Serious Hits... Live!
	Produced by Phil Collins and Robert Colby
	Released on November 1990
	UK CHART POSITION #2 . . . US CHART POSITION #11 . . . 4x PLATINUM RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
82157-2 cover [high resolution scan]

K RONOMYTH 5.0: CARPE STADIUM. Phil mounted his galloping horses tour in 1990, carouselling out stadiums around the world and packaging the performance as his first official solo release, Serious Hits... Live! Philophiles not only philled those stadiums, but snatched up the double-elpee/disc document of the event to the tune of four million copies in the US alone. Now, in my experience, a live album usually plays one of several punctual roles. There is The Comma, affording a refreshing pause before the next subject is introduced (Rush fans will be familiar with the concept). Related to this is The Semi-Colon, which contains distinct but related subjects in a career where the words “classic lineup” come into play (e.g., Uriah Heep, Yes). There is The Exclamation Point, that rare album which best bespeaks an artist’s oeuvre (Frampton Comes Alive, ELP’s Welcome Back My Friends...). And finally you have The Parenthetical and Bracketed releases, incidental (regional, contemporary concerts) and archival works respectively. Thus, by the familiar route of pedantry, we come to the conclusion that Serious Hits... Live! may actually earn its exclamation point. You could argue that Face Value, specifically that unforgettable entrance of drums on “In The Air Tonight,” is the ear-opening exclamation point in his oeuvre; maybe that will fly in Spanish-speaking countries. But that would be a disservice to the multiplatinum madness that followed. No, it must be here, at the end of a philnominal decade, where the artist grabs for the brass ring one last time. Serious Hits provides the sweeping vista of a seriously successful career. There is the occasional awkward moment when the songs blend into an MOR medley, and I’m a little freaked out to hear anyone scream like a little girl for “Sussudio” (even and maybe especially a little girl), but that crustiness is probably rooted in deep, deep envy.

TRACK LISTING

1. SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO HEAVEN    (Phil Collins/Daryl Stuermer)    4:59
2. AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW)    (Phil Collins)    3:28
3. WHO SAID I WOULD    (Phil Collins)    4:28
4. ONE MORE NIGHT    (Phil Collins)    5:49
5. DON'T LOSE MY NUMBER    (Phil Collins)    4:42
6. DO YOU REMEMBER?    (Phil Collins)    5:40
7. ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE    (Phil Collins)    5:36
8. SEPARATE LIVES    (Stephen Bishop)    5:16
9. IN THE AIR TONIGHT    (Phil Collins)    6:35
10. YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE    (Eddie Holland/Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier)    2:54
11. TWO HEARTS    (Phil Collins/Lamont Dozier)    3:07
12. SUSSUDIO    (Phil Collins)    7:14
13. A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE    (Carole Bayer Sager/Toni Wine)    3:30
14. EASY LOVER    (Phil Collins/Nathan East/Phil Bailey)    4:46
15. TAKE ME HOME    (Phil Collins)    8:39

CREDITS

PHIL COLLINS -- vocals, piano, drums
BRAD COLE -- keyboards
LELAND SKLAR -- bass
DARYL STUERMER -- guitars
CHESTER THOMPSON -- drums
THE PHOENIX HORNS
  Rahmlee Michael Davis -- trumpet
  Harry Kim -- trumpet
  Lui Lui -- trombone
  Don Myrick -- alto sax
Bridgette Bryant -- vocals
Arnold McCuller -- vocals
Fred White -- vocals
Robert Colby -- mixing
Paul Gomersall -- engineer, mixing

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