Going Back

Going Back is the eighth and latest solo studio album by English singer-songwriter and drummer Phil Collins, released on 13 September 2010 by Atlantic Records. His first solo album in eight years, it features covers of 1960s Motown and soul standards. Going Back made an impact on the charts worldwide, becoming a top five album in 16 countries. It became Collins's first UK number one studio album since 1993's Both Sides. Two editions were released; a standard edition with 18 tracks and a limited Ultimate Edition with 25 tracks and a DVD with various bonus content. Exclusive versions available on Amazon and iTunes were also available. Collins promoted the album with a seven-date tour in the summer of 2010. Although Collins said Going Back was to be his final project, and announced his retirement in 2011, he resumed his career in 2015. However, it remains his most recent studio album to date. In 2016, Going Back was reissued as The Essential Going Back with fewer studio tracks, but additional live recordings and updated artwork. Background and recording In October 2007, Collins finished commitments with Genesis with the Turn It On Again Tour. It was during the tour when Collins dislocated some vertebrae in his upper neck as a result from drumming, which affected his hands and the ability to play. In September 2009, Collins said that despite a successful subsequent operation on his neck, he did not regain full functionality of his hands, particularly his left, which made it "impossible for me to play drums or piano". Despite this setback, in the following month Collins announced his next studio album which was to feature 1960s Motown and soul standards covers, with the aim of having the tracks sounding "exactly like the originals". He asserted that the idea was not to "bring anything 'new' to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them. My intention was to make an 'old' record, not a 'new' record". Collins had wanted to do such an album for many years, and was greatly influenced by his time watching former London-based group The Action perform the same tunes at The Marquee club. Collins called the album "a special case" and "almost like not part of Phil Collins' career", but deliberately chose it as his final solo album, which made it "a perfect circle" and "a beautiful journey" to end with music that he started off listening to.