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Phil Collins joined Genesis as drummer in 1971 and, following Peter Gabriel's departure, also supported the band as its singer. This long-awaited first solo album gave him a chance to display his accessible character and his pop instincts, rooted in soul music, away from Genesis's progressive sound and its firmly established fans. Already showing his talent as a hit-maker, he quickly found solo success too.

The album reached No. 1 in Britain and No. 7 in America, while ‘In the Air Tonight’ became a No. 2 British hit. Another reason it became such a sensation was the unprecedented drum sound Collins created with co-producer Hugh Padgham. Removing gate echo through engineering produced an enormously powerful sound, later Collins's trademark and an international fashion. Padgham went on to use it with XTC as well.