I remember reading that Phil (who owes me a cup of tea I bought him at the Sandhurst Cafe in 1969) returned his £50,000 Sony digital recording system because it was shlte. I don’t know what year this was. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he was using Cubase to record demos, but I don’t think he would seriously consider digital recording as a substitute for tape recordings at 30 ips.
Was it syite because he was using it himself in his home or did his engineers tell him it was no good?
If it was the former then a lot of posters here may have a lot in common with Phil. 
However, those recordings might sound eighties but the engineers, who were told to get that sound, knew how to get it and how to repeat it and nothing was guesswork. They knew the equipment inside and out and used what they had to it’s full potential. They had spent years learning their craft from tea-boys and up.
There’s not many posters here I would expect a good cuppa out of.
Just like I said about the Tarzan tracks. They were done by incredibly good engineers. They just weren’t made for a good home stereo. To me the 80’s sound was the first to try to make stuff specifically for the radio. It was the pre-cursor to the loudness war. They purposefully removed dynamic and frequency range content, then used effects to add the illusion of that content back in. That way the mix sounded the same on the radio and on the Album. With mixed results of course. I’m sure the broadcast dudes played hell between traditional albums and the newly compressed to poopies albums as each hit their own broadcast compressors.
Indeed. They used to take the tracks out to play on really bad radio-cassette players they kept in the kitchen or out to play them on the car radios because that’s where the product would end up coming through in most cases.
Phil Spector was even worse / better. He never used stereo because he got more punch.
I was in more than one band where the radio guys would come over and check the mix or the pressing. When that happened the band knew they would get a mix they definitely didn’t like.
Since we are talking Phil Collins and the 80s …
I loved the Album Duke, probably my fave Genesis from a composition standpoint. Excellent compromise and compliment of pop/rock/prog. I always thought Phil played great inventive stuff on that record. What’s funny is I bought the cassette first to play on a Walkman. I had a regular set of headphones for it, plus a set where I cut up the headphones and duct taped them in my motorcycle helmet . Anyhow, it sounded great on the Walkman. But OMG I put it on my stereo and it SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED. I bought the album and was shocked to find the sound SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED. It was that harsh, flat, squishy, grating sound. Ruined a f’n great record if you ask me.
To this day, I can listen and enjoy that record in a car or on a set of PC speakers, but can’t tolerate it on a decent stereo.
There was a bunch of songs on ‘Wind & Wuthering’ and ‘And The There Were Three’ that I really liked. 
Meanwhile, I certainly reckon his 2002 album ‘Testify’ would never have passed the QA standards of the critical ears over in the “Made With Cubase” forum 
Why does phil collins old stuff sound so good? Cos it was a different phil collins at the time.
From drumming on Brian Enos 'Another Green World' to 'The lamb Lies down On Broadway' to 'A Groovy Kind Of Love'. Boy, thats what I call a decline…(where`s the puke-on-the-table smilie?)
Joan Cubaez
‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’
Wasn’t that recorded for a film? (Buster?). You can’t blame a pro musician for accepting big bucks for rearranging an old 60s hit can you?? 
Phil is one of the greats, it’s a pity his private life gaffes reflected on him so badly.
…Another Day In Paradise / True Colors / One More Night / You Can’t Hurry Love…or any other of his aural discharge I got subjected to in the last 2 decades (still missing that smilie… 
)
I’ll bet $100 he uses 15 ips
twilightsong
I’ll bet $100 he uses 15 ips
Well, what’s 15" between friends? 
Anyway - what’s your inside information? And what’s $100 in real money? 
Nice post. I think it is very much about Cubase, in particular, the ramblings tend to convey a state of mind and a purpose, as well as what is necessary to produce great sounding music. This forum is talent rich and we all approach our creative goals a bit differently. This type of topic helps to authenticate or redirect our scatter brained minds and overworked creative juices. And to whatever end, we all are using Cubase, which by the way, does nothing on its’ own.
So now you know.
Michael
Still struggling with initial premise. In what respect does Phil Collins sound good again?
Frankly, most of it sounds extremely 80s, with everything useful filtered out, and that’s even before you get to how utterly awful the music is.
I’ve had turds that sounded better than that.
+1
hackenslash
I’ve had turds that sounded better than that.
Well that’s obviously why Phil Collins is the third biggest solo artist of all time winning seven Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards, Best British Male three times, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globes for his solo work.He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010. (Thanks Wiki!). I wish I could write turds like that.
I think also that this proves anally retentive analysis of sound and recording quality has little to do with popular appeal.
This is hilarious! Now I wonder who is numero 1 & numero 2: Chris de Burgh? John Denver? Petula Clark?
Hmmm… on the other hand popularity has little to do with quality.
Have a look at the federal elections in Germany from 1932/1933 & you will understand…
Joan Cubaez
Now I wonder who is numero 1 & numero 2:
Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. (No girls in the top three Joan 
)
Hmmm… on the other hand popularity has little to do with quality.
That’s what I said isn’t it?
Hmmmm let me think for a nano-second - an anal-retentive nobody or hugely popular mega-star with an extensive back catalog of hit ‘turds’?? Well, I know which one I’d be opting for if I had that choice! 
Love him or hate him though, his music or his ‘sound’ generally, there’s no denying he’s hugely successful with a massive fan base. It’s not entirely unusual that such success from time to time attracts resentment by those who lack such prominence, particularly when they feel the recipient of such fame is unworthy of the glory and accolade bestowed upon them.
And of course its sometimes easy to forget, fans don’t listen to the mixes… they listen to the music.
Sherz
It’s not entirely unusual that such success from time to time attracts resentment by those who lack such prominence, particularly when they feel the recipient of such fame is unworthy of the glory and accolade bestowed upon them.
Elegantly put Sherz - I wish I’d said that!
Exactly why all the hate?..Get over yourselves