Lou Reed/John Cale are a tie. Both have had extremely diverse and interesting careers with an equal number of artistic successes and failures, imo.

Brian Eno. Ferry's solo career has a few bright moments (In Your Mind, Frantic), but for the most part is a footnote to his tenure with Roxy Music. Eno, on the other hand, created a whole genre of music and has produced two of the best bands of the 80's, Talking Heads and U2 (yes, Talking Heads were around in the 70's and U2 in the 90's and beyond, but you know what I mean).

David Lee Roth. A great showman.

Waters. As great as The Piper At The Gates of Dawn is, Pink Floyd's crowning achievements will always be Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall.

I've watched that movie five times now with my kid and had no idea Gabriel did any music for that. Thanks! (feel dumb).

I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that I really didn't understand any of their work. It was too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think "Invisible Touch" is the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility, at the same time it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship and sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Take the lyrics to "Land of Confusion." In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problem of abusive political authority. "In Too Deep" is the most moving pop song of the 1980s about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock.

Phill Collins solo efforts seem to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way, especially songs like "In the Air Tonight" and "Against All Odds." But I also think that Phill Collins works better within the confines of the group than as a solo artist-and I stress the word artist.

Any questions about Huey Lewis, perhaps?

I love both for different reasons. I love that Gabriel experiments with music (usually it works and sometimes it just doesn't gel but there's nothing wrong with doing what you want to do), but I also love the complete 'popiness' of Collins. There is a reason a lot of his songs get massive radio play - they're catchy and slick.

in case of a tie, I think Collins should win simply based on that Easy Lover song with Phillip Bailey. That song has ruled since it came out......

Good call! That song blows away my tiebreaker of "San Jacinto".

Although it doesn't beat my tie-breaker of Walk Through The Fire, aka the cooler song on the Against All Odds soundtrack.

When you put it that way, it's hard to argue. Hey, Halberstram, why are there copies of the style section all over the place?

What no love for Ray Wilson?

To quote Eddie Murphy... "PHIL!"

But then again, I tend to lean more towards commercial music than I do progressive/experimental.

I do think Peter's soundtrack work is far more interesting (and listen able) then Phil's.

I am also not a fan of Phil's ballads, as I said in the original post, there is something that just comes off a chessy. I don't get that from Peter.

Well, Peter did come off a chessy... and that would be Rosanna Arquette's.

San Jacinto --> B-E-ST S-O-N-G E-V-E-R W-R-I-T-T-E-N


Easy Lover is a fun a little pop song, but there is absolutely no comparision to the masterpiece that is San Jacinto.

*As an aside, Phill played drums on a few songs from PG3 & Security.

** As for the vote, I own everything each artist has ever released, but Peter has had a better solo track record.

Has anyone considered Brand X?

Hope you realized I was joking. I love that song in a great, great way.

My vote went to Gabriel.

Also, for those that may not have heard it I've recently discovered (and enjoy) Gabriel's cover of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.

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If you haven't already, you owe it to yourself to watch this TV special on the making of Security. Any serious Gabriel fan will be fascinated by his artistry.





(the meaty parts of "San Jacinto" kick in around the 25:00 mark of part I and the 2:40 mark of part II.)

Thanks for posting those! Security is my favorite Gabriel album.

I prefer Morbo's Executive Powder, personally.

Ahh...no, but now that you mention it, your statement makes much more sense.

Man those videos are cool. I love seeing artists like Gabriel at work. Very inspiring.

I love him singing "I Have The Touch" at ~8:00 in part 2. So casual - hand in his pocket. Awesome.

I do think Phil gets a bum rap because he went so far into the AC direction, especially in the 90's after he left Genesis. I don't get people who say he "always sucked" as if he was Michael Bolton, when I think someone like Rod Stewart or maybe Elton John (even tho I think Elton's bounced back from soft rock hell in the past decade or so) is a better analogy, as they had fantastic material early on and then progressively got softer and more generic when it became obvious that soccer moms were a lucrative market. Not here, but I've seen snobs on other boards who seem to carry this "he's always sucked" mentality. Face Value sucks? A Trick Of The Tail sucks? Abacab sucks? Please, it's just trying to keep up appearances because Phil Collins isn't cool to admit to like, because he wasn't always the guy who did Tarzan.

I think Phil was good all the way through 1993 with Both Sides of the Story. But Peter's been excellent for pretty much his entire career.

Thanks again for posting those videos, there's fantastic stuff in there!

My pleasure! They're a treasure, to be sure. Good to see others who appreciate him as much as I do.

Count me in for both (and Ray as well)! "Dance Into The Light" and "Up" are both wonderful, wonderful albums.