When Phil Collins started his deluxe reissue campaign in 2016, he started from both an obvious place and a less obvious one, first expanding 1981 debut Face Value as well as 1993's Both Sides, his fifth album. Now, that latter release - clearly, one of Collins' own favorites in his catalog - is being celebrated this fall with two vinyl products.
Rhino will release Both Sides (All the Sides), a 5LP box set featuring the original album, demos, B-sides and live cuts, on September 20. They'll follow it up with a 10" vinyl edition of Live from the Board: Official Bootleg, a Both Sides-era EP featuring different live tracks that have never been available on the format, as part of Rhino's Record Store Day Black Friday offerings on November 29. Each vinyl disc in the box will get its own picture sleeve, packaged in a slipcase that will also include 16 pages of new liner notes by journalist Michael Hann.
After a powerhouse '80s and early '90s that saw Collins divide time between his lengthy tenure as drummer (and, by then, singer) of Genesis and a burgeoning, blockbuster solo career, Both Sides followed the release of 1991's We Can't Dance, Collins' final album with the prog-pop legends. The album was a considerable reboot in Collins' solo discography: for the first time, he chose not to work with longtime producer/engineer Hugh Padgham or his usual session players, instead producing and performing every instrument on his own. Inspired by a number of difficult topics, including the dissolution of his second marriage and complex world affairs of the 20th century's final decade, Both Sides ended up becoming perhaps Collins' most personal effort, a belief he affirmed when the album was reissued, declaring to The Guardian that it was his favorite solo work. While it was Collins first album to not feature a Top 10 single in America - only the de facto title track "Both Sides of the Story" did so in the singer's native England - Both Sides nonetheless went platinum in the States and featured yet another major arena tour that circled the globe.
Like all of the albums in Collins' 2016 reissue campaign, the expanded Both Sides featured a mix of rare B-sides, demos and unreleased live material - an approach that stymied some fans for its lack of comprehensiveness. (All the uncompiled remixes and rarities were later issued on two digital-only collections.) Both Sides (All the Sides) amends this with its track list, offering all the tracks from that reissue and era-specific material from original singles "Both Sides of the Story," "Everyday" and "We Wait and We Wonder." The original album is spread across two LPs, a third offers all the demos and most of the studio B-sides, the fourth includes all the live tracks from the 2016 expansion, and the fifth is a mixed bag of live B-sides, odds and ends like Collins' rendition of "I've Been Trying" from a Curtis Mayfield tribute album. (Only three live versions of "Hang in Long Enough," "Hand in Hand" and "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore," released on a U.S. maxi-single, didn't feature on any of those previous reissues.)
Live from the Board: Official Bootleg, issued independently and as part of a tour edition of Both Sides in 1995, features four more tracks from the Both Sides of the World Tour, all taken from earlier albums: renditions of "Sussudio," the Philip Bailey duet "Easy Lover" (with co-writer Nathan East sitting in on bass and Arnold McCuller playing vocal foil), the White Nights duet "Separate Lives" (with McCuller and Amy Keys subbing for singer Marilyn Martin) and a cover of The Temptations' "My Girl." While Rhino does a terrific job making RSD titles on CD, this appears to be vinyl-only, as does the box itself. (The slipcase does, however, revert to the original cover art instead of the "updated" version that Collins reshot for every album in the 2016 campaign.)
Both Sides (All the Sides) is available September 20 and can be pre-ordered below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases at the below links.
Both Sides (All the Sides) (Atlantic/Rhino, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
LP 1-2: Original album (released as Virgin V2800 (U.K.)/Atlantic 82550 (U.S.), 1993)
- Both Sides of the Story
- Can't Turn Back the Years
- Everyday
- I've Forgotten Everything
- We're Sons of Our Fathers
- Can't Find My Way
- Survivors
- We Fly So Close
- There's a Place for Us
- We Wait and We Wonder
- Please Come Out Tonight
LP 3: Demos and B-Sides
- Can't Find My Way (Demo)
- Hero (Demo)
- Both Sides of the Demo
- Everyday (Early Demo)
- Don't Call Me Ashley
- Rad Dudeski
- For a Friend
- I've Been Trying
LP 4-5: Live and More
- Both Sides of the Story (Live @ Wembley Arena, London, England - 12/13/1994)
- Can't Turn Back the Years (Live @ Wembley Arena, London, England - 12/13/1994)
- Survivors (Live @ Wembley Arena, London, England - 12/13/1994)
- Everyday (Live @ G-Mex Centre, Manchester, England - 11/29/1994)
- We Wait and We Wonder (Live @ Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland - 10/4/2005)
- Both Sides of the Story (Live on "MTV Unplugged" - 8/30/1994)
- Hang in Long Enough (Live)
- Hand in Hand (Live)
- Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore (Live)
- Always (Live)
- Stevie's Blues ("There's a Place for Us" Instrumental)
- Take Me with You
LP 3, Track 1 and LP 4 released on Both Sides (Deluxe Edition) - Atlantic/Warner Music PCCD93 (U.K.)/R2 550169 (U.S.), 2016
LP 3, Tracks 2 and 7 and LP 5, Tracks 5-6 released on "We Wait and We Wonder" CD singles - Virgin VSCDG/X 1510 (U.K.)/Atlantic 85652 (U.S.), 1994
LP 3, Tracks 3 and 6 and LP 5, Track 4 released on "Both Sides of the Story" CD single - Virgin VSCDG 1500 (U.K.)/Atlantic 85714 (U.S.), 1993
LP 3, Tracks 4-5 and LP 5, Track 3 released on "Everyday" CD single - Virgin VSCDG 1505 (U.K.)/Atlantic 85715 (U.S.), 1994
LP 3, Track 8 released on A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield - Warner Bros. 45500, 1994
LP 5, Tracks 1-2 released on "Everyday" U.S. CD single - Atlantic 85715, 1994
Live from the Board: Official Bootleg (originally released as WEA 4509-99789-2 (Europe), 1995 - reissued Atlantic/Rhino, 2024)
- Sussudio (Live)
- Easy Lover (feat. Nathan East & Arnold McCuller) (Live)
- Separate Live (feat. Amy Keys & Arnold McCuller) (Live)
- My Girl (Live)
Greg says
Reissues this but never has bothered to release the early concert videos on dvd, no ticket required which has only been released on VHS and laserdisc which I have, live at Perkins palace same VHS and laserdisc I have. The Atlantic 75 series releases face value and hello I must be going but won't allow them to be released on sacd, the genesis box sets from the mid 2000's need to be reissued on bluray audio.