Phil was a great drummer and Genesis put out some great interesting stuff but they were never in the same league with the likes of ELP and PF IMO. Genesis was mostly unknown until Phil steered them towards pop.
I can understand Phil or anyone not getting into early PF which was avantgarde soundscape stuff with 360 degree sound. Some people couldn’t understand it or like it. I get that.
ELP was a high level circus act with complex classical style original songs. Genesis was almost an anti-ELP type band in that they did not view themselves as trying to impress anyone. Huge difference in approach.
So I am not surprised Phil did not appreciate ELP. Carl Palmer was a more mechanical technical drummer which may have bugged Phil.
I viewed all those bands differently since they are all have their own space.
Phil is a much more jazz-oriented drummer than a prog drummer, as he also played with Brand X in the 70s.
“Carl Palmer was a more mechanical technical drummer which may have bugged Phil.”
Carl Palmer Was great when he was with ELP but when he and Steve Howe got to Asia, it was like they were on Meth