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The Police are a much better band to me than Genesis. Genesis went from a turgid prog group a little too far up their own asses, to a very synth-dominated pop machine that had a few good tunes but mostly a lot of silly, slick bullshit. By the time they were doing songs like "I Can't Dance," they were full-on terrible. I still like most of "Abacab" and the occasional dark song they would churn out (like "Mama" - what the hell is that?), and a few other odds and ends. And I'll admit, when "Land of Confusion" comes on the radio, I find it irresistible. But mostly they were not my favorite group; there were a lot of better ones for both prog and pop music.
The Police on the other hand made better hay out of their musicianship. I think the only reason their white reggae thing wasn't more influential is that most of the punk and new wave and pop acts that came after them couldn't play it half as well. Lots of bands dabbled in it a little bit, but only that band could make it into a viable, instantly-recognizable style of their own. Also, for as good of musicians as they were, they seldom lapsed into art school show-offy bullshit; they used their powers for good. Their first album is half a punk record. Their subsequent albums, for the most part, have a very stripped-down and lean sound, all angles and sinew, not a lot of ridiculous wanking just because they could. The songs are great and have aged as well as any pop of that era. We're probably all a little sick of "Every Breath You Take," but otherwise I think their singles all stand up.
Now as solo artists... Phil wins hands down for me. He was a grade-A cracker smeared with almond-crusted cheeseball sometimes, but he also had one of the best pop radio songs ever made ("In the Air Tonight" - it works in any context and makes everything 20% better) and a run of fun singles like "Easy Lover" that I just don't understand how anyone can't enjoy them. Admittedly, he also did stupid shit like "Sussudio" and hokey shit like "Groovy Kind of Love," and basically laid down the Disney balladeer template that Sting also fell into, but I'm inclined to give him a pass just based on his highlight reel. A Phil Collins solo best-of, hand-picked by someone with some damn taste, would be very listenable.
Sting's solo career is practically a betrayal of The Police (unlike Phil's, which was basically just a further evolution of what Genesis was already turning into). I don't have much use for anything he did on his own. He was less inclined to be cheesy than Phil, but he also did not much that I want to hear again; it's all soft and self-important and yuppified. And he did an album of lute music. Sigh.
I think overall I'd give Sting the nod just because I have that much respect for The Police. But if you give him less credit for just being 1/3 of the chemistry of that group, Phil might win in a landslide, despite his flaws.
So it's a split decision, I guess. --
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