Greg Lake vs Peter Gabriel

Peter

Dellinger wrote: Isn't that what Resaissance does? They have 3 or 4 shorter songs, plus perhaps 2 or 3 songs near the 10 min in their albums if I remember correctly.

The other way round....except for Ashes Are Burning.  They have more songs in the 7-10 minute length and a couple of ballads.  And again by Song for All Seasons, they went back to writing more short songs with just a couple of long pieces. There's nothing wrong with writing 10 minuters but they are honestly not very good at it, barring notable exceptions like Trip to the Fair, Things I Don't Understand or Ashes are Burning (song), and they may have been better served with more short songs in every album.  


Edited by rogerthat - April 04 2012 at 19:13

rogerthat wrote: Dellinger wrote: Isn't that what Resaissance does? They have 3 or 4 shorter songs, plus perhaps 2 or 3 songs near the 10 min in their albums if I remember correctly. The other way round....except for Ashes Are Burning.  They have more songs in the 7-10 minute length and a couple of ballads.  And again by Song for All Seasons, they went back to writing more short songs with just a couple of long pieces. There's nothing wrong with writing 10 minuters but they are honestly not very good at it, barring notable exceptions like Trip to the Fair, Things I Don't Understand or Ashes are Burning (song), and they may have been better served with more short songs in every album.

OK, let's see.
Ashes are burning: 2 nearly 10 min songs, one song over 5 min, and 3 songs under 5 minutes. So I guess this album is fair enough if what you want are shorter songs with more Annie singing and less instrumentation.
Turn of the Cards: 3 nearly 10 min songs, 1 over 5 min song, and 2 under 5 min songs. This one has a bit more of long songs, but it still has it's share of not so long songs (the over 5 min song doesn't reach the 7 min).
Scheherazade: OK, fair enough, this one is mainly long songs, only one under 5 min, and it's got a 20 min epic.
Novella: 2 nearly 10 minutes songs, 2 over 5 minutes songs (one doesn't reach the 6 min), and one under 5 min. Yeah, this one isn't very good on short songs, either.
Song for all Seasons: 2 nearly 10 min songs and 6 under 5 min songs. I believe this one should have it's fair share of shorter songs.
Azur D'or: 10 songs, all under 5 minutes (well, one is 5:13). If you want short songs, this one should be perfect.
I didn't check out the later albums, but I believe they must be even more dominated with short songs. So, as far as I can see, there must be quiet a good share of shorter songs if that's what you are looking for. And, besides, this is a prog forum, so anything under 10 min should actually be considered short

Still, whether the longer songs have good instrumentation or not, that depends on the listener. As far as I'm concerned, my favourite Renaissance songs so far are "Ashes are Burning", "Mother Russia", and "Scheherazade", so I rather go with the longer songs with more interaction between melodies and Haslam's vocals. Whether those melodies have a lot of orchestra support or not, I don't really care, I like the final product... very much.

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:   Anybody can take them, I heard Steve Hackett (AMAZING guitarist but not so great singer doing it), the problem is HOW THEY DO IT.

I didn't mean it that literally!   I think Collins did a good job on Seconds Out and I won't elaborate on that but Kevin Gilbert also rendered convincing versions of Lamia and Back in NYC.  If I remember correctly, even Gabriel appreciated Jeff Buckley's cover of Back in NYC.   The beauty of Gabriel era Genesis songs lies in the vocal melody itself and less in their delivery.  Gabriel seems to be well versed with English...I mean, better than the likes of Lake and he can dramatize the lines in a way that sort of sounds clever.  But the delivery itself is not exactly exquisite. 

Dellinger wrote: Whether those melodies have a lot of orchestra support or not, I don't really care, I like the final product... very much.

My point there was simply that it's not so much about what John Tout or Camp were playing, which Ivan had said, but the presence of the orchestra to beef up the sound. 

It's normal that if you make Leonard Cohen sing "Ashes Are Burning" the song may result flat. The ability of using at the best your instruments is a skill, if you have Annie Haslam in your band you can rely on her voice, where's the problem?

Gabriel is a better frontman, but Greg is a better musician and has better vocals. My vote goes to Greg.

One of my favourite vocal performances.

Hm, a bit surprised at how clearly skewed the voting is, given that the OP specified "voice only". Oh, well.

Gabriel's good, but my vote goes to Greg for his vocals with KC and classic ELP.

Libor10 wrote: Without slightest hesitating: PG. No contest here.

Peter Gabriel will always have a special place in my heart. More special than Greg Lake's. In fact, Lake doesn't even have a spot in my heart reserved.