Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill is stuck in my head right now.
I listened to Genesis' debut album for the first time just recently. I am not a huge Gabriel fan, BTW. It's serviceable as a light psychedelic album in a sort of Procol Harum way. And there weren't any Space Oddity type stunners or The Court of the Crimson King that would really say these guys are heads and above the rest even though they have some really nice arrangements and guitar playing. I am not a prog for complexity sake type of person but of course their debut is nothing like Selling England by the Pound or Lamb Lies Down on Broadway that's for sure. The band themselves do not like it - is it the lack of passion - what is it in particular?
Interesting speaking of the band - first post-Gabriel album Wind and Wuthering of course and another famous collaborator with Gabriel - Kate Bush, I've got her first album - The Kick Inside on repeat these days - I actually prefer "Moving" to "Wuthering Heights" though and really like Andrew Powell's arrangements in addition to his Alan Parsons Project work, and Gilmour/Floyd connection he had a hand in key releases for Cockney Rebel and Be Bop Deluxe, two of my favorite acts.
In some ways I feel that aspects of art rock / art pop including Gabriel, Robert Fripp solo, Kate Bush and such were just as progressive in the true sense of the word than prog rock especially in the days of punk, reggae, & disco when the long album length tracks and mystical space / castle rock of early and mid-70's had fallen out of favor.
I am trying to give Gabriel a re-evaluation. I am not a fan of So (overhyped hit singles) but appreciate those 2 big mid-70's Genesis albums before he left the band considerably. With that in mind I am working my way through the other Genesis Gabriel albums to eventually get to Gabriel's string of self-titled solo albums from the late 70's - around the same time that Kate Bush debuted.
It was an interesting time as the prog format was moving on and aside from punk and disco so much else was going on that would shape the direction of things to come in the 80's and beyond.
I can really see with Kate's debut how it must have appealed so much to many visionary artists like Gabriel, Prince, and Bowie.
Are there any projects or collaborations you think I should seek out given I like those 2 prog albums and artists like Kate Bush, Eno, Bowie, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Prince, and so on?