Phil Collins | Face Value - Vinyl box set & Blu-ray Audio

When Phil Collins in February 1981 released his debut album, Face Value, expectations might not have been that the Genesis drummer and singer would become one of the decade's absolute biggest global megastars. But the album became nothing less than a monumental pop cultural phenomenon that not only reinvented Phil Collins' career but also significantly changed the sound of 1980s music production.

Phil Collins' personal collapse became an album masterpiece

The background for Face Value was deeply personal and painful. Phil Collins' first marriage had fallen apart, and his wife had moved to Canada with the couple's children. While Genesis was on a break, a lonely and heartbroken Collins sat in his empty house, channeling his anger, sorrow, and frustration directly into his drum machine, a Roland CR-78, and a piano.

The result was a raw, vulnerable, and extremely honest album. The contrast between the intimate desperation and the explosive beats created a very special dynamic that listeners could feel immediately.

The album also demonstrates Collins' musical versatility. With assistance from the Phenix Horns (known from Earth, Wind & Fire), tracks like "I Missed Again" are infused with a distinct funk energy, while the subdued, folk-influenced "The Roof Is Leaking" stands in stark contrast to his experimental interpretation of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows". Face Value not only marked the beginning of an exceptional solo career but also proved that a deeply personal album could be both artistically ambitious and a huge commercial success.

Why was the album "Face Value" so crucial?

One cannot talk about Face Value without talking about the opening track and the album's overwhelming hit single: "In the Air Tonight". The song built an eerie, almost claustrophobic tension for over three minutes before Collins delivered the most famous drum fill in music history:

This moment introduced the world to the "gated reverb" drum sound. This extremely large, compressed, and artificially truncated drum sound (which Collins and producer Hugh Padgham had originally experimented with on Peter Gabriel's third album) literally became the sound of the 1980s. All producers and bands subsequently tried to copy the explosive sound.

Although the record label was initially unsure if Collins could carry a solo album, Face Value became a gigantic commercial success in record time. The album went straight to number 1 in the UK and reached the top-10 worldwide – including in the USA, where it remained on the charts for over 150 weeks. Today, it has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.

But Face Value became much more than a successful record; it was a seismic event that shifted the balance of power in the music industry. It transformed Phil Collins from being "that shy drummer who took over the microphone in Genesis" to becoming one of the most sought-after solo artists, songwriters, and producers in the world. The album created the platform that enabled Collins to completely dominate the 80s charts – both as a soloist, with Genesis, and as a film composer.

What does "Face Value" offer as a deluxe box set on LP

In 2025, we already received a sought-after Phil Collins box set in the form of the "No Jacket Required (Fully Tailored)" box. Now it's the debut album's turn - in a slightly reversed order.

Highlights of the large Face Value 4LP box set include:

• A brand new interview where Phil Collins talks about the album

• Rare, stripped-down versions of "In the Air Tonight" and "The Roof Is Leaking" from The Other Secret Policeman's Ball, performed by Phil Collins and guitarist Daryl Stuermer

• Two previously unreleased live recordings from Perkins Palace (1982) and Irvine Meadows (1985)

• A previously unreleased outtake of Phil Collins' experimental version of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows"

• The previously unreleased complete version of "Over the Rainbow," where only a short excerpt appears on the original album