Dazed and Confused vs. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

I've always thought that Fast Times is the pinnacle of the "life in high school" film genre, but now that I've watched Dazed a few times over the summer it's clear that it is the richer, more complex work. In fact, in light of Dazed, Fast Times seems no more than an simple escapist comedy rather than the richly textured coming of age movie I thought it was. On the other hand, no one can deny that Fast Times has some unbelievable performances from both character actors (e.g. Vincent Schiavelli) and movie stars (e.g. Sean Penn).