Ok. Which is superior ?

DSOTM is border line very good /excellent.  Foxtrot is border line excellent / phenomenal.

I have chosen DSOTM but I subscrive your opinion, it is exactly the thesis I have supported elsewhere: the overestimation of DTSOM because of its great production, its sound effects, its captivating tricks.

In general it comes into the category of albums that are really important but I don't care to listen to that much. It did achieve a wider audience because of the perception that it actually meant something and was a commentary on the human race and the way modern life makes us slightly insane. I totally agree with that but it still doesn't make it any more interesting as a piece of music. I never got the hype over the production at all. It's way too 'clean' for me. I was never a vinyl junkie or headphone listener though. As I said in my earlier post it works well as a singular piece in a 'live event' especially when you have the right video backdrops.

Nowadays using the PA classification I consider it to be Crossover. I think calling it 'AOR' is incorrect but I respect Barney for stoking up a debate. About a million years ago ( well maybe 15) I even started a thread 'Is Dark Side Of The Moon overrated?' A lot of people then did think so and that probably hasn't changed. It was a very clever deception in some respects. At the time of its release it got the masses on board thinking they were getting into the 'hard stuff' when it was really just the tame soft gateway variety!

Believe it or not, I agree completely that DSOTM is just gateway prog at the most.  That is exactly why it hooks in a lot of people and I don't even think it's a deception unless Bob Dylan writing simple songs with profound lyrics is also considered a deception.  But all that aside, the issue here for me is I don't even consider Genesis far above the gateway prog territory.  If we were talking about some of the more demanding Canterbury stuff like National Health, VDGG, King Crimson, Gentle Giant or Magma (not even getting into Avant/RIO), I could understand.  But Genesis itself is extremely accessible.  In many ways, Genesis (in its prog phase) stands in a similar place in terms of its appeal to those who mainly like symphonic/melodic/accessible prog as DSOTM does w.r.t rock listeners who want some sophistication without going full tilt prog.  Genesis is nice and easy to get into.  Its Britishisms may be a tad quirky at times but that's about the only difficulty you would encounter.  

This is not to say that a lot of Genesis' work in their prog phase isn't brilliant.  It is.  But this is a good opportunity to refute the notion that because something is easy to listen to and not too complex means it cannot be brilliant.  Maybe what Floyd did on Dark Side offered a convenient model for bands like BOC to appear sophisticated by adding some melody and/or piano sections to their songs (Astronomy/Flaming Telepaths); Styx would do the same as well. But at that time, 1973, they offered something very different from the other big rock bands.  Not heavy and fast like Sabbath or Purple, not rambling like Led Zeppelin.  Not over the top like Queen.  The closest parallel is what The Who were doing at around the same time.  But Gilmour's gentle vocals added a dimension that The Who did not have.  And while Gilmour is not as effective in hard rocking vocals as Daltrey, he is pretty good himself going by the evidence of Money (or Young Lust later on The Wall). That range, to be adequately hard rocking and also very melodic and even plaintive, brought a different set of emotions to the table, complemented in turn by Waters' lyrics.  It is not so much a deception as it is an album that is greater than the sum of its parts.  Floyd in that DSOTM-Wall phase were better than any other rock/prog band at putting together an album.  Everything on their albums had a reason to exist.  No placating or pandering big egos ( a la the second half of Fragile), no throwaways, every song dovetailed into a larger concept (until Waters went for a full fledged concept album with Wall). 

The irony is Genesis could have had it all as this is the direction in which Gabriel steered them towards on Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (and long before Floyd at that).  But Banks & Co promptly began grumbling about Gabriel hogging all the limelight so it was back to melodic and pleasant albums which are better at showcasing musicianship than having something in particular to say.

And on cue, just when I said this has descended to the level of The Beatles are overrated thread, you confirm this.  Thanks much.