PETER GABRIEL

The second solo album of Peter Gabriel, universally known as 'Scratch', was released shortly after the ex-Genesis vocalist's debut LP, and introduced little to no significant innovations or variations compared to its predecessor; a more transitional, exploratory release, the second studio effort of Gabriel also sees Robert Fripp handling all the production duties, which ultimately results in a somewhat dry but organic sound, that hardly provides for that liveliness one might look for on an art rock album. And unlike 'Peter Gabriel' from 1977, this 1978 album feels more monotonous and lacking a strong musical direction, despite Gabriel experimenting with funk, glam and post-rock, the overall feel is a bit underwhelming as this album is not as eventful as the rest of the Englishman's excellent catalogue.

Of course, having Fripp as the producer allows Gabriel to examine his writing more freely, which had not been the case with his debut album, produced by Bob Ezrin, yet despite this circumstance, 'Scratch' is lackluster in terms of brilliant ideas - most of it works well and the listener will necessarily latch onto the more interesting fragments ('On the Air', 'Mother of Violence', 'White Shadow' and 'Exposure') but the album lacks the quirky intricacies of the best works of Gabriel, and with its overall lack of direction and stylistic unity, it fails to offer anything radical or inherently memorable. Joined by a large cast of guest musicians, including Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, and Sid McGinnis, Peter Gabriel expands his art rock credentials to a moderate degree, making his second solo effort more derivative and less exciting than the debut album - one of the main problems on 'Scratch' is the fact that the production is not great and some of the songs are really boring, and this overshadows the few excellent pieces of music on the album.

In The Court Of The Gabriel King

The first time I heard Peter Gabriel's solo work in 1980, I felt confused and even somewhat repulsed. Could this be the same Peter Gabriel of Genesis? He sounded like a poor imitation of David Bowie with certain ethnic overtones, and even his voice had changed, now more of a whisper. Obviously, Genesis had never been what I'd believed for years; apparently, neither was he.

Even Gabriel's first album, Car, included some songs that seemed like remnants of Genesis. But even so, the album didn't meet any of my expectations.

But then came the next two albums, and especially Security. It was then that I found something deeper and began to understand that Peter Gabriel was on a personal journey, with his creative compass just beginning to take shape. Then came So, and from that moment on, the mind behind the artist truly began to shine, moving even further away from his Genesis roots. So was so powerful that it became a timeless pop classic, one that even fans of other musical styles, like myself, could enjoy without hesitation.

Three years later, word spread that Gabriel was working on the soundtrack for a Scorsese film: The Last Temptation of Christ.

Passion: Music from The Last Temptation of Christ is not only Peter Gabriel's finest musical work, but also his true consolidation and recognition as a brilliant musician. In Genesis, and even in much of his solo work up to that point, that brilliance was only glimpsed. But with Passion, it can finally be fully understood. This album is one of the greatest in the history of music: just as So stands as a pop masterpiece, Passion is a triumph of serious and transcendent music. Without a doubt, this is the album that establishes Gabriel as a serious contender among the greatest musicians of all time. A genius, and in the best sense of the word, someone who surpasses his former bandmates.

Passion is an ethnic electronic ambient album that, from its first sound, transports you to the landscapes and paths once traveled by Jesus Christ. It is a mystical and spiritual musical experience, so carefully crafted that it evokes time and place with a hypnotic rhythm. Gabriel collaborated with some of the finest musicians on his record label, Real World Records. The album introduced many listeners to world- renowned artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N'Dour, L. Shankar, and Baaba Maal. N'Dour and Shankar had previously collaborated on So, and Passion also features recurring collaborators such as David Rhodes, Manny Elias, David Bottrill, and Manu Katché. The evocative album cover, Drawing Study for Self Image II by artist Julian Grater.

It would be pointless to discuss Passion song by song; the album is meant to be appreciated as a whole, not in parts. Gabriel did not release it alongside the film because he felt it was incomplete; he worked for two more years to present it as a complete artistic statement. That's why it's titled Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ, music that was used in the film, but not in its entirety.

After Passion, everything Peter Gabriel played carried the aura of genius. Even for me, his earlier albums took on new meaning in its light. Passion is his masterpiece and his true consolidation as a brilliant composer, something that never quite happened with Genesis 15 years earlier. It happened here, after So. That was the moment when Peter finally shed the wounds of his personal battles and emerged victorious, having overcome his own demons.

What makes pop music so good? What is it that drives people to explore it and want to pursue their own ideals through it? Is it the infectious grooves? Is it the hooks? Is it the market appeal? These questions have been on my mind for a bit now, especially as I listen to more and more genres of pop. It's a genre that doesn't just have variety, but also grit; glamour; magic. From the old pop rocks of The Beatles, to the more modern synths of Magdalena Bay, pop music in its entirety has become less of a genre and more of a cultural phenomenon. Whether it be the massively popular radio hits, or the more obscure alternative pickings, it feels like no matter what, there will always be a pop song waiting to find its place within someone's heart and soul.

But, for me, what do I find personally appealing in pop music? Well, it's mostly nostalgia as I grew up with pop music basically. My mom listened to a lot of modern day hits, my dad had more of an affinity for more mainstream hard rock and metal, my brother had some alternative picks but they were still the more mainstream ones, and my sister really likes Kpop. Really, I am the only one to break from the norm, especially if you looked at my ratings. However, that isn't to say I don't also have a pop backbone. Honestly I'd say my pop side is just as strong as my more experimental side. Some of the best records out there I have heard happen to be of the pop genre, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

One such album, though, is very close to being my all time favorite in terms of pop music (second to Vulnicura by Björk, of course), that being So by Peter Gabriel.

So, at least for me, is THE Peter Gabriel album. It is where he fully mastered the mix between his more accessible pop sides, with his more sophisticated ambient scores, and puts on an 80s new wave twist that really ties the record as a whole.

I think what really makes this record the best in his rather big discography is that, simply put, it's still a very forward thinking collection of songs. Sure, you could make an argument that they may not be as 'progressive' as Peter Gabriel 3, and certainly not in the same boat as his work with Genesis, but there is an undeniable grit that persists even here. From the first track alone of Red Rain, you get what is essentially a blueprint of how Peter Gabriel wants his pop music to be like. Moving both physically and emotionally, with an edge of danceability, as well as introspection. He never lost his songwriting spark in his solo career after leaving Genesis, and in fact I'd say he fully mastered it!

He can write fun, bouncy, poppy hooks and numbers like on Big Time, or he can write slow moving ensembles that benefit from emotions and dignity like on Mercy Street.

His song writing even works in this album's favor as I believe there is no bad song here. Not a single dud. In fact, every track here is nearly perfect in my eyes.

I mean, really, who doesn't love Sledgehammer? It's a song of Gabriel trying to woo someone, but he doesn't do it in the same fashion as all those other sexy numbers from around the time, and instead goes for big scores and more of a focus on symbolism than ever. It's also just my favorite track Peter Gabriel has made. I don't care if it might not be the most groundbreaking thing he has done, there is just something so infectiously good about Sledgehammer that it makes it hard to not just gush with love about it.

Alternatively, there is a song that can rival Sledgehammer, and it is Don't Give Up. It's very much the opposite of Sledgehammer in every way. Sledgehammer feels lustful and bombastic, while Don't Give Up is slow and mellow, but it honestly works! Especially Kate Bush being on vocals here during the chorus. Kate Bush was practically hitting the big scene with Hounds of Love in 1985, so her inclusion here makes sense, but it is still very nice to see Peter being friends with other musicians, and even including them on his albums. Not even the first time he did this as on Peter Gabriel 3, Phil Collins was on drums for a few of the songs. Sure Peter and Phil were also in Genesis, but Phil also had his own very popular solo career, so I think it all works out.

Pop hitters being pals with pop hitters? What a coincidence! Next you'll tell me Trent Revnor and David Bowie worked together!

I honestly cannot stop putting it into words on how much I love this record. It has everything a pop record should have, and even more. Great production, great vocals, great instrumentation, great amounts of danceability, greatly somber moments, and just a bunch of fun tracks to go along with.

In a way, I feel like So was the basis for modern pop music to come, and no I am not talking about stuff like Imagine Dragons or Ed Sheeran. I am talking about bands and people like Kikuo, Björk, MGMT, Sufjan Stevens, and Animal Collective. I feel like if it wasn't for albums like So, modern pop music would be very different today, and maybe worse off.

So represents what I love with pop music in all its facets. It is why I am always down to listen to something new and exciting, no matter the genre. I may have never realized it, but pop has shaped me just as much as prog or any other alt genre. And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Best track: All of them

Worst track: N/A

Once, I wrote an anecdotal article about ten legendary live albums. Somehow, Peter Gabriel's "Plays Live" was not included in that list, which is actually strange. The double album "Plays Live" with its distinctive cover featuring a close- up of Gabriel with his face painted like a monkey is as legendary as it gets. Gabriel and his albums were, to say the least, trending topics in my environment in the 80s. It was a missed opportunity that I overlooked the album in my article. With this review, I am taking revenge on myself, so to speak.

First some facts. "Plays Live" consists of sixteen songs recorded during a tour of the United States and Canada in 1982. The selection on the album comes from four locations in the Midwest of America. The first twelve songs were recorded during three different concerts in the state of Illinois, while the last four songs were recorded in Kansas City. The album was released on June 6, 1983, as a double LP and oh, how impressive LP covers are. In 1985, a slimmed- down version called "Plays Live Highlights" was released, featuring only twelve songs, some of which were also shortened. Finally, in 1987, the complete album was released on a double CD and it wasn't until 2019 that it became available as a digital stream on various platforms.

The liner notes state the following: Some additional recording took place not a thousand miles away from the home of the artist. The generic term for this process is cheating. Care has been taken to keep the essence of the gigs intact, including human imperfection.

I don't care about all that. I firmly believe in the band's integrity. What spontaneous and passionate music the gentlemen bring and how skilled they are. Listen to how drummer Jerry Marotta manifests himself and how he collaborates with the incomparable Tony Levin on bass guitar and Chapman Stick. Listen to how guitarist David Rhodes and keyboardist Larry Fast fill the music in their own unique way and above all, do not overlook Gabriel's amazing voice. I often use the word amorous to describe vocals in my reviews, but Gabriel elevates the word to the fourth power. Sometimes it seems like there are multiple vocal cords in his throat. No, I'm not talking about harmony singing or anything like that. Just his powerful voice.

The album comes at a great point in his career. He has four solo albums to draw from at that time and he does so abundantly. Only one song is an odd one out. It's the David Bowie-esque I Go Swimming, a song originally intended for his third album. It's a catchy uptempo number, in my opinion, truly something meant for the stage. Gabriel's music deserves to be released live and realize that it is happening for the first time on "Plays Live". From the scorching opening track The Rhythm Of The Heat with its angular tom rhythm and thunderous climax to the impressive closing piece Biko, it's a stronghold of intensity and energy you hear. Of course, everything is well balanced, with a pleasant variety. The contemplative San Jacinto passes by and time and time again, I am floored by the powerful guitar chords and Gabriel threatening to sing the world to pieces. There are also a few lively songs like On The Air and D.I.Y., contrasting with a couple of calm songs like Humdrum and Family Snapshot, but the majority is devoted to the regular Gabriel songs. I'm talking about tracks like I Have The Touch, Not One Of Us, No Self Control, I Don't Remember and Shock The Monkey. The hit Solsbury Hill is also in attendance and believe me, back in 1983, it wasn't as catchy as it is now. I always thought it was a nice song.

"Plays Live" was my most played LP at the time. I don't know that for sure, of course, but my feeling tells me it's true. I hardly ever listen to this magnificent album anymore. I can't. It hangs neatly framed on the wall. Out of respect.

Originally posted on www.progenrock.com

Having been a PG fan for decades, I have to say this album infuriates me. Not because of the music, which is excellent, but because of the formatting. Many people have criticized progressive rock as being pretentious - the songs are too long or too complicated. That has never been a problem with me. I prefer my music intelligent. On i/o, PG has achieved a new level of pretention in giving us two different mixes plus a Blue Ray Audio file that will not play on older systems such as mine. Having two different mixes signifies either that the artist is not sure what he wants his album to sound like or that he is trying to cover all bases for commercial reasons. The artistic reasons given I declare spurious. PG has always included visuals with his music, first with his costuming and performances in early Genesis and beyond, then creating interesting videos. His live shows remain legendary. The Blue Ray included in this package is his way of including visual artists with his music production. All good and fine, no problem. But to put it on a such a format that is incompatible with older systems is too much for me. I understand this format sounds better than older formats, which should be expected. If only I could experience it without buying a new system. Innovation is a good thing, but not in itself, which is what is going on here. Having listened to both mixes I can honestly say I prefer the Dark Side mix to the Bright Side mix and would have preferred the artist had the integrity to release an album worthy of his legacy, a single album. I now have three versions of the same album, an absurdity in itself, one I prefer over the other, and a third I cannot listen to. This nonsense I do not need. Even if I could play the Blue Ray, I would probably only do it once. If I want to watch music I will watch a live performance because, you know, music. I have long disliked having multiple mixes of the same song on a single CD, or even worse, a live version of a song I had just listened to. No, not happy with this album. I repeat that the music is excellent even if it constantly reminds me of music he has released in the past. The album is a culmination of all he has done before. But I won't recommend it because of the pretentions involved. I realize I am likely in the minority on this issue, but that has never bothered me. I will maintain my position even if I am the only one to do so. I hope that Mr. Gabriel will put out another album soon, and not makes us wait twenty years for new music, one that is an album, and not an exercise in pretention.

So (pun intended), here we have it. This is Peter Gabriel releasing his inner Phil Collins in this magnificent double vinyl disc (single cd) album. It was after his parting from Rosanna Arquette that PG released this, one of his finest albums, with several oblique references to the breakup (break down?) of his relationship with the said RA. While certainly not as explicitly painful as PC's expressions on the same subject, Gabriel does get his point across in some of his compositions here, "Come Talk To Me", "Love to be Loved", "Blood of Eden", "Only Us" and "Secret World". That's nearly half the album. But whereas his old mucker PC gets his own point on the subject across very clearly and in simple terms, Gabriel broadcasts the same message here, in utterly compelling complexity. Did I say, "complexity"? Simply put, once this album goes onto the turntable (or into the cd player), the listener can't stop listening, to everything, and again listening to everything, until the end of song number twelve. And then listening again, just to try to take it all in. The musical quality here is just so good that its great. Yes, it does have to be said that like all great albums, US requires more than just a couple of spins for the listener to appreciate all that it has to offer (reference The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway as an example). But if the listener can invest a little more time that would be required by, say, something akin to a Take That offering, then the rewards will be exponentially more. A Big Five Stars Here for this magnificent album.

The third Peter Gabriel album was a milestone for multiple reasons: It is considered his artistically best album. It features first world music inspiration, be it in the experimental "Biko" or in a more restrained way "Lead a normal life". On a less significant note, the supporting cast is stellar - including the former band mate Collins (the first album track could have been linked to the Duke's-Abacab Genesis sound") and I admire his subdued but distinct beat on "Biko". Kate Bush provides memorable background vocals.

The album does not follow any concept, it is rather a collection of unrelated tracks.

Gabriel fully embraces unconventional song structures, creative rhythms, voice colours and various trends (world music, Bowie's Berlin era on "Start", punk/new wave ("I don't remember" and "Not one of us"). No doubt this is the album that so many other artists revered to.

The second PB album is not as bad as the rating says and its author dismisses it. The album may have been a bit rushed and that led to fewer interesting music ideas. I like the fact that the album is less flamboyant than PB's first album. In fact, it is now closer to pop than progressive rock. Peter Gabriel 1 had numerous instrumental sections that referenced Genesis as opposed to the more sparse Peter Gabriel 2. That's not to say that Gabriel became less ambitious; he still has the ability to create music that sounds like nothing he did before - "White shadow" has great synth structure, pedal-steel-guitar flavour and a semi-classical synth motive followed by a decent subdued guitar rock solo. "Indigo" returns back to the melancholy of "Slowburn".

While Peter Gabriel 2 was a bit of retreat from Gabriel's mighty music statements, it's far from being subject to dismissal.

Peter Gabriel is one of the most representative legends of progressive rock, both for his contribution in Genesis and in his later successful solo career; his music, always avant-garde, with a constant willingness to experiment with textures and styles that transcend the rock spectrum, has been an indelible personal stamp. But after 2002's "Up", there was a long creative silence in which he devoted himself to recreating his music on tour, reissues, and adapting covers by other artists. Two interminable decades later, almost a lifetime, he returns to complete a work whose first sketches were conceived in 1995: "i/o".

Accompanied by his faithful squires of years, guitarist David Rhodes, the extraordinary Tony Levin on bass and percussionist Manú Katche, and a battalion of guest musicians including Brian Eno, Gabriel's deep, raspy voice sounds fresh and up to the task, and he borrows from himself similar formulas with which mainly "So" (1986), "Us" (1992) and to a lesser extent the aforementioned "Up", placed him at the top of the general consideration, and makes use of them and their inertia to complete a mix of pieces that could easily be part of those albums. For example, the heartfelt and emotional "Playing for Time" with its reminiscences of "Here Comes the Flood" (piano version 1990), the depth of the lilting "Four Kinds of Horses" (one of the best pieces on the album, if not the best), the funky "Road to Joy" and its airs of "Kiss that Frog", and the melancholy of the whispering "So Much" in the best style of "Father, Son" from the experimental OVO (2000). Everything is in its place, just as the Brit demanded, obsessive about details. But the moment for these songs was that one, and not this one. No more, no less. Despite the impeccable production work, the light of creativity appears dim on the album and fails to illuminate it as it should, and that is something that is missed, in my opinion.

"i/o" is certainly a good work, as true as it is that after so many years and Gabriel being who he is, a little more creative brilliance was to be expected.

3/3.5 stars

Having read some of the 2star reviews, I had to give my own opinion regarding the last (really probably the last album) album from Peter Gabriel. I'm a big Gabriel fan. Always have been, since the time I listened Solsbury Hill when I was eleven and my father was driving us our of the city, Gabriel has been in my mind. By then I didn't even know who he was, I just loved the music. i/o is a return to the more festive side of his music, back to sounds that echo his most popular and probably important album, So. It's no wonder that here at ProgArchives, that particular album has such bad reviews, it's full of Classic Prog Canon fans that cannot forgive musicians shift and evolve (think of last SW album). This short seeing way is what sometimes makes me question the genre itself and my own past as a strict and hermetic listener. Peter Gabriel has just delivered a testament for the future, probably a last effort in making music. The sound despite the fact of having notable links with older music from him, seems actually tremendously actual, the lyrics are probably at his peak, Gabriel has really a lot to say! I'm just grateful for the chance of hearing new material, that is not repetitive like much of the music nowadays DreamTheater, TFK, Neal Morse and others are making, engaging in formulas that make more of the same. I do not see this here. My only doubt is the fact of needing two mixes, I think one was enough and the second could be understood as a plus for people wanting to invest in it. While hearing it I couldn't but help to think that this is a goodbye, a farewell. I enjoyed it from the very beginning to the last song.