Phil Collins wrote most of Face Value while his first marriage was falling apart, and you can hear it in In the Air Tonight, with its famous drum break, and in If Leaving Me Is Easy. His solo debut alongside his work with Genesis pairs those ballads with soul and funk: the Earth, Wind & Fire horns play on I Missed Again, and the album closes with a version of The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows. On its release in 1981 Face Value went to number one in the United Kingdom.

This edition is a 4LP box, the Full Value edition for the 45th anniversary, with a half-speed remaster of the album and three LPs of live recordings, demos and previously unreleased material.