Andrea Bertorelli. Four years later, he married again, and with Jill Tavelman, he had his daughter, Lily. However, the relationship again didn’t last, and Collins separated from Tavelman in the early 1990s, with their divorce officially finalised in 1996.
Three years before the legal papers were filed, he opened up about the agonising ordeal on the deeply personal album Both Sides.
Understandably, this era was traumatic for the Genesis frontman, but creatively, Collins was firing on all cylinders. Now that he’s had adequate distance to gain a fresh perspective on this part of his life, he can look back and reflect proudly on Both Sides, which remains his favourite album from his career.
Although it was less commercially successful in the United States than his previous solo work until that point, that’s irrelevant to Collins. He didn’t record Both Sides to satisfy anybody but himself.
Furthermore, while he’d previously used the luxuries that come with his star power, such as access to the world’s best studios and session musicians, Collins didn’t care for that with Both Sides. Instead, he played every single instrument himself, which is the main reason why he adores it so greatly.
During a web chat with readers from The Guardian in 2016, he revealed his love for Both Sides after being asked: “Love your work Phil! What album would you say is your favourite artistically? And what album did you enjoy creating the most (solo or otherwise)?” In response, Collins said: “Both Sides is my favourite album, from a songwriting and creative perspective. It was very much a solo album.”
Collins elaborated, “I played everything, the songs just streamed out of me, and as a writer, that’s the kind of thing that you dream of. It was the second divorce! Personal relationships at that time were tangled, is a better way of saying it, and it all came very spontaneously.”
At the time of the album’s release, Collins was reluctant to go public about the personal issues that led him to write his most intimate record yet. Instead, he wisely chose to let the songs explain themselves rather than air his dirty laundry in public, which is always the wise thing to do when children are involved.
He coyly said in an interview from 1993: “Midlife crisis? It probably also has to do with that. But on top of this, something profound has happened in my personal life. I won’t say anything else about it.”
However, while he remained guarded about the events that inspired the record, it was a turning point for him, as he discovered for the first time that “very intimate, very private songs seem to flow easily,” adding, “I suddenly felt I had a lot to say.”
While divorce is a dark place, as Collins knows all too well, one positive from the bleak situation was the birth of the album, which, from his view, represents the peak of his artistry. Turmoil is not a desirable place to rest your head, but it can offer inspiration and fuel for songwriting gold.
Despite his personal life being in tatters, when he walked into the recording studio, he gained a mental clarity that allowed him to think clearly and temporarily gain salvation.
The fact that he didn’t need or want to rely on anybody else to make the album also paints a vivid picture of where his head was at the time.
Moreover, with Both Sides, Collins confirmed to himself that he could swim against the tide and succeed alone.
