My favourite album of his without a doubt. And one of my favourites of all time. In the Air Tonight will always remain a classic. And so much great music on the entire album. Just love it. A huge album when it came out too
An excellent album. Funnily enough, I was watching a documentary on Peter Gabriel's solo career earlier today, and the 'Car' album, upon which Phil Collins played drums. Apparently, Peter Gabriel introduced various rules to the musicians, deliberately intended to restrict their capabilities in one way or another, devised to make them work to find different ways to express themselves while restrained by their respective limitations, which worked. Phil Collins was told 'No cymbals and no Hi-hat.' During the session, the engineer accidentally left the highly compressed and gated return talkback mic (which was unique to the new SSL mixing desk) open in the recording room, which caused Phil Collins' drums to sound gargantuan with the unintended effect. Everybody liked it. Peter Gabriel used it. After hearing it, Phil Collins booked up the same producer to do his fist solo album (Face Value) which he had been working on and that is how the sound for the huge tom break in the middle of 'In The Air Tonight' was born. If Peter Gabriel hadn't imposed the cymbals and hi-hat restriction, that big tom sound wouldn't have existed...not then anyway!
@Orpheus Truth. They had to actually break into the board's circuitry because the talkback mic wasn't wired into the output buss(think HUGE feedback issue!)
@uncalled4 Yup, now that you mention it, I recall that now. Engineers working on new and unfamiliar SSL desk overnight to rectify the issue for the following day's recording of HHHUUUGGGEEE!!! gated tom reverberation. 🥁 Ok that's not a tom but I was attempting to illustrate a point while suffering from a tragic emoji deficit! 😀
In the Air Tonight has the distinction of being about the difficulty he was having with his wife and it was very subtle about the subject matter; so subtle that all kinds of crazy urban legends came flying out of it. All his other songs on the matter were about as subtle as a nest of rabid hornets
