‘Sides’: For Better and for Worse, Collins Does It All : ** 1/2; PHIL COLLINS, “Both Sides”; <i> Atlantic</i>

I used to pride myself on cooking dinner for my family completely on my own, refusing all help. Truthfully, the resulting meal was never quite as good as it might have been with a little outside help.

Phil Collins has made the same mistake on his sixth solo album and first in four years. In his insistence on going it alone--handling all writing, producing and playing--Phil-of-all-trades has sacrificed some quality.

Although the material is all uniformly pretty and expressively sung, it’s also just plain uniform. Except for the first single, “Both Sides of the Story,” and the sprightly “We Wait and We Wonder,” the songs seem to march to the beat of the same jarring drum machine--unfortunate considering that he’s such a primo drummer.

Some outside input--from a songwriter, instrumentalist, studio whiz or whoever--might have freed him to concentrate on what he does best and also may have provided some alternative ideas. Still, no one concocts a beautiful ballad like Collins, and “Both Sides” is full of ‘em--if little else.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).