''Testify'' is the seventh solo studio album by English musician

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

, released on 11 November 2002. The album debuted at No. 30 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, which was also the album's peak position. It was the second Phil Collins studio album where no track peaked within the American top 40 singles chart. It was also his lowest charting album in the UK, becoming his only solo effort not to reach the top 5. However, the album achieved success in some countries of

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. It is his second album not to be co-produced by

Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 199 ...

, who co-produced Collins' most successful albums. Despite the shortage of success the album achieved, his subsequent First Final Farewell Tour proved to be very popular. The album was reissued as a deluxe edition on CD, vinyl and digital on 15 April 2016, including a new second disc with bonus tracks.

Production

''Testify'' was crafted over a two-year period at Collins' home in Switzerland and was recorded in France and Los Angeles. Most of the album's twelve tracks are derived from demos Collins made in his bedroom studio and finished off with the help of producers

Rob Cavallo Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in alternative music, having contributed to albums that have sold over 130 million units worldwi ...

and James Sanger, engineer Allen Sides, guitarist

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...

, and bassist Paul Bushnell. Collins worked extensively with computers during production, work that can be seen throughout the album. After Collins made ''

Dance into the Light ''Dance into the Light'' is the sixth solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins, released on 21 October 1996 in the United Kingdom by Face Value Records. It features guest backing vocals from some of Collins' tourin ...

'' without any drum machine, he returned to the device for ''Testify''. The album begins with an up-tempo " Wake Up Call". It was based on a 16-bar doodle Collins wrote, and only began to formalise when he brought it into studio. The title track, the longest and most complex sounding song on the album, is according to Collins "one of the most direct and most personal love songs I have ever written". Another up-tempo song, "Don't Get Me Started" follows a tradition of critical statements about politics and society Collins began with " That's Just the Way It Is", "

Another Day in Paradise "Another Day in Paradise" is a song written and recorded by English drummer and singer Phil Collins. Produced by Collins along with Hugh Padgham, it was released as the first single from his number-one album '' ...But Seriously'' (1989). As w ...

", and "

Both Sides of the Story "Both Sides of the Story" is a song performed by English singer-songwriter, drummer, actor and lead singer of English rock band Genesis (band), Genesis, Phil Collins. The song was released in October 1993 by Virgin Records as the lead single fr ...

" in his previous albums and songs such as " Tell Me Why" with

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

. The soulful "It's Not Too Late" refers to lost faith in dreams – "It's never too late to make your dreams come true. We all should try it". "Driving Me Crazy" is another upbeat track. Collins said the song is about the narrow path between love and dangerous obsession. Songs such as the aforementioned "Testify" and "This Love This Heart" were inspired by Collins' then-wife, Orianne, while their first child, Nicholas, was the main inspiration for tracks " Come with Me" and "Swing Low", and "You Touch My Heart". "Come with Me" was originally a lullaby Collins sang to his daughter

Lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

when she was a baby when on tour in 1990, Seriously Live! and the lyrics were developed when Nicholas was born. Collins collaborated with his longtime associate

Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and ...

for " The Least You Can Do", Stuermer providing the music and lead guitar and Collins the lyrics and arrangement. Stuermer also plays guitar on the next track, " Can't Stop Loving You", a cover of

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

's 1978 country hit. Collins heard the song on the radio and brought a modern feel to the country song. "I heard Leo Sayer's version of 'Can’t Stop Loving You' on vacation and I was impressed by the fantastic melody. I have attempted to breathe new life into this song and change its feel." It was the first single off the album, hitting No. 1 in the Adult Contemporary Charts. The album ends with "Thru My Eyes" and "You Touch My Heart", another song inspired by his son. ("Thru My Eyes" is not to be confused with " Look Through My Eyes", a song recorded by Collins for the ''

Brother Bear ''Brother Bear'' is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker and produced by Chuck Williams, f ...

'' soundtrack in 2003).

Reception

The album was panned by critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 34, based on 7 reviews, making it the worst-reviewed album of 2002. The album debuted at No. 30 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts, which was also the album's peak position. To date, the album has peaked the lowest of his seven solo efforts. Following ''

'' it was the second Phil Collins studio album where no track cracked the American top 40 singles chart. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at No. 15, his only solo album not to make the top 5. It was, however, a much greater success in

. In France, the album peaked at No. 2 in early 2003 and remained at that position for three weeks. It became Collins' biggest-selling album since '' ...But Seriously''. In Australia, it peaked at No. 96 in November 2002 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The lead single from the album, " Can't Stop Loving You", had success on the Adult Contemporary charts and minor airplay overall. The single peaked at No. 76 on the ''Billboard'' charts while hitting No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Other singles, " Wake Up Call", " Come with Me" and " The Least You Can Do" also enjoyed their most success on the Adult Contemporary chart. Collins said at the time that this was to be his last studio album, but has since recorded a new album entitled '' Going Back'', a collection of covers of

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

and other soul songs, which was released on 13 September 2010. However, he has since announced that he is out of retirement and has been working on another album.Rollingstone
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Track listing

B-sides

* "Hey Now Sunshine" * " Tears of a Clown" (Re-recorded for ''Going Back'' in 2010)

Personnel

Musicians

* Phil Collins – vocals, all instruments except where noted * James Sangar – additional programming (1–5, 8, 11) *

Jamie Muhoberac Benjamin Edward "Jamie" Muhoberac (born September 11, 1965) is an American session keyboardist with numerous credits. He is best known for his work with Seal and Was (Not Was). He is a touring member of New Jersey rock band My Chemical Romance. ...

– keyboards (9, 10) *

– guitars (1–11),

nylon guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string a ...

(12) *

– guitar (9, 10) * Paul Bushnell – bass (3–10) * Eric Rigler –

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

(9)

Production

* Produced by

* Engineered by Allen Sides * Assistant engineer – René Weis *

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

engineering and editing – Doug McKean * Tracks #1–9, 11 & 12 mixed by Allen Sides * Track #10 mixed by

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

* Mastered by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

Bernie Grundman Mastering Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chri ...

(Hollywood, California, USA). * Photography by Lorenzo Aguis and Norman Watson * Artwork – M4 Design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

External links

The Official Phil Collins Website
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Testify (Phil Collins Album) 2002 albums Phil Collins albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Rob Cavallo Albums produced by Phil Collins