The only musician Roger Waters doesn’t consider a real rock star…….

The only musician Roger Waters doesn’t consider a real rock star

techniques in the studio, the next phase of rock saw bands moving in different directions, creating subgenres like glam, heavy metal, and punk. Whereas most artists wanted to entertain an audience however they could, Roger Waters wanted to set up a scene with Pink Floyd.

 

After an initial start with Syd Barrett behind the microphone for The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Waters had to assume the frontman role when Barrett fell prey to various mental health problems. Once the band got a handle on what they could do on the track ‘Echoes’, though, Waters had a clear stance on what he wanted to discuss.

 

Throughout later projects like The Dark Side of the Moon, Waters was looking to find a way to empathise with his fellow man through his songs, whether that was talking about the corporate greed that affects everyone on ‘Money’ or thinking about how every day is one step closer to death on ‘Time’.

 

Around the same time, Waters was painting his masterpieces, prog-rock giants Genesis also went through their share of innovations. With Peter Gabriel at the helm, albums like Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound blended the thunderous sounds of rock with the musical complexity of jazz and classical music, all while Phil Collins laid down a solid structure behind the drums.

 

Once Gabriel left the group to pursue a solo career, Collins would assume the frontman position just like Waters, balancing his time in Genesis with a solo career. Although Collins had cut out a legacy of his own on the pop charts, Waters didn’t think that his approach to music carried as much water.

 

But why did Roger Waters hate Phil Collins?

Of course, Waters has never shied away from voicing his opinions about fellow musicians, and Collins has been among those targeted. Waters has reportedly dismissed Collins as emblematic of a shift in the music industry toward more “lightweight” artists dominating the airwaves in the 1980s. Waters, who prides himself on tackling weighty themes like war, greed, and alienation, likely viewed Collins’ solo hits like ‘Sussudio’ or ‘Against All Odds’ as emblematic of the slick, commercialised pop that he despised.

 

When speaking to Musician magazine, Waters thought the music world should be divided between artists who write based on feelings and artists who write to please the audience. Compared to his songwriting heroes, Waters knew that Collins represented everything superficial about the music industry, explaining, “I seem to always wind up attacking poor Phil Collins. He’s symptomatic of an awful lot of it. He might well disagree, and so might his fans. But the ‘feeling’ I get is that he’s pretending to be a songwriter or a rock ’n’ roller. It’s an act. That’s why it’s unsatisfying.”

 

Granted, it seemed the displeasure went both ways as well. When talking about his experience listening to Pink Floyd’s albums, Collins said that he was never delighted either, recalling, “I was aware of what they were doing. But I never was really a fan. I was in a band that was kind of being always put in the same box as that lot. But never felt that we actually were in the same box. But we

probably were.”