Posted on 08/05/2022 2:11:04 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Why Phil Collins didn't like Pink Floyd Thomas Leatham THU 4TH AUG 2022 13.30 BST
We mostly know Phil Collins for his remarkable solo career that spawned the 1980s hits, ‘In the Air Tonight, ‘Another Day in Paradise’ and the collaborative effort ‘Easy Lover’ with Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey.
Yet, Collins is also known for his time in the prog-rock pioneers Genesis, whom he joined in 1970. When singer Peter Gabriel left the group in 1975, Collins took on singing duties, even though he continued to be their drummer. Gabriel had become disillusioned with the music industry and wanted to spend more time with his family.
Collins once opened up on his tastes – and distastes – for other prog-rock bands: “I was a big early Yes fan, less so. Even though I like the guys in the band, I didn’t relate to a lot of their music after the first two or three albums. Jethro Tull musically. Floyd, I was never a big Floyd fan.”
“I probably become more of a Floyd fan in later years than I was at the time, even though I saw them at the Marquee with Arnold Layne,” Collins added. “I was aware of what they were doing. But I never was really a fan. I was in a band that was kind of being always put in the same box as that lot. But never felt that we actually were in the same box. But we probably were.”
Genesis began to slightly lean towards a more pop-orientated sound with Collins on vocals, and the live shows became less theatrical with the charismatic Gabriel out of the picture. Many of the band’s previous albums had been inspired by fantasy, but from 1975 onwards, they wanted to move away from such inspirations.
Elsewhere, Collins also revealed his distaste for another English prog-rock powerhouse, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He said, “I don’t like ELP. I don’t like the way they are as people. Emerson’s alright. I don’t like Carl Palmer’s drumming; I don’t like the music. It’s much too neurotic. And it’s too on one level.”
He added, “To be fair, I haven’t listened to that much ELP. But what I’ve heard, and I’ve seen backstage, I just don’t like them. I would never doubt the fact that they’re excellent musicians. I don’t like the kind of things [they] did. But the sound on the record is a fine sound. And of the three of them, I like Emerson, mainly because he used to say nice things about us.”
As good as LZ was in the studio, they were as disappointing live.
Page was great at multiple tracking his guitars in the studio, doubtless perfecting the sound through multiple takes.
Live, however, their sound was much thinner and hollow because Page could only play one guitar at a time.
Plant also relied on the studio to perfect his tracks. His voice burned out early on, and he was just a shell of himself in later live performances.
IMHO.
When Collins does an album on the order of ‘Wish You Were Here’ then he can talk, otherwise it’s just noise.
Yep - Mike Reno
I’m in the same boat as Phil. I could listen to Genesis all day long. Don’t like Floyd at all. I’ve tried to listen to modern prog and it just grates on my ears, especially with that thrash-metal style guitar that became popular for some reason. To each his own.
I’m a little surprised (as I always am) about the criticism of Phil going pop. He was in on all their best stuff from Nursery Cryme on.
And they wrote extended prog epics for more than a decade. At a certain point a writer says what he wanted to say with an art form, and then he wants to do something different.
Damn. Somebody needs to turn him loose.
I thought the Drama album was great. A much tougher sound for Yes, some of Steve Howe's best guitar work. Tempus Fugit flat out rocks! I didn't miss Anderson on it, because Squire's backing vocals still made it sound like Yes.
All the prog bands, went pop in the 80s, Yes did too.
Which is why I listened a lot to Marillion in the 80s.
Not gonna comment on the Floyd album as I don't know it, but Collins helped write some of the greatest prog albums of all time. Foxtrot. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Selling England by the Pound.
So yeah. He can definitely talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSvWSYgSM-g&ab_channel=aomoriwalker
This is still the holy grail/touchstone/mother of all examples of when to pack it in
Phil didn’t really start writing until the Duke album. It was mostly Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford who wrote those earlier songs.
It’s funny that two musicians that closely parallel each other are Phil Collins and Peter Cetera.
Both incredibly talented musicians, Cetera was a beast on bass on the early Chicago albums, but he didn’t do a lot of writing, did sing on hits, but those were mostly written by Robert Lamm. Then he hits paydirt when he wrote “If You Leave Me Now”, and then totally changed the course of the band into a more pop sound, and like Collins eventually became best known for sappy 80s ballads.
Like a few other old rock stars, like Pete Townshend, Collins seems to have gotten nastier with age. What’s the point of saying rotten things about other old rockers, especially those who are dead and cannot defend themselves?
I’ve heard Jon Bon Jovi is really terrible now live.
Too Old to Give a Rip Anymore, I suppose.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen Close to the Edge dismissed as being part of a “slide”. Yes isn’t my absolute favorite progressive rock band, but that song is probably the greatest prog rock song ever.
Pete Townshend nastier with age? How could that possibly be considering he almost took Abbie Hoffman’s head off with his guitar at Woodstock.
Good point!
Or how about “Illegal Alien!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx10QXvhhL8&ab_channel=JimmyKeys
Richard Page’s voice has held up well
Guy was a great prog drummer, though.
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