Collins attempted a return to poppier music with Dance into the Light, which Entertainment Weekly reviewed by saying that "(e)ven Phil Collins must know that we all grew weary of Phil Collins." It included minor hits such as the title track and the Beatles-inspired "It’s in Your Eyes". Although the album went Gold in the US, it sold considerably less than his previous albums. Only the title track made a brief appearance on Collins’ then forthcoming Hits collection (1998). Despite this, its subsequent tour, Dance into the Light, regularly sold out arenas.
In 1996, Collins formed The Phil Collins Big Band. With Collins as drummer, the band performed jazz renditions of Collins’ and Genesis's hits. The Phil Collins Big Band did a world tour in 1998 that included a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1999, the group released the CD A Hot Night in Paris including big band versions of "Invisible Touch", "Sussudio", and the more obscure "The Los Endos Suite" from A Trick of the Tail.
Such popular satirizing reflected a more widespread criticism of Collins’ work, criticism that began with the success of "Follow You Follow Me" and which continued throughout his career, as Collins continued to define himself as a middle of the road pop musician. Metacritic's roundup of album reviews found his most recent studio album, 2002's Testify, to be the worst-reviewed album by the time of its release, though it has since been "surpassed" by three more recent releases. The album also failed to make much impact on the mainstream charts, although its emotional stand-out track "Can't Stop Loving You" (a Leo Sayer cover) was yet another #1 Adult Contemporary smash hit for Collins. Testify sold only 140,000 copies in the United States by year's end, although a successful worldwide tour followed despite poor album sales.Audio samples:
The dance pop of No Jacket Required, including this number one hit, won Collins a Grammy Award for "Album of the Year".
In 2001, Collins was sought out by the satirist Chris Morris and appeared in the Brass Eye 'Paedophile Special' endorsing a spoof charity called 'Nonce Sense'. A significant moment from this program is where Collins, dressed in a matching baseball cap and t-shirt emblazoned with the name of this fictitious charity, stares into the camera and declares: "...I'm talking Nonce-sense."
In 2006 Disney's Tarzan was adapted for Broadway. Collins contributed 11 new songs and instrumental pieces, and was deeply involved in the production. Unlike the movie, where Collins sang all the material, the characters sang on stage.Phil Collins as he appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
