Urban Renewal (tribute album)

Urban Renewal is a tribute album to singer Phil Collins, released in February 2001 in most European markets and in the United States on 25 February 2003, containing remakes of his songs by R&B and hip hop performers. Collins remarked:

Urban Renewal
Studio album by Various artists
Released	February 2001
Genre	R&B/hip hop
Label	WEA
Singles from Urban Renewal
"Another Day in Paradise" Released: March 2001 "In the Air Tonite" Released: August 2001 "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" Released: November 2003

"We all think black R&B artists know what they're talking about. The first time I was aware of it was when I watched a documentary on Ice-T. This smug UK journalist looking at his record collection said, 'What's with all the Phil Collins stuff?' He said, 'Don't mess with my Phil.' I remember thinking, 'My God!' You feel like ringing people up and saying, 'Are you watching this?!'"^[1]

Although the album itself was not a worldwide success, only charting in Germany at number three, individual singles from the album performed well in various markets, including "Another Day in Paradise" as performed by Brandy and Ray J and "In the Air Tonite" as performed by rapper Lil' Kim. A remake by Deborah Cox, "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven", was later released as a dance remix on her 2003 album, Remixed. It reached number one on the Billboard Dance Radio Airplay chart and peaked at 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

The chief pop and rock critic of The Guardian, Alexis Petridis, described it as a "horrid and inexplicable album of hip-hop and R&B covers" with the "solitary redeeming track" being the version of "Sussudio".^[2] In 2006, Q magazine listed Urban Renewal as No. 3 in their list of the 50 worst albums ever.^[3]

Track listing

Urban Renewal – Standard edition

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Ray J Prelude"	Ray J	0:40
2.	"Another Day in Paradise"	Brandy and Ray J	4:29
3.	"Sussudio"	Ol' Dirty Bastard	4:20
4.	"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven"	Deborah Cox	4:31
5.	"This Must Be Love"	Dane Bowers featuring Kelis	3:34
6.	"In the Air Tonite"	Lil' Kim featuring Phil Collins	4:23
7.	"Gotta Hold Over Me"	Coko	4:05
8.	"I Don't Care Anymore" (Produced by The Neptunes)	Kelis featuring Pharrell	3:50
9.	"Can't Turn Back the Years"	Joe	4:38
10.	"Do You Remember?"	Debelah Morgan	4:11
11.	"Against All Odds"	Montell Jordan	4:18
12.	"One More Night"	Changing Faces	4:36
13.	"All of My Life"	TQ	4:28
14.	"I Wish It Would Rain Down"	Brian McKnight and Monique S.V.	4:10
15.	"Take Me Home"	Malik Pendleton	4:34
Total length:			60:01

Urban Renewal – Japanese deluxe edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
16.	"Separate Lives"	Chico DeBarge	4:08
17.	"Long Long Way to Go"	Tony Rich Project	5:01
18.	"Another Day in Paradise" (Black Legend VS. J-Reverse Club Mix)"	Brandy and Ray J	4:22
Total length:			1:14:05

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[4] 24 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[5] 50 French Albums (SNEP)^[6] 22 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[7] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[8] 47 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[9] 17

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[10] 72

References

1. White, Terri: "Cash for questions", Q, December 2014, pp30–33
2. Petridis, Alexis (9 November 2001). "They are not worthy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
3. "Q – The 50 Worst Albums Ever!". Q Magazine (238). May 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
4. "Austriancharts.at – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
5. "Ultratop.be – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
6. "Lescharts.com – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
7. "Offiziellecharts.de – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
8. "Charts.nz – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
9. "Swisscharts.com – {{{artist}}} – Urban Renewal (Songs Of Phil Collins)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
10. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 22 September 2020.