10 Greatest One Man Band Albums

Juggling the entire band dynamic can be a bit of a handful at the best of times. No matter how much red tape you have to sift through, chances are there's going to be that one member who isn't all that satisfied with the way their instrument is sounding next to the rest of the tracks. When all else fails though, why not just make the record yourself?

Compared to the usual collaborative process, these albums were made from one person for the most part, only bringing in added session players when absolutely necessary. Then again, not all of these albums were written out of spite for their fellow band members.

Hell, some of them just come together as a spontaneous thing, written as much out of emotional catharsis than artistic drive on the artists' part. Sometimes the artist even has to go solo out of sheer necessity, with no other musicians to speak of being on hand to work with them.

It's a daunting task to pull off, but damn if these artists pull it off and make it look easy by the end of things. Being competent at one instrument in the world of music is one thing, and yet these geniuses took their intense knowledge of music and channeled it into one glorious album.

A lot of rancor has been thrown Phil Collins for being the one who dumbed down Genesis for the pop market. Although he may not have even wanted to tidy up the sound all that much, the fact that the bald pariah of prog rock stepped up to the plate and made something like Invisible Touch has some fans still unwilling to forgive him for his crimes. Then again, it's not like Collins forgot his musical chops along the way.

Across his solo album Both Sides, Collins is the real deal on almost every single track, playing virtually every instrument save for a few orchestral arrangements in the background. Keep in mind this came at a time when Collins was working on his own while Genesis was in a bit of a tailspin, giving each of these tracks a bit of a world weary sound to them.

Compared to his usual solo work, there's not really that many In the Air Tonights to speak of on this record, instead being a plaintive look into Phil's creative process that he'd kept under wraps when being behind the kit for so long. For as much as the music community was itching to slag him off at the time, Both Sides is Phil Collins breaking off ties with both his prog past and pop present to make way for an even more adventurous future.