In A Glass House vs. Wind & Wuthering

This

 

Mid-period VdGG (from Godbluff onward) purposefully had a live-ish sonic quality to it, that could also be described as brutal or raw. They didn't want to sound "lush" or "warm" like Genesis. I can see many traditional prog fans not digging it. Not too many albums sounded like the VdGG mid-70s recordings back then; later, more bands started going for that more immediate, organic aural sound, but most mid-70s albums were very produced (many overly produced). Now the earlier VdGG albums... those were much more produced (by John Anthony) and had great engineers who went on to make names for themselves in the industry (David Hentschell, Ken Scott, Robin Cable, etc).

 

As for W&W vs. AGH. I used to love W&W and don't agree with an earlier poster that it's pop compared to the Gabriel years. It sort of reminded me of Foxtrot, just four years on (I think I read Tony Banks stating the same thing, which I agree with in many ways). But I don't like it these days. As with TOTT, Banks' keyboards kill it for me. Just trapped in '76, '77. I wish he would have just stuck to organ and mellotron as he did on earlier albums and not delved into the world of synths. And the humorous lyrics (i.e. All in a Mouse's Night) don't have the same sharp wit or vibe as Gabe's humorous lyrics; sans Gabriel, Genesis' humor is kinda lame whereas PG did really have an agreeable left field, off-the-wall sense of humor. I do agree with the earlier poster about the difference between pre and post Gabriel Genesis in that respect.

 

As for In A Glass House... I liked Gentle Giant at one time and used to spin Octopus and Three Friends quite a lot (I owned a lot more, but those were the two I loved). But I never owned IAGG and only heard IAGG once and didn't like it at all. It just seemed like it was afraid to groove. Like it was all over the map (I'm one of the people who got embarrassed by all the instrument switching in old GG videos; like they were trying too hard to show how talented they were when they should have been just rocking out). I don't know if this an "instrument switching" album, but it had that vibe of trying too hard at the time. But I didn't give it much of a chance and am curious to hear it again after all these years. It's supposed to be a classic, so I look forward to investigating. No vote from me until then.

IAGH wins against almost any album for me

W&W is really watered down through much of it. Not even close to Trick. They must have run out of saved up material. I do really like a few tracks though: Eleventh Earl, One for the Vine, Blood on the Rooftops... gotta love that super-gay vocal part in "Vine", beginning with that ascending synth line, and then "FOLLOW MEEEEE"... and the bit after that.

Don't know how you can call TOTT or WAW pop albums? Some pop elements maybe.