|
|
Peter GabrielAlbums ReviewedPeter Gabriel (Car) (1977)Peter Gabriel (Scratch) (1978) Peter Gabriel (Melt) (1980) Peter Gabriel (Security) (1982) So (1986) Passion (1989) Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats (1990) Us (1992) Secret World Live (1994) Peter Gabriel (Car)(1977)No doubt anxious to establish his distinct identity apart from Genesis, Gabriel takes on almost every style imaginable on this solo debut. Due to this it's difficult to make generalisations about this record because of its scattershot nature - it definitely has its moments, but as a whole it's tentative and uncertain. American producer Bob Ezrin adds a radio friendly sheen, which confuses matters even more - the album veers between vying for mainstream accceptance and more self-consciously complex material. The best tracks are those that stick closest to the progressive mould of Genesis; the opening progressive rock of 'Moribund The Burgermeister' utilises Gabriel's theatricism, and the biographical 'Solsbury Hill' (with Robert Fripp's ending guitar pyrotechnics) recalls Genesis' acoustic tendencies. The closing epic 'Here Comes The Flood' is in similar territory, although its grandiose arrangement recalls Queen more than Genesis. On the opposite end of the scale, the texturally driven, low-key 'Humdrum' is the best precursor for Gabriel's subsequent solo path. In between these high points Gabriel plays some generic rock and pop/rock, and contributes a pair of the worst songs he's ever written to his catalogue. 'Waiting For The Big One' is the worst offender, featuring an irritating blues riff endlessly repeated. Meanwhile, we're in favour of electicism at this site, but Barbershop quartets will be welcome at the Fyfeopedia when hell freezes over. Excuse me, 'Excuse Me', but no kudos for you. As well as its uneven nature, another disappointing aspect is the inexplicable quality drop in Gabriel's lyric writing skills. Normally his lyrics are stuffed with emotional resonance, or clever jokes, but here he's often generic; "Don't get me wrong/I'll be strong" or "Trying to find a way to make it alive" are well beneath his usual level of excellence. In Genesis Gabriel often wrote in allegory, and relied on his bandmates for musical support; as a solo artist his debut finds him shakily finding his own feet and personal voice. Although he's in good enough touch to produce individual gems like 'Moribund The Burgermeister' and 'Here Comes The Flood', he doesn't sustain it for an entire album. 
 Peter Gabriel (Scratch)(1978)After a brilliant sequence of work with Genesis, Scratch continues an indecisive beginning to Gabriel's solo career. Instead of every song shooting off in a different direction like the debut, this sophomore album tends towards anonymous faceless rock. Despite the contributions of King Crimson's Robert Fripp, who produces and plays guitar, and bassist Tony Levin, both idiosyncratic virtuosos who you'd expect to add personality to the project, Scratch often sounds like a mainstream late seventies rock album, largely uninfluenced by new wave or disco, with less emphasis on the progressive elements that were the most interesting aspect of the first debut. Gabriel's piano work is often dominant and isn't distinctive enough to give the album identity, while Fripp is strangely subdued - his signature is all over the awesome 'Exposure', but it's hard to hear what else he bought to the project. Fripp insisted of a fast recording process, at odds with Gabriel's usually meticulous approach, while Gabriel's vocals are also unusual - his voice is low in the mix and harsher than usual. The dated synthesizers are also annoying in places - the riff in the chorus of 'A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World' largely kills the song for me, while 'Home Sweet Home' even features a bland saxophone solo. That's not to say this album doesn't have its moments; the pair of opening singles are both strong, and largely forgotten from the Gabriel catalogue; 'On The Air' uses a Who-like formula of synth loop and crashing guitars, while 'D.I.Y.' has a great bass riff. 'White Shadow' is easily my favourite song here; the mainstream rock sound actually helps the song, with haunting synthesizer tones, dramatic piano punctuations, and a memorable guitar riff in the chorus. It's noticeably more intricate than most of the other material, and could almost have fitted on The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. The other great song here is 'Exposure', built around Fripp's soundscapes and a kickass Levin bassline - it's weird and inventive in a way that most of these other songs aren't. Elsewhere, songs like 'Indigo' could have been interesting with better arrangements, but tend towards generic under the unhelpful arrangements and production. This album is largely forgotten in the Gabriel canon - often these songs fail to feature on Gabriel's hits compilations, and I've never heard anything from it on the radio, and while it is comparatively weak, it's still substantial enough in its own right that it's worth hearing. Thankfully though, Gabriel would alter his approach to music-making completely with his next release, rescuing a career that was quickly sliding into irrelevance.
Peter Gabriel (Melt)(1980)Without this album, it's not unlikely that Peter Gabriel would now be remembered only for his stint as Genesis front man. In the space of a single album, he jumps from fading into artistic irrelevance to revitalising himself as an important voice in contemporary music. Even Genesis in their peak years were more of an interesting footnote in rock rather than trail blazers, but Melt still sounds edgy and vital, and plenty of innovations on it filtered down to other younger acts at the time. While the cast of musicians is largely similar to before, enlisting young producer Steve Lillywhite, also working with U2 and XTC at the time and cameos from new wave stars Paul Weller and Kate Bush, show that Gabriel is back in touch with the innovative end of the 1980 mainstream His sound palate has shifted markedly from the previous record; there are harder guitars in 'No Self Control' and 'And Through The Wire' and a more minimalist aesthetic on other tracks like 'Lead A Normal Life' and 'Start'. Even more pronounced is the emphasis on rhythm; instead of the world music influence that would dominate his later work, it's just innovative drumming and drum machine programming. This album pioneered the gated reverb sound, and the use of a cymbal-less drum kit; a device that would soon be overused, but which sounds fresh and terrific on these arty tracks. For music that's so totally immersed in synthesisers and drum machines, Melt holds up surprisingly well today, and while his lyrics were mostly aimless on the first two albums, here he hooks into much more interesting themes. The gated reverb on Phil Collins' drum kit announces the first track, 'Intruder', setting the album's tone of paranoia and isolation with its creepy, rhythmic attack and dark lyrics ("I like you lying awake/Your bated breath charging the air"). 'No Self-Control' and 'I Don't Remember' raise the intensity even further, with heavy guitars and Gabriel's vocals almost unhinged. The two key tracks depart from the theme of personal paranoia - 'Family Snapshot' takes the character of an assassin desperate for attention, and even though it's piano-based like much of the previous album, it's emotionally charged and makes use of space and atmosphere much more effectively. 'Biko' shows the first influence of world music on a Peter Gabriel record, although it's a pretty weird amalgam with the synthesised bagpipes, it's arguable that Gabriel never made more effective use of world music, while its minimal lyrics document Stephen Biko's cause more effectively and emotionally than a more preachy, verbose writer would. Bush appears on the single 'Games Without Frontiers' and it's another winner with its off-kilter feel, abstract lyrics and whistling. Plus all the second tier tracks are effective - the brief instrumental 'Start' is a key part of the album's flow, 'And Through The Wire' rocks (try listening to The Replacements' 2006 release 'Message To The Boys' back to back with it), while the minimalism of 'Lead A Normal Life' is mournful and affecting. Melt is a landmark release, finally giving Gabriel's career some direction and establishing a new masterpiece in his canon, one that's as strong as his best work in Genesis but completely different in character.
Peter Gabriel (Security)(1982)Gabriel takes the innovations of Melt to their logical extremes on his followup effort, exploring world rhythms further and writing songs that are further removed from conventional structures. While Melt had a largely rock feel, with loud guitars and faster tempos, this record's far more sedate, with half the songs running past six minutes and dominated by slowly shifting textures, with more use of synthesizers. There are less significant guests than the previous record, with Van Der Graaf Generator's Peter Hammill on backing vocals the only notable name. Instead, the album credits draw attention to the technology utilised, going as far to individually list the voicings used on the CMI synth (eg. "Scraped Paving Stone", "Glock", "Treated Exhaust Pipe"). With the long running times, and reliance on synthesisers, Security can be a hard album to take; some of the tracks have a long build up for a relatively short climax, as both 'The Rhythm Of The Heat' and 'Wallflower' build slowly to rhythmic punches that only kick in for their final sections. Regardless, Security is easily one of Gabriel's most intriguing records; the long running times allow him time to explore his ideas fully and at least half of these eight tracks rank alongside his very best. Namely, 'San Jacinto' tells the story of an Native American rite of passage, drawing parallels with the decline of the civilization as its absorbed by modern culture, slowly building ominous synthesisers, then breaking into cathartic guitars. Opener 'The Rhythm Of The Heat' is brilliantly titled, and the music lives up to that with a trance like buildup and sudden release. 'I Have The Touch' is punchy and direct (although the tightened, remixed version on Shaking The Tree is even more effective) with rhythmic, brash lyrics ("I'm waiting for ignition, I'm looking for a spark/Any chance collision and I light up in the dark"). Best of all, 'Wallflower', dedicated to a political prisoner, shares the same kind of emotional territory that 'Don't Give Up' murders on the next album, but here it's an absolute winner with Gabriel repeating the phrase "hold on" while his voice croaks endearing, and hitting a moment of transcendance with the gorgeous synth melody just before the drums kick in. Of the other upbeat songs, 'Shock The Monkey' is a nice enough single but 'Kiss Of Life' suffers from the synthetic arrangements in a way that the other songs don't and would have benefited from a more organic treatment. I wouldn't begin a musical acquaintance with Gabriel through Security - it's dense and slow moving - but this is some of his most in-depth and interesting material, and any serious fan who doesn't mind large helpings of eighties synth is going to lap this up.
So(1986)After slogging around for years as underground cult heroes, the disparate threads of Genesis had become major commercial forces by the mid 1980s - the Phil Collins-led version of the group, Collins' solo career, and Mike Rutherford's side-project Mike And The Mechanics were all enjoying huge profiles, often with music that was far more banal than the group created during their prime. Gabriel followed his former band-mates to success with 1986's So, his most popular and commercially oriented album; signs of his new direction include an actual album title, extravagant music videos ('Sledgehammer') and a smouldering portrait shot on the front sleeve. Less superficially, these songs are simpler and more direct than before. While purists may have been unimpressed by material like the straight-ahead love song 'In Your Eyes' and the faux-Motown groove of 'Sledgehammer', this direction as a whole isn't a problem, and the two songs cited show Gabriel's ability to effectively write pop songs; even though the record is somewhat incoherent with a marked contrast between the up-tempo singles and the moodier album tracks. More tellingly, this record's Achilles Heel is 'Don't Give Up' a sappy, overwrought duet with Kate Bush that's indisputably the worst piece of product either have been involved with; it actually has its share of good ideas, especially the pretty gospel bridge, but its sabotaged by a horrendously treacly chorus ("Don't give up/You still have us"). Fortunately, the other singles are pretty much excellent; opener 'Red Rain' strikes a nice balance between artiness and accessibility, 'Sledgehammer' is kind of awkward white funk, but still memorable, 'Big Time' is an interesting commentary on eighties values, while 'In Your Eyes' is poignant and melodic (I've always thought with a few word substitutions, it would make a terrific worship song). And even if a couple of the album tracks are relatively forgettable, 'Mercy Street' is beautiful and 'That Voice Again' is driving and urgent. For better or worse, this is the Gabriel album that the general public are most acquainted with - while he's made stronger records, there's plenty of substance here, and it's more thoughtful and respectable than the product his former Genesis bandmates were selling by the barrow load in the same year.
Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ(1989)The most highly regarded of Peter Gabriel's four soundtrack albums, and the only one I've heard, Passion is the soundtrack from the Martin Scorcese film The Last Temptation Of Christ. As a side note, if you haven't seen the movie it's well worth checking out - there was considerable controversy over its blasphemous content when it was released, but the balance between the divinity and humanity of Christ is fascinating. While Gabriel had dabbled in world music previously, this is his first album long excursion, rooted in North African sounds, but using musicians from as far away as Ghana, India and New Guinea and helping the careers of vocalists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Youssou N'Dour. There's plenty of musical input from Gabriel himself; while he rarely uses his voice, he's playing percussion, bass and keyboard parts, and it's the subtle collision of Western and African musical values that makes the record's musical palette compelling. As a soundtrack, it's terrific. As a Peter Gabriel album, it's good, but I'd still rather to listen his best song-based albums. The music has been reworked so it flows as an album - the songs are sequenced differently in the film itself, and Gabriel took extra time to complete the soundtrack after the film was released - but there's still perhaps too much incidental music here and I'd prefer a version with another fifteen to twenty minutes pared from the running time. So while there are a few tracks that don't do much more than make spooky background noises, there are plenty of truly memorable parts that make this one of Gabriel's stronger albums, including the haunting flute in 'Of These Hope', the building tension of 'The Feeling Begins' and the piano melody of 'It Is Accomplished'. The pretty 'With This Love' almost sounds like it comes from a Western church tradition, a link which the choral reprise reiterates. And a couple of the pieces rank alongside Gabriel's best songs - the dramatic violin of 'Zaar' (based on a traditional Egyptian rhythm that was used to ward off evil spirits) and the majestic 'A Different Drum', where Gabriel's voice soars in a wordless vocal, after escalating tension from the percussion loops and Youssou N'Dour's vocals. As someone who's not normally interested in soundtracks, I'm happy to admit Passion is an essential part of Gabriel's canon, and it's also a key moment in the spread of world music into Western popular music.
Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats(1990)This was my first Gabriel album - it's a pretty decent introduction, but you're probably better served to go for the original albums. Note the slightly weird song selection; hits like 'On The Air' and 'In Your Eyes', as well as the classic 'A Different Drum', are omitted, while the horrible 'Don't Give Up' and the obvious album track 'Mercy Street' are included. The three non-album tracks are all excellent - a punchier remix of 'I Have The Touch', a solo piano remake of 'Here Comes The Flood' and the title track are enough to make me want to keep this even if I have all the albums these songs are drawn from.
Us(1992)I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, but there's a pretty obvious snail metaphor for Peter Gabriel's solo career since the mid 1980s; it took him six years to follow So with Us, while Us' successor Up took a further ten years. However, Gabriel's painstaking efforts are fully justified in the results of Us, with evidence in its tight construction and many layers of sound. A perusal of the lyric sheet reveals that many of the songs are individually verbose enough to fuel an entire punk album, although Gabriel's complex imagery obviously wouldn't fit the genre. Gabriel's approach to recording is probably correct for his age: once you're past your youthful confidence and your initial burst of inspiration has dried up, the best way to produce a great album is to grind it out. To achieve this Gabriel utilises an impressive cast of backing musicians, including Brian Eno, Sinead O'Connor, King Crimson's Tony Levin, and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. Of course the mere precision of Us wouldn't be worth anything alone; it simply augments even more important characteristics of the album. Us is Gabriel's divorce album, so there's a strong emotional undercurrent; there's an inherent pain and loneliness to 'Come Talk to Me' and 'Love to be Loved', captured by Gabriel's expressive voice. On his official site Gabriel states that "I have never been more sincere in my life. Whether that's sincere enough, I don't know. But I do know that I have taken a lot of trouble to give the listener an unadulterated glimpse of my inner life. Therapy taught me that it's always essential to be open about one's feelings and emotions, in order to get a grip on them. The work (on Us) was an enormous help to me, because I have the music completely under control, unlike my life. This control function gave me security, and this security enabled me in turn to come to terms better with my problems." Parallels with Adam and Eve haunt 'Blood of Eden' and 'Secret World', while a Biblical image of cleansing is referred to in 'Washing of the Water'. Gabriel also doesn't neglect to provide accessible entry points to Us. 'Steam' is the obvious single, driven by Levin's bass line, but 'Digging in the Dirt' and the phallic 'Kiss that Frog' are also funky and catchy. Us is obviously constructed as a coherent album with a consistent ambient world beat atmosphere, although there's ample variation in the form of the upbeat material and the countryish ballad 'Washing of the Water'. Other highlights include the heart wrenchingly gorgeous 'Blood of Eden' and the satisfying closer 'Secret World'. The only real fault with Us is that some of the material is a little uninteresting: 'Fourteen Black Paintings' and 'Love To Be Loved' have nice atmosphere, but don't justify their long running times as well as the rest of the songs do. Despite these Us is an immensely fulfilling album and is downright miraculous considering that Gabriel was in his forties when it was released (although he was only in his thirties when he commenced work on it).
Secret World Live(1994)Recorded in Italy during the Us tour, Secret World Live's tracklist is largely drawn from So and Us, understandably since Plays Live covered his earlier solo career. Like most live albums, Secret World Live is largely superfluous, but I'm enough of a Gabriel fan to sit through it quite happily. While most of the versions here aren't too different from their studio equivalents, it's a pleasant exhibition of western pop and world music synthesis. The percussion, successfully replicating the loops from the studio albums, and Tony Levin's awesome bass lines keep a nice groove going, while Gabriel's vocals are as compelling as ever. Gabriel is joined on vocals by Paula Cole, which unfortunately means that the duet 'Don't Give Up' is featured. It's actually a marked improvement on the studio version, since it's not quite as insipid in a live setting, but it's still a waste of eight minutes of running time that could have been taken by earlier hits. The sole early song featured here is 'Solsbury Hill', and it's also the most radically altered piece; the folksy acoustic arrangement of the original is successfully replaced by a bouncy world beat. Gabriel also tacks on a pretty introduction to 'Steam' before it launches into its funk groove. Other unusual items include 'Shaking The Tree' and 'Across The River' and 'Slow Marimbas', a couple of obscure instrumentals. The former features some pleasant wailing, before launching in the last lap with some nice piano and Gabriel vocals. Some of the low key songs like 'Washing Of The Water' and 'Blood Of Eden' lose their intimacy live, but complicated pieces like 'Come Talk To Me' and 'Secret World' are delivered effortlessly. Before I bought this album I'd never heard 'In Your Eyes' before, so I enjoy the twelve minute version that concludes the show; it's an effective utilisation of Gabriel's voice. There's nothing revelatory here, and there's a lot of other Gabriel albums you should buy before this, but it's perfectly enjoyable if you're an aficionado. Plus my mint condition double CD copy only cost $3, so I got value for my money.
Up(2002)I don't have this one yet - I'm a bit of a cheapskate so I'm hoping to find it for like $4 or something. |
|
|
|
Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
