Phil Collins vs. Peter Gabriel: Who had the better solo career?

Banned, presumably...choked to death on his own bile, perhaps. Who knows? I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later under a different personae, with his air of superiority and "I'm right, everybody else is a f--kin' idiot" opinions on everything from popular music to how to wipe yer asss...

 

The first PG album came out in 1977

 

Peter Gabriel's work has consistently challenged and moved me for decades. Phil Collins is great fun to listen to. Peter Gabriel is easily one of my favorite artists, including his work with Genesis. I prefer Collins' Genesis albums (yes, even the self-titled and Invisible Touch) over his solo albums, so for me Gabriel is the preferred overall artist, but when I want to listen to a well written, produced, and performed pop song, few do that better than Collins (including Gabriel, whose stabs at pop never interested me as much as his artier fare).

 

For me, it has to be Gabriel hands down.
From 'Scratch' to 'So', I find his music to be incredibly listenable and enjoyable, he's explored more genres and styles than Collins, the subtle art pop of 'So', the new wave of 'Melt' and the Prog Rock of 'Scratch'. His husky voice is just beautiful and conveys so many different emotions. I do like Phil Collins' solo stuff sometimes, and he has made some killer tracks, but I don't listen to post-Gabriel Genesis stuff at all.

Overall, I believe PG is the better of the two for not just sticking to the tried and trusted 80s cheesy cheese pop formula

 

I'm a big Genesis fan and enjoy the members' solo careers as well. As much as I enjoy Collins' output, I went with Gabriel. To me Gabriel's catalog is more challenging and varies a lot more, whereas Phil on the other hand is either more straightforward pop or intricate singer/songwriter kind of personal stuff, which is likewise enjoyable. From an artistic standpoint, Collins' catalog is perhaps a bit more traditional, though it does indeed have its moments; Both Sides, for example, is a terrific album with a lot of heart, both artistically and commercially.

 

I like Phil's first solo album fairly well. Like Peter's debut, it has a feeling of "look how many tricks I can do and hats I can try on." It shows his various strengths as a musician and the possibilities therein.

After that? Peter all the way. "Peter Gabriel III" and "Security" are two of my favorite albums ever released by anybody.

 

I really like Collins' 1st two solo efforts and a bit of his third. Gabriel's output is much more favorable. It took 6 or 7 albums before he petered out.

Collins probably sold more albums, but Gabriel's quality, for a time, cannot be denied.

Short answer: Gabriel.

 

Peter only has 7 main studio albums. Not including live, cover, orchestra, or soundtrack albums. But actually so does Phil.

 

I know, but I was counting all of them. Live, Temptation soundtrack, etc. And I consider 'So' his last truly great record. 'Us' had its moments, and 'Up' was pretty mediocre, but yeah. Counting everything, I stand by "6 or 7." Just a ballpark figure.

 

Collins sold more, but Gabriel gets my vote for being more artistic.

 

It's close for me, but I will go with Peter. I love Phil's first three solo albums, but after No Jacket Required I think it's a drop off in quality. I never connected with But Seriously.

 

I think Gabriel had the more important one. His has had more impact on the musical culture. His music carved new avenues. Collins' was largely retro, certainly not as progressive as Genesis.

Gabriel has also used his WOMAD organization to promote world culture.

In some ways, Gabriel is the more ambitious of the two.

 

Peter Gabriel by far. Phil Collins had some good songs but also had a lot of songs I didn't like. Peter Gabriel on the other hand is more consistent and his music just sounds better to my ears.

 

No.

He was banned from this forum in February for trolling. If he tries to come back under a different name and start that nonsense up again he'll no doubt get banned again. The gorts don't put up with abuse.

 

I prefer Phil Collins. Too many hits...too many singable songs I grew up listening to.

 

No contest ...... Peter Gabriel by a country mile

 

No kidding. I haven't read many interviews with Collins so I wasn't familiar with his outlook or state of mind, but I just listened to an interview with him on The Trap Set podcast (a great podcast that interviews drummers only) and I don't believe I've ever heard a musician that's achieved a similar level of popularity that sounds as unhappy as Phil Collins. Doesn't seem like he's finding much peace.

I prefer the music of Gabriel whose best work is way more interesting and moving to me, but Peter has some stinkers too. Collins has a few decent songs but I don't think I could fill up an entire album with songs I like.

The Trap Set with Joe Wong: 127: Phil Collins (Genesis, Brand X, Phil Collins)

 

I would guess/presume thusly:

Phil has probably made more money.
But Peter has probably been more fulfilled with his choices.

 

Very hard ITS LIKE --- in the air tonight vs diggin in the dirt --- 2 almost perfect songs

dunno about production techniques but Diggin in the dirt has one of the best production moments ever heard, right before verse 2 there is this build up with the bass underneath a mono type canvas and bass builds and builds until it just booms (the boom is only 1x like a explosion from underneath) I dunno that part of the song just blows my mind

 

Not even close ... Phil Collins by far. I can hardly believe the vote count.

 

I voted for Peter Gabriel because I like some of his material and saw him live on the Amnesty International "Human Rights Now!" tour and he was just fantastic.
I'm not a Phil Collins fan really at all. That one song "In The Air Tonight" was okay - oh God, why am I seeing the scene from Risky Business as I type this? Yecch!

OH - and Peter Gabriel got to be with....Rosanna Arquette.....*sigh*

Yeah I forgot that - Peter wins HANDS DOWN!!!! For that alone!

 

I have a lot of stuff by both of them, but it's got to be Peter Gabriel. He's incredibly diverse, and put out some amazing stuff with brilliant lyrics that I'm still poring over and dissecting. Collins made some great music, but as many have said, he was generally churning out pop hits, whereas Gabriel was putting out much more artistic work, at least for the first decade or so, and even his commercial successes had some deep tracks that just cut like a knife. And look at a song like Digging in the Dirt...that was a single, and it's just so dark and brilliant...Collins simply can't do that stuff.

 

I think "In The Air Tonight" is every bit as dark and brilliant, and was a much bigger, more iconic hit.

I think Collins leaned more toward pop and Gabriel more toward art, and both were very effective at realizing those leanings. I prefer Gabriel, but have never felt compelled to crap all over Phil's work - as monster '80s pop goes there isn't much that's better, even if it was a bit overplayed and I don't need to hear a lot of it again very often.

 

This.

I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan and never really liked Phil Collins apart from some of the songs but I think it's because growing up in the 80s my parents played his albums all the time and I didn't like my parents' music (I was playing Gabriel and Kate Bush, who my parents didn't like).

However, when Phil called out Paul McCartney for his behaviour earlier this year he got my respect. I never bought Macca's "matey", man of the people act

 

Peter Gabriel. Mr. Collins might even agree with me!