Development
Both Sides was notable for the fact that Collins made it entirely on his own, without his usual loyal collaborators, such as producer Hugh Padgham, guitarist Daryl Stuermer, bassist Leland Sklar and the Phenix Horns. Over a period of just 6 weeks, Collins played and recorded at his home studio all the instruments himself as well as taking care of the production duties. The sound of the album is different from most previous albums because most of the songs were recorded in Collins's house and taken to the studio for additional work.
This has been the only album upon which Phil Collins has played all the instruments himself with no collaboration from other musicians. For the first time, Collins wrote sleeve notes explaining the meaning of each of the songs on the album.
Collins claims this album to be the one of which he is most proud. It is seen as his most personal album. "In the end I had 17 songs, and kicked out all those that did not fit that mood. As far as performance is concerned this has more heart and soul than anything I have done before."
Collins expresses both his feelings and private problems and addresses political issues over the course of the album. He touches on politics and "the daily cloud of terrorism Britain seems to live under" on "We Wait and We Wonder", but also on a maturing disenchantment with the youth culture on "We're Sons of Our Fathers". The melancholy style of the majority of the songs—as a return to the style of his early albums Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going!—was because the songs chronicled the widely publicised breakup of his second marriage to Jill Tavelman. About the influence of his emotions on his songs he adds: "I have reached this point. Very intimate, very private songs seem to flow easily. I suddenly felt I had a lot to say."
Read more about this topic: Both Sides
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“For the child whose impulsiveness is indulged, who retains his primitive-discharge mechanisms, is not only an ill-behaved child but a child whose intellectual development is slowed down. No matter how well he is endowed intellectually, if direct action and immediate gratification are the guiding principles of his behavior, there will be less incentive to develop the higher mental processes, to reason, to employ the imagination creatively. . . .”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“Dissonance between family and school, therefore, is not only inevitable in a changing society; it also helps to make children more malleable and responsive to a changing world. By the same token, one could say that absolute homogeneity between family and school would reflect a static, authoritarian society and discourage creative, adaptive development in children.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)