The Film
After quite the lengthy career, Phil Collins announcement his retirement from the music world in March 2011. Since you won't be able to catch Phil at a venue near you anytime soon (never say never!), you can catch him in this 2004 concert, now out on Blu-ray.
Fans shouldn't be surprised to hear that Phil Collins: Live at Montreux 2004 doesn't feature anything from the singer's Genesis days. After all, Phil has always had plenty of his own hits, which you can feast on right here.
Another nice bonus is that Phil does spend some time behind the drum kit. In fact, the 2004 show kicks off with a track titled, "Drums, Drums & More Drums" -- and it certainly delivers. During this 8-minute opening, he does share that drumming spotlight with a few people in the band. Make no mistake, though; Phil's still got it. At least, he did in 2004.
Overall, Phil and his band aren't that animated. The catalog is a whole different story, though. Expect the legendary singer to hit a lot of the highlights, including "In The Air Tonight," "You Can't Hurry Love," "Against All Odds," "Sussudio," "Easy Lover," and "Take Me Home."
The Picture
Overall, this 1080i, 1.78:1 transfer is a fairly pleasing to watch. Phil Collins has always been a pretty expressive guy while singing, and you'll get to see Phil wincing in all of his glory. His face is filled with detail, from the rosy color, to the lines and veins popping. It's not pretty, but it sure is detailed.
The Sound
Like most Eagle Rock releases, this disc defaults to LPCM 2.0, with DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks also available. The DTS-HD has a nice full sound, especially when it comes to the extremely large band Phil has backing him. The iconic singer, however, doesn't pack the same amount of punch. It's hard to blame this release, however. Instead, it seems to be his wireless mic, which sort of muffles the singer on occasion. It's still good, but far from Eagle Rock's best.
It's also important to note that also like most of Eagle Rock's releases, this one doesn't have subtitles for the live portion. That's fine for the most part, but this concert was filmed in front of a French audience. Phil is quite fluent, as evidenced by his in-between banter. Most viewers, however, probably are not. It would have been nice to have the option to know what the guy is saying to pump up the crowd.
The Extras
There's actually two concerts' worth of goodies here. The lone extra is a whole other concert, from 1996. Again, it's Montreux and some of the same tunes are covered. However, this is actually the Phil Collins Big Band, so there's a whole different jazzy vibe, which some purists may not appreciate. Speaking of which, this whole concert is in standard-def, which is also a bit of a bummer. It's a nice bonus, though, with guest appearances by Quincy Jones and Tony Bennett. That said, it would have been cool to hear Phil speak about his live show, his career and his catalog, since there's a lot of ground to be covered.
Final Thoughts
Argue all you want, but solo Phil Collins has never been as good as Genesis Phil Collins. It would have been nice to have the singer's two lives collide in this one concert. However, the guy definitely has large catalog of hits. A lot of that famous catalog is covered here, with a bonus concert thrown in to seal the deal.
Product Details
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