PETER GABRIEL
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Albums reviewed:
1977 - Peter Gabriel I (Car) (7)
1978 - Peter Gabriel II (Scratch) (8+)
1980 - Peter Gabriel III (Melt) (10)
Going around in discography now...
1989 - Passion (10-)
2002 - Up (7)

Peter Gabriel's first album is sort of sweet and cute. Not really in its sound, but more in its intentions. Peter sort of sounds unsure of what to do and seems scared. The album is also one of the weirdest pop/rock records in my collection. 'Peter Gabriel I' goes in many avenues, exploring, and for the most part we end up with what I could describe as "Peter Gabriel lite" or "diluted Peter Gabriel". That is, much of the album has the original, sometimes bizarre, but always mystifying lyricism of Peter Gabriel, but the music seems for the most part to go in rather traditional avenues. I say "in the most part" because the moments when the sound is not too predictable are when the album is at its best.

Even when there is lyrical genius like the telescopic umbrella (read "male genitalia") of Modern Love, the track still is one of the most straight-rockers ever written by Peter Gabriel (an electric guitar riff, simple drum beat, a few exciting bass lines...). It isn't bad, it's just... "diluted PG" (the recent music video DVD collection of Peter Gabriel called 'Play' should be seen, and it has a video for Modern Love, a rather weak video but a very fun watch, considering the stupidity of it and the year (videos in 1977!!!)). The same thing seems to apply to most of the tracks. Excuse Me, the funny barbershop quartet song, Slowburn is another straight rocker, Waiting for the Big One is my least favourite song here, extending for way too long, especially considering it's a very slow blues. The two most interesting songs are the two first ones. Moribund the Burgermeister is totally weird and freaked, and does justice to Peter Gabriel in terms of a "career starter"! Quite a daring choice. I'm not too sure what it is about, and the melody is hard to remember, but it is a story... It's almost the only solo Peter Gabriel song that still is a "story" as he used to do with his old mates. He fools around with his voice a lot and he makes a totally intriguing number. My favourite song however is Solsbury Hill, where PG explains his departure from Genesis in the most heartfelt way using a gorgeous folk melody. It's not a ballad, it doesn't go fast either... It seems to walk along, with Peter. Solsbury Hill is almost my favourite song ever... Well, it's hard to choose "one" song, but it is certainly the first song I remember liking in a way that peaked my interest in music... Okay it was the 'Secret World Live' version, but it's still the same song. Live and studio versions of Solsbury Hill are quite different, the live "rocks" more, but I really enjoy the folkish focus on this album. The simple acoustic guitar riff is absolutely timeless. It was also Peter Gabriel's hit in 1977-78, and it probably reassured him that he was still able to please. What else? I can't explain why I love Down the Dolce Vita so much, it must be the idea of Peter Gabriel doing what sounds like the soundtrack of a movie of the "Rocky" boxing movie series... The almost disco rhythm mixed with the dramatic orchestra is really odd to listen to. Finally, there's the beloved Here Comes the Flood. It's a soft piano song that says "drink up dreamers you're running dry". Hard to describe... In fact, this original version has a huge power-pop chorus that explodes in electric guitars. Most people seem to prefer the later version that only has piano and Peter's voice. I like them both.

So in retrospect, it's a good album, but I definitely wouldn't start my exploration of Peter Gabriel with his first album. His musical style isn't quite there. Hmmm... Well, Peter Gabriel never quite had a very fix musical style, he changed a lot, innovated. However, each of his albums seems to have a "unifying atmosphere", be it the dirty feel of 'II', the cold yet organic feel of 'III' or the world beat of 'IV'... Where does 'I' fit in this? It's not quite "united", it doesn't stand as well... The lyrics are for the most part not well enough supported by the music (compared to the next albums). It's exploratory more than constructive. Still, nothing is horrible, some stuff is pure classic, and it is at least very interesting to hear Peter Gabriel trying those sounds. I want to add that the cover of the album is fabulous.

Simon Lac, October 26th 2005

 

I forgot to explain something about the first four Peter Gabriel albums. They are titled "I" to "IV" or 1 to 4 because Peter Gabriel saw his albums as different releases from the same magazine... The title in parenthesis was sort of adopted by american record companies more particularly because they hated to sell albums with no names. Even when Peter has to put names on his albums, he still does it with only two letters...

Focus! Peter pinpointed something and exploited it! Yes, of course, there's the Robert Fripp production on the album, and it makes it oddly darkish (most notable on the "mood piece" Exposure, set to a scary bass line and eerie guitar licks). 'Scratch' would certainly benefit from a bit of "oomph"; Tony Levin's bass guitar talents are stuffed quite far in the background of the mix (except on Exposure, of course...). What did Peter focus on exactly? Hmmmph, I would say that it is on elements of Moribund, Solsbury Hill and Here Comes the Flood, except it seems clearer that melodies were composed on piano. But even the straighter rockers like Animal Magic and Perspective just sound more thrilling than the ones on the previous album (Modern Love, Slowburn). Peter seems much more involved in his singing "I need perspective!" (okay this is sung by a chorus but you know...) or "I'm joining the professionals! I wanna be a man!". 'II' is slightly more interesting because of the structure and mood of the album. Listening to 'Car' was like shopping in many stores but not being able to buy (except on a few notable tracks...); listening to 'Scratch' is something similar, except in a museum where you are there to appreciate all the pieces and you're not supposed to buy anything anyway. The only museum piece I could do without is the totally forgettable Flotsam and Jetsam; I've heard this countless times and still can't remember what it sounds like, what the lyrics are, and what general feeling comes out of it! Aside from that, the gloomy sound is quite well carried through. The most well known track on the album is On the Air and it is the most original guitar driven rocker of the album; it gives feelings of scrap yards. But the rest is forgotten in the abyss of rocks. Sad I say. Even the weirdest song, A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World, has something to offer (this great chorus melody and the stupid talk of Einstein). I find the first half of the album to be significantly better than the second. The beautiful quiet piano of Mother of Violence is introduced by insect sounds, and Peter and his then-wife tell you that "fear is the mother of violence". I'm a huge fan of White Shadow; one of my PG favourites, and I totally don't understand why it is so obscure in his catalogue. In fact Peter himself sort of ignores the existence of this album as a whole. We can only suppose that he wasn't quite happy with the resulting sound at the time and had a hard time producing it with his friend Robert Fripp. Bad memories for him? Since I don't have those bad memories, I can fully enjoy 'Scratch'. Back to White Shadow. It has an intriguing introductory groovy tune (that always reminds me of exploring the caves in "Castlevania; Symphony of the Night" for Playstation 1, go figure). It is the one song I always go back to, just because of the bluish spacey mood of it that stands out... Stalagmites, stalactites, put your nose out of the cave, and see the moonshine "and she comes out, like a white shadow..."... This chorus is heavenly! Just too short and not repeated enough! I want it LIVE! The album closer can be seen as awkward depending on the mood you're in. I'm not much into "sexy saxophone" lines but the lyrics about a man seeing his family die set to such unlikely music is disorienting... I can't form on opinion on it!

So, Peter, please remember this album! I want to hear either On the Air, the jangly D.I.Y., or if I'm lucky White Shadow in your next show! Yeah... I can dream. 'II' is decidedly underrated, and people do not seem to get the feeling of the album. Just open the booklet and look at Peter in his winter coat with snow around him in a bad part of town. It's about that. Except the sound is crystalline and thrilling. The cover itself is quite original! I wouldn't have thought of that...

Simon Lac, October 27th 2005

 

On October 23rd 2005, Peter Gabriel's 'III' is my favourite album of all time (and it has been for at least 3 years now). I haven't heard anything else quite like it. It didn't take many listens to figure it out either. Peter Gabriel entered my psyche and never escaped. That album sounds just like its slick ominous cover. But it does show hope all over the place, and ends on a very uplifting note.

Let's take a look at the album's sleeve first. You can only see the front here. What you can see is a melting and disintegrating Peter Gabriel, on an undistinguishable background that STILL seems squarish, with straight lines, robotic... The back side of the sleeve however shows a clear shot of Peter Gabriel, but now it is the background that is melting and disintegrating. It made me think that often, to see people as they real are (the clear picture), you need to forget about the environment, forget about the real world, forget about what they tell you, give them a chance to communicate from human to human. You have to distort your view of this "real world" to be able to really get what others are about. If you always keep in your mind the world as it is (the clear straight-lined background of the front cover), it seems that you will always see a deformed version of people. 'Melt''s music seems to explore this avenue. Both on the individual and social points of view.

The first side of the album definitely is about the individual side of things. With Intruder you will meet the sonority of 'III' in a "in your face" fashion; loud drum machine thuds, weird offbeat gimmicks (particularly percussions), scary and tensed melodies. 'III' was pretty much the introduction of drum machines to the world; so sad Phil Collins took them to hell after (because he does participate to this album). You will also notice that the instrumentation is often unclear. Guitars, pianos... Are they really there? Synthesizers of course? But what are the melodies made of? It seems no particular instrument makes the melody, it's just the whole of the musicians that create this weird atmosphere. Each piece is an "atmosphere", however, they are the most melodic and catchy atmospheres I have ever heard. So yes, the first half... Intruder describes in a REALLY creepy way the presence of what could be a burglar, or worse, in a house where a woman apparently lives (he smells her dresses, walks quietly on creaky wooden floors...). To what end? What does Peter mean? He just means to explore this feeling of undeniable fear I think. This gloom. It's easy to draw a comparison with fears in your head that hide in the closets of your soul, but that would be too easy wouldn't it? No Self-Control is oddly jangly and the xylophone lines penetrate your soul... But again, this uncontrollable behaviour of the protagonist is disturbing; "you know I hate to hurt you, I hate to see your pain, but I don't know how to stop, I don't know how to stop!". It pitter patters fast, there's no way to stop it... Until you are drawn into a semi-coma by the soothing saxophone instrumental Start which is only a prelude to that hit song about amnesia I Don't Remember. It's the most straight rocking song on there, still without a single cymbal sound (one of the first albums to feature the "no cymbals rule"). You get images of Peter being grilled with questions he can't answer, because he just CAN'T REMEMBER! "Stop staring at me like a bird of prey, I'm all mixed up I got nothing to say! I don't remember!". It reminds you that in the end, there is no absolute way to convince someone else that you are saying the truth... And no way to know if they believe you. It's this barrier. We can't plug on each others and just know... And it's made scary by Peter Gabriel. By this time, it's clear that 'Melt' is filled with paranoia, but it's so beautifully made and ORGANIC. Nothing is like plastic here. The first half still has Family Snapshot to astound you. It seems most of the lyrics of this song are shiver inducing. It describes slowly what could be a dream or actually a real murder. It is the murder of a public personality (not a governor, but the "man of the hour", we don't really know who it is, but it's obviously inspired by a very well known crime). The soft pianos start the song; "today, I'll make the action". And it accelerates in a thrilling way with saxophones and GORGEOUS fretless bass guitar "they won't see me or the gun... ... the cheering has really begun". One of the most beautiful lyrics ever written in my opinion, just because of its meaning and because of the way it sounds, comes after;

All you people in TV land, I will wake up your empty shell;
Peak-time viewing blown in a flash as I burn into your memory cell
'Cause I'm alive...

It seems the soul of the victim and the perpetrator exchange words before the murder happens too... just before it happens and the song had accelerated even more. There are two voices on top of each others, it seems it is both people involved saying the same thing together;

I don't really hate you, I don't care what you do, we were made for each others, me and you
I wanna be somebody, you were like that too... If you don't get given you learn to take
and I will take you...

And you are then taken to a moment in the past (or maybe the present?), a child is left alone, without attention. He's playing with a toy gun. Spine-chilling.

The second half seems to thrive on social behaviours. And Through the Wire is maybe one of the lesser songs on the album, but still rules nonetheless. It throbs forwards à la I Don't Remember and reminds you of how much we rely on communication systems (of course, "wires" aren't as required as they used to be nowadays). The second hit from the album follows in Games Without Frontiers featuring Kate Bush's famous "She's so POP-ular" (in fact it's an awfully pronounced "jeux sans frontières", that being the French translation of the title). Seriously, pay attention to all the sounds forming the rhythm pattern of this song, and this evil slide guitar sound. This has to be the most well constructed song in existence. There are so many things going on, yet there's space to breath in it. Games is filled with sounds, thrilling sounds, and when the synthesizer comes in behind the incredible whistling melodies, it's heaven. "If looks could kill they'd probably will in games without frontiers, war without tears" is sung on a huge descending melody, it's going to put you down. The song was inspired by a European TV show of the time in which there were feuds between villages (kind of like reality TV isn't it?!). "It's a knockout!" was the motto for the show I think. This song seems to question the concept of competition a bit. I know I don't like competition much myself. Games Without Frontiers is followed by two lesser known songs. The first one being the slightly psychotic-yet-merry sounding Not One of Us; "no you're not one of us!". It does explore racism (of skin colour or ideas) from the racist's point of view. It also starts with the great "it's only water in a stranger's tear". It has an odd melody too, but the chorus is incredibly catchy and punkish. I love it! The second is a minimalist song with only four lines. It is sparse in sounds (kind of Eno-ish) and finally reaches the lyrics; "It's nice here with the view of the trees, eating with a spoon, they don't give you knives? 'Spect you watch those trees blowing in the wind, we want to see you lead a normal life". I tend to believe it is people visiting someone who is mentally ill in an institution. Larry Fast makes this song titled Lead a Normal Life very interesting at the end with all the weird noises and synthesizer sounds. They sound... crazy a bit... Which brings back to the institution... But then, who's crazy?

The last song on the album, also a very well known song, is the tremendously important Biko, about Stephen Biko, a black anti apartheid activist who was brutally murdered in South Africa in 1977. Peter had taken notice of the event and wrote this incredibly simple song with lyrics more powerful than anything U2's Bono could dream of. And as opposed to U2's songs, Biko actually incorporates things from the cultures and people it talks about. I don't know how Peter could come up with something THAT powerful AND minimalist.

You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire
Once the flame begins to catch, the wind will blow it higher

I have seen Biko performed live. At the end of the song, there is a series of "oh oh ooooh!", and Peter easily convinces the crowd to yell it with him, with one fist in the air. The last line in the song is;

And the eyes of the world are watching now, watching now...

And live, Peter just turns the microphone around before leaving stage, and it's the crowd who has to keep singing the "oooh"s. Because you know, he's just Peter Gabriel, and we're the people who actually change things.

I have described mostly every song here. All of them deserve it. This album still doesn't feel old. I don't think it ever will. And that's despite having drum machines and no-cymbal rules! You have to own 'III'. It is filled with paranoia... But it's more than this. It starts out by stripping human beings bare, exploring their unexplainable fears, traits, aspects... But it becomes increasingly social, and ends on a few social comments that manage to be tied to the first half of the album. My "theory" on the album's sleeve still stands... Peter fuses individuals and the society they live in. After all, society is made of us, and whether we like it or not, we're really weird.

Simon Lac, October 23rd 2005

 

From here, reviews become erratic, jumping here and there in the discography... I'll get to it... It's just that I'm sort of unsure about his fourth album (Security), I want to get a proper remaster of it! So I just right at the end now and might sort of work backwards a bit...

'Passion' is the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's controversial movie 'The Last Temptation of the Christ'. I've seen it before, and having Jesus decide to accept the offer to be removed from the cross after he was crucified is indeed a rather controversial thing to do. Yes, you follow Jesus as he's getting old because he decided not to do "the sacrifice"... I wasn't too familiar with Peter Gabriel's 'Passion' when I saw the movie, I think I should watch it again, it was a bit too long though. At least it had David Bowie as Pontius Pilate.

But what a soundtrack! This music sets Peter Gabriel apart from the rest of the pop/rock artists' scene and puts him on a pedestal of respectability as a modern classical music composer. That is what it is, really. It is not pop/rock music, it is classical world music set in its times, but as timeless as the classical music of old. Words are not really used, although you will occasionally hear voices wailing, as if they were lost in a sandstorm. The music is beautiful and its emotional wave frequency should adhere exactly to people's nerve centre wave frequency producing heightened power! The use of foreign percussion loops and various cryptic instruments from different parts of the world is mesmerizing, but it is not simply world beat, no, this is extremely humane and clings to the part of men that is the same, wherever they may be. It's hard to talk about melodies, because they are not melodies in the pop sense of the term. Beautiful lines, perfect for their instruments, will repeatedly strike right through your soul as in Of These, Hope. So yes, there are melodies, beautiful ones, but the looping percussions and subtle tones of the synthesizers are as important, because the album is about a journey. There are centrepieces (The Feeling Begins, Of These, Hope, A Different Drum, Passion, With This Love...), they are special parts of the journey, punctuated by in-between moods that accompany all eras of one's life, even in the more eventless times. Of course, the middle-eastern setting is clear, but with a little imagination, I don't see why the music couldn't be about Christopher Columbus or World War II. I think the album's art acknowledges that, being very abstract, with a polarised light micrograph photography on the back...

You can listen using all your attention, or you can put it in the background, you can fall asleep to it, it will always be as meaningful. A wonderful work of art and love that transcends popular culture. Probably Peter Gabriel's most timeless album, although it is very hard to compare it with anything else in his discography except his other soundtracks, it is certainly very close to perfection.

Simon Lac, February 4th 2006

 

Hold on to your hat as you boot Peter's latest offering, because Darkness will blow it away with its evil start which sounds like an elephantric guitar. Ten years in the making... 'Up' does feel like 10 years were spent on it, and that's not always a good thing. On many songs, there are many layers of sounds that, in my opinion, didn't all need to be there. Still, it never totally messes up your ability to listen to the music, and each gimmick can be more or less clearly heard if you focus on it.

I'm a bit afraid that many of the songs will be highly attached to their era, which is something Peter Gabriel, up to now, had managed to avoid. Growing Up for instance, has the unmistakable beat sounds of the late 90s early 00s. The title pretty much explains its subject matter, it's danceable, but it goes on for something like seven minutes. Not many songs are under the 6 minutes mark in fact, and the heavy production can equalize the texture a bit, drowning otherwise well written songs like Sky Blue (drowning as in, making them seem a bit too similar to the next song, when it's actually different). The Barry Williams Show, about bad "rant" reality TV, is sort of funny, but again, suffers from length and era-specificity that might hurt it quite badly in the long term. Heck, even in 2002, The Barry Williams Show was already kind of out-dated. It played on radio for a few weeks and never reappeared. 'Up' was the only Peter Gabriel album that didn't get any significant airplay, sadly (maybe 'II' didn't get much either...). Me? I don't see anything bad in sight on 'Up', it is a dense journey through themes of growing up and dying.

Peter Gabriel's lyrics and voice saves the day as usual. The man has always been a classy artist, and this is shining again. My favourite is the new rendition of I Grieve, a song originally featured in the AIDS-themed movie 'Philadelphia' (or "Philadelphie" pronounced Pheelah-del-pheeee in French!). It IS about grieving, it is gorgeous, and the new revamped jangly second part inspires hope and a new outlook on life that wasn't quite there in the original. Darkness uses the image of a dark forest for fear, and I always love simple imagery like that. The chorus is a beautiful counterpoint of "you're not going to get me, fear" against the gloomy apocalyptic sounds found elsewhere. No Way Out is one of the songs that have a simpler production, and in my opinion it benefits from this a lot. You clearly hear the Hawai-5-0 style guitar riff, the soft percussions in the back and sparse piano chords; it is also very dramatic as it seems to be about a man living his last moments, and it is emotional enough when the chorus explodes and shows subtle lyrics in the back. I also like More Than This a lot because, well, knowing that there is more to life than this or the simple hope of something "after" death, is an odd feeling I often get, despite not being very religious or anything. Oddly, the more you study science, the more you realise how impossibly complex and awe-inspiring "life" is. Also, I am convinced that More Than This should have been the first single, because it is a recognizable Peter Gabriel piece. Sometimes I want to smack the music industry with a bludgeon (because I wanted to say "bludgeon").

So, yes, while 'Up' is brought down a bit by overproduction and sometimes length, there is still Peter Gabriel brilliance everywhere to be found in the form of lyrics, clever arrangements and uplifting hopeful chord sequences. Of course, to fully enjoy 'Up' I think you need to be acquainted with the man's psyche first. He mentioned that his next album will most likely be more acoustic and raw. That simple statement makes me impatient to hear what's been cooking when it's ready, hopefully, soon (yeah right, it's already been three years and a half now...).

Simon Lac, February 4th 2006