Phil Collins became Genesis’ fourth drummer in 1970. Five years later, he took over as lead singer following Peter Gabriel’s exit. Collins steered the ship during Genesis’ most commercially successful era, putting out nine albums. However, the “In the Air Tonight” singer has admitted to mentally checking out of the band long before his 1996 departure. In fact, it turns out Collins really doesn’t even like Genesis that much.
Phil Collins Has Mixed Feelings on His Time With Genesis
Recently, Phil Collins sat down with Drumeo to reflect on his career for the two-hour documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First. (Drumeo is a website dedicated to drum education.) And when asked to sum up his tenure with Genesis near the end of the interview, Collins didn’t hold back.
“I mean, I’m not Genesis’s biggest fan, you know,” the 73-year-old Londoner said bluntly. “Um, there’s stuff that I like, stuff I’m proud of, stuff that I’m less so. And uh, sometimes, you know, it can be like people throwing bricks at you.”
“I mean, I’ve enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong,” he quickly added. “I’ve enjoyed it, and it’s been an interesting trip down memory lane. Some bits may be better than I thought. Some bits aren’t as good as I thought. You know, when you’ve been doing something for—I mean, I’ve been playing drums since I was 5. You know, there’s going to be dogs.”
[RELATED: Watch Emotional Official Trailer for Upcoming Phil Collins Documentary Focusing on His Legendary Drumming]
Phil’s Least Favorite Song
Released in March 1978, …And Then There Were Three was the first Genesis album to showcase the trio of Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and bassist Mike Rutherford. It was also their first after guitarist Steve Hackett left the band.
Despite peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, …And Then There Were Three was met with mixed reviews from critics. And Collins seems to agree, particularly when it comes to the album’s leading track, “Down and Out.”
“That period of Genesis… I’m not particularly fond of,” he said during the documentary.
“This is just, you know, from personal point of view,” he continued. “I mean, I do some fills on ‘Down and Out’ that I couldn’t do today. Well, you know, I did them in the studio and and they worked great, but that was when I was… you know, I’d only just become the singer a couple of albums in. So I was very intent on… trying to do things that I had never done before. So ‘Down and Out’ is … I mean, I haven’t heard it for ages, but I mean, it’s a period piece.”
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