Phil Collins might now be remembered by most people as a successful singer and songwriter, both as the frontman of Genesis and as a solo artist. However, he first gained recognition as a drummer, influencing countless generations of musicians, especially through the early albums of the Progressive Rock band when Peter Gabriel was still the lead vocalist. Although he later became the group’s frontman, Collins continued to play the drums, particularly in the studio and throughout his solo career. After decades of recording albums and collaborating with numerous artists, the musician revealed the two songs he’s most proud of his drumming on. The 2 songs Phil Collins said he’s most proud of his drumming on Genesis "Mama" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccs2rt0oSzQ&list=RDCcs2rt0oSzQ&start_radio=1&pp=ygUOR2VuZXNpcyAiTWFtYSKgBwE%3D Phil Collins mentioned the songs in an interview with Drumeo in 2025, when he was asked which were some tracks that he was most proud of his drumming. "Well, some songs captured that moment, 'Mama' is a good example," Phil Collins said. The first one mentioned was featured on their 1983 self-titled studio album. Curiously, the introduction was played by a drum machine composed by the bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford. Collins recalled in an interview with John Edginton the process of the recording of the track. "The mixing desks that we were using at the time, which were great desks, SSL desks. Every track had a little part in the component, a little section which was a noise gate and a compressor. Now, if you put a compressor on a sound, like instead, if you hit a snare drum, if you put a compressor on it (the sound) would last longer. Because you're compressing it and then letting open up." "So you'll get the room sound, you'll get the person breathing. If you put a noise gate on that and cut it off (the sound would change again), because you gotta a gate cutting the compression off. You can adjust those so that the gate shuts earlier or later. So you get quite a sharp ending edge," Phil Collins said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Curiously, it was when recording his contribution to Peter Gabriel's solo album "Peter Gabriel", also known as "Melt" (1980). He later used the same technique in "Mama". Also released as a single, the Genesis track peaked at number 4 on the United Kingdom singles chart and 5 on United States' Mainstream Rock charts. Philip Bailey "Walking on the Chinese Wall" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj_bjDzrR28&list=RDZj_bjDzrR28&start_radio=1&pp=ygUrUGhpbGlwIEJhaWxleSAiV2Fsa2luZyBvbiB0aGUgQ2hpbmVzZSBXYWxsIqAHAQ%3D%3D "'Chinese Wall', on Philip Bayley's album, I'm very proud of the drumming on that particular track," Phil Collins said. The song mentioned by him is the title-track of Earth, Wind & Fire ex-member 1984 solo studio album. That record was produced by Collins and he played the drums in all the songs. But obviously, the biggest hit of that album was actually "Easy Lover", in which Collins also sang, which peaked at number 1 in several countries. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2016, he recalled that it wasn't easy to record the album because of opinions of people who were around them at the time. “I always loved Earth, Wind & Fire. In 1984 I was asked if I would produce Philip Bailey’s solo album. People were leaning on him, racially — ‘Don’t come back with a white album. You’re one of us.’ So Philip got Nathan East to play on it also. We hit some rocky ground early on. But we worked everything out. Near the end of the sessions, Philip said, ‘We haven’t written anything together on this album.’” Phil Collins continued: “So we just started having a jam one night, and went round and round. (It) turned it into a verse and a chorus. We recorded it that night so we wouldn’t forget it. That song doesn’t sound like any particular era. It’s just fantastic. The hip-hop brigade fell in love with me after ‘Easy Lover.’ They were like, “Where’d that come from? That ain’t black music and that ain’t white music. That’s kind of an interesting color of beige,” Phil Collins said. During the conversation with Drumeo, Collins also noted that he is proud of some of the songs he recorded during his Big Band project. However, he didn't specify which ones. He is one of the few artists who were able to sell more than 100 million records worldwide both as a solo act and as part of a band. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 as a member of the Progressive Rock band. However, until 2025 he was still not inducted as a solo artist, despite his huge success and influence.