Love Songs:A Compilation...Old and New (2004)


 

Disc One  
  1. Tearing and Breaking
  2. Do You Remember?
  3. One More Night
  4. Against All Odds
  5. Can't Turn Back the Years
  6. Groovy Kind of Love
  7. Everyday
  8. Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away
  9. Please Come Out Tonight
  10.This Must Be Love
  11.It's In Your Eyes
  12.Can't Stop Loving You
  
Disc Two
  1. Testify
  2. True Colors
  3. You'll Be in My Heart
  4. If Leaving Me is Easy
  5. I've Been Trying
  6. I've Forgotten Everything
  7. Somewhere
  8. Least You Can Do
  9. Two Hearts
  10.Separate Lives (Live)
  11.My Girl (Live)
  12.Always (Live)
  13.The Way You Look Tonight (Live)

 

This is one of those compilations where you really have to wonder what the goal was—and who exactly signed off on the final tracklist. On paper, Love Songs sounds like a promising idea. Phil Collins has made a career out of emotional ballads, and collecting them into a two-disc set should’ve been a no-brainer. Unfortunately, what we get instead is a strange hodgepodge of alternates, odd choices, and frustrating omissions that left more than a few fans scratching their heads.

To be fair, about half of the collection is respectable. Several of the more familiar songs are here, along with some deeper cuts that casual listeners may not know but would likely enjoy. That part works. The issue is everything else—particularly the baffling decision to include so many alternate versions in place of the originals.

Separate Lives is presented as a live recording, which strips away much of the original’s emotional punch. True Colors appears in a rehearsal version—nice for die-hards maybe, but far from definitive. Worst of all, Against All Odds, arguably Collins’ best love song, is replaced with a big band jazz rendition that feels wildly out of place. It’s hard to imagine anyone picking up a compilation called Love Songs hoping to hear a swing version of that particular track. If this was some kind of ironic commentary on his "balladeer" reputation, it was delivered to the wrong audience.

The problems don’t stop there. The tracklist somehow manages to leave off several of Collins’ actual best love songs—I Wish It Would Rain Down, The Same Moon, and We Said Hello Goodbye are nowhere to be found. Instead, we’re treated to unnecessary covers like My Girl and The Way You Look Tonight, which feel more like filler from a themed cruise than worthy entries on a definitive collection.

As for the "old and new" label attached to the release, it’s a bit of a stretch. The only real “new” track here is Tearing and Breaking, a decent enough ballad, but certainly not a reason to run out and buy the set. Unless you count live tracks, rehearsals, and previously unreleased covers as “new,” there’s very little fresh material here.

In the end, Love Songs could have been a satisfying retrospective. Collins had more than enough strong material to make this work—especially over two discs. But the final product feels more like a misfire than a celebration. A frustrating release for longtime fans, and a missed opportunity all around.

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