Well I was pretty much with the Collins era until Invisible Touch. I love Duke, for example.
A criticism of a lot of current novels is that the writer sits down to write his novel with the full intent and objective of turning the book into a movie, undermining the literary weight of the book (even though it might ultimately make for a great film).
Likewise, I think Gabriel wrote a lot of music with the live performance in mind, and while it made for great shows, IMHO, it undercut the quality of the albums. I think Gabriel found the right balance in his solo career, but I agree that once he left Genesis, the band was able to move in a more unified direction.