Your text to link here...I love both but prefer Collins although Collins sang on the Peter era albums too
I'm a Genesis fan I first became aware of the band in the '80's, probably around the time Genesis (1983) came out. Recently, I've gone back and re-listened to many of their albums - here is my review of their '80's albums, in my order of preference:
Duke (1980): Quite simply superb - this album is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word. This seems to be a 'concept' album in that it tells the "story" of the lonely main character (Duke?!); from the opening "Behind the Lines" to "Duchess" to "Man of Our Times", then to the pop songs "Misunderstanding" and "Turn it on Again" (possibly my favorite Genesis song) to the wistful "Please Dont Ask" and "Cul-de-sac", this album is very strong from beginning to end. IMHO, this is one of the top ten best rock/pop/prog albums of the 1980's.
Genesis (1983): Incredible. From the disturbing but brilliant "Mama" to the radio-hit "That's All", to the politically incorrect "Illegal Alien", to the fast-paced "Just a Job to Do", to the incredible "Home By the Sea", this is an amazing album. It's probably around this time that I first started hearing the band on the radio.
Abacab (1981): Excellent album, from the long opener "Abacab", to "No Reply at All", "Keep it Dark", and the poignant "Man on the Corner".
Invisible Touch (1986): Probably their most commercially successful album for good reason - these were songs that sounded great on the mainstream radio stations. Back in the day, this was my favorite album by the group. Even now, I still appreciate "Invisible Touch", "Land of Confusion", "In too Deep", and "Anything She Does", etc. - and, "The Brazilian" is an amazing acoustic song. However, IMHO this album doesn't hold a candle to their earlier '80's work - maybe I've just heard these songs too many times....
We Can't Dance (1991): Good follow-up to IT, with several interesting songs including "No Son of Mine", the self-deprecating "I Can't Dance", "Tell me Why", Had to be tough working in between Phil solo albums
I also see the post-Peter Gabriel and pre-Duke albums, i.e. Wind and Wuthering, Then There were Three, Trick of the Tail as a transitional period to what they were to what they were from Duke on ward.
Best album with Peter Selling England by the Pound
Best Album with Collins on Vocals The Duke
Best Transitional Album Wind and Withering
Greatest talent to come from the Band Phil Collins The drumming, vocals, songwriting, won a Oscar