No problem: opinion has been divided about "who's better" since Gabriel left, though personally I like both. I just wanted to take issue with your contention (perhaps unintentional or indirect) that ONLY Collins songs told a story, which is certainly untrue.
I think my own favourite Genesis comes around what I termed the interim period. I really like both those albums, though of course I'm kind of biased, as they were the first (other than "Seconds out", which is anyway mostly Gabriel stuff) Genesis albums I listened to. It's like, you go in a straight line BACK from TotT and W&W and the music gets heavier, deeper, more progressive and then in a line FORWARD it's more straight-ahead rock through to pop: 1976 certainly marks the turning point for the style and music of the band. It's up to you which side, if any, of that line you choose to fall behind.
As for Gabriel not talking about his pre-solo work? Who does? Fish mostly ignores his Marillion output to a degree, Collins certainly tends to tiptoe around his time with Genesis, even George Michael wanted to forget his time with Wham! (didn't we all?) --- solo artistes want to be known for what they've done AFTER they leave the band, and not always be related, compared or tied back to their previous work, so it's not surprising that Gabriel seldom mentions his Genesis output: it WAS over thirty years ago now, after all...
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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