Testify

1	Wake Up Call 5:15
2	Come With Me 4:34
3	Testify 6:31
4	Don't Get Me Started 4:41
5	Swing Low 5:08
6	It's Not Too Late 3:59
7	This Love This Heart 4:04
8	Driving Me Crazy 4:37
9	The Least You Can Do 4:21
10	Can't Stop Loving You 4:17
11	Through My Eyes 5:07
12	You Touch My Heart 4:42

Barnes & Noble

In the six years since he released his last studio album, 1996's Dance into the Light, Phil Collins has worn a number of different hats, including big-band leader (on A Hot Night in Paris) and Disney composer, a gig that that earned him Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe trophies to add to an already crowded mantel. Add to this a third marriage and recent fatherhood, and you have the inspiration for a seventh studio album packed with highly personalized pop. Teaming with Green Day and Alanis Morissette producer Rob Cavallo, Collins favors a sleek, subdued sound that finds him daubing the yearning "This Love This Heart" and the equally lovelorn "Swing Low" with ethereal keyboards and stately, occasionally splashy rhythms. Other low-key highlights that are an obvious nod to these major life changes are "Come with Me" -- a touching pledge of protection from father to child set atop soothing synths and rendered by Collins in an emotive, reassuring tone -- and the aching, modestly rocking title track, an expression of unfettered devotion bolstered by a beefy electric guitar line and a gospel-tinged choir. The biggest highlights, however, are a bright, shiny interpretation of Billy Nicholls's buoyant "Can't Stop Loving You" (a hit for Leo Sayer in 1978) and "Don't Get Me Started," which boasts crisp harmonies and arrangements reminiscent of late-'80s Genesis. Testify finds Phil Collins confirming his commitment to family and to fans of sophisticated adult pop alike. Dave Gil de Rubio

All Music Guide

On his first regular studio album in six years (fans having been tided over by a live album of swing standards and the soundtrack to Tarzan), Phil Collins turns in a song cycle with a story to tell. Without commenting on any autobiographical implications, it follows the life of a man who gets up in the morning ("Wake up Call"), expresses his love for his child ("Come With Me") and his companion ("Testify"), then pauses to condemn the drift of world affairs ("Don't Get Me Started"). He has another child ("Swing Low") and begins to realize that there's trouble in paradise ("It's Not Too Late"). Much as he loves his companion, a separation occurs ("This Love This Heart"), and despite his desperate efforts to keep things together ("Driving Me Crazy"), he finds that it will be permanent ("The Least You Can Do"), even though he still cares for her ("Can't Stop Loving You"). He takes comfort in his ability to offer parental advice to an older child ("Thru My Eyes") and in his love for the younger one ("You Touch My Heart"). Collins gives a consistency to the songs, with dense, rhythmic musical beds topped by his expressive, breathy tenor. His lyrics are full of clichés and a bit too involved, usually lacking strong hooks, which may explain why the album's hit single, "Can't Stop Loving You," which is practically all hooks, was written by someone else. Years after being a top album-seller, Collins has continued to score in the adult contemporary market; in fact, "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan became the biggest adult contemporary hit in history. "Can't Stop Loving You" also became a big hit, but it's atypical of an album with mature themes expressed sincerely yet without much wit or insight over repetitious music. William Ruhlmann