Urban Renewal (The Songs Of Phil Collins) - Various Artists

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	One hit and lots of B-sides
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	Loads of Phil Collins songs
Disadvantages:	Loads of Phil Collins songs messed up

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

An album of remixed Phil Collins tracks performed by r&b and hip hop artists. Risky, seeing as the man himself as churned out classic after classic and as you can imagine it wasnt well received by, well anyone.

I did however purchase because i like Phil Collins and i like hip hop & r&b so i took a chance. I should have spent my money on buying that indoor ten pin bowling set instead. Saying that there is a couple of decent tunes on here but as a whole, not the greatest ive spent my money on

Tracks

Another Day In Paradise - Ray J & Brandy. The single to come off this album was received quite well, not a bad video and the brother sister duet that everyone wanted to hear. An up to date version but not better than the original. You may find me saying that more often than not

Sussudio - Ol Dirty Bastard. Shocking. No resemblence to the original whatsoever, in name only. Its of a slower tempo and ODB's raps dont do anything and have no relation to the original

Something Happened On The Way To Heaven - Deborah Cox. Another poor addition, poor vocals and the arrangement is poor. I could be a little harsh with this one but when you have an idea of what it should sound like and then get ruined you get a bit annoyed

This Must Be Love - Dane Bowers & Kelis. Suprisingly good track. A good duet and well arranged, im sticking my neck on the line here and saying that it could be better than the original. And this is with Dane Bowers singing the lead

In The Air Tonight - Lil Kim. Queen Pen and 2pac both did versions of this on their albums in the past and this one sounds similar. I suppose you need to keep that drum line in there without fail and this has done that. Add a few scratches and a rap and you have this

Gotta Hold Over Me - Coko. Poor song. In my opinion Coko isnt the most gifted singer and you can tell on this track. Not one of Phils greatest and not one of Coko's either

I Dont Care Anymore - Kelis. Produced by the Neptunes, this is a harsh track with an 'I Hate You So Much Right Now' shouty feel to it. You would either love or hate this

Cant Turn Back The Years - Joe. Not to disimilar to the original and it works. The best track on the album, Joes voices gives this tune so much credit. It really does work. Quality

Do You Remember - Debelah Morgan. Poor again, she has a good voice and it comes through but the production is not great and its a big let down

Against All Odds - Montell Jordan. This is worse than the Westlife version. Its just not very good

One More NIght - Changing Faces. Ok this isnt bad. To replicate the original should be quite simple, its a slow song with very little percussion and this track is the same. Two voices sound good on it though

All My Life - Another ok track. TQ gives it a little something and you apprechiate his efforts. Good beats

I Wish It Would Rain Down - Not a fan of Phils version let alone this one. Its just a bit bland

Take Me Home - Malik Pendleton. If you want to hear a different version of this song, Bone Thugs have a version on one of their albums which actually features Phil in the video. This is again too bland.

Overall not great. Some bigger tunes could have been attempted like Two Hearts, Physical Touch and Groovy Kind of Love but they would have probably messed those up aswell! Listen to the originals if you want your Phil fix, also considering the price, leave this one alone