After the one-two punch of
Phil Collins' first two solo albums,
Face Value and
Hello, I Must be Going, plus the hits he was concurrently having with
Genesis, it might seem like he was primed for an artistic and commercial drop-off. Instead, he responded with the biggest album of his career.
No Jacket Required topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K., won a Grammy for Album of the Year, and spawned four Top Ten singles, including two numbers ones in "Sussudio" and "One More Night." It was such a monster success that it made
Collins one of the biggest stars on the planet, something that a few years before seemed unlikely if not impossible. The reason why
No Jacket was such a smash is simple: it combined the aching honesty of
Face Value with the pop smarts of
Hello, added some seriously focused songwriting, then coated it all in slick digital production that sounded great on the radio.
Collins' gift for a huge hook came through on the
Prince-inspired "Sussudio" most obviously, where he turns nonsense into something almost profound, but also on tracks like the big rocker "I Don't Wanna Know" and the soulful "Inside Out," which featured some of his trademark gated drum bashing. His knack for spilling his guts in heartbreaking, everyman fashion hits a new high on "One More Night," one of the most affecting ballads of the '80s. When he combines the hooks and the heartbreak, it comes together brilliantly. "Take Me Home" is a wrenching, soaring song that inspires singalongs and teardrops and "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore?" has the perfect combo of big drums, catchy chorus, and a weary heart. Add in flashy radio monsters like "Don't Lose My Number" and "Only You Know and I Know" that retain the horn-heavy sound of his earlier work while adding up-to-date keyboards; the even more
Prince-inspired "Who Said I Would," and the closing piano ballad "We Said Hello Goodbye," and
No Jacket Required ends up earning all the sales and accolades it got.
Collins was at the top of his considerable game, the sound was state of the art, and there were more classic songs on one record than most pop stars could put together in an entire career. Too bad its chart and airwave dominance was so great that it inspired something of a backlash, one
Collins never really recovered from despite having more hits in the future. While
Face Value is still his solo masterpiece due to the raw emotion it transmits,
No Jacket Required comes very, very close to topping it. [The album was reissued in 2016 with the addition of a second disc. It contained live performances of songs from the album, plus his big hit with
Phillip Bailey, "Easy Lover." These tracks are fun, but the really fun bonuses are the three demos that show
Collins early in the songwriting process, still working out the lyrics to "One More Night" and "Take Me Home." The remastered sound, deluxe packaging, and especially the demos, make this a package fit for such a great album.] ~ Tim Sendra
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