PETER GABRIEL 2 [AKA: SCRATCH]

PG clearly sounds like a man who's desperately running out of good ideas. Some of his new songs are virtually tuneless and plainly annoying, e.g. "DIY", "Animal Magic", "Perspective". To my ears, "On the Air", the opening number, sounds far too shrill and harsh. (Fortunately, it would appear in a much more convincing version a few years later, on PLAYS LIVE, where Gabriel finally realises its potential as one of his 'screamers'.) On other tracks ("Indigo", "Flotsam and Jetsam") Gabriel seems tired. "Exposure" would be performed more powerfully by Terre Roche, on Robert Fripp's excellent solo album bearing the same title. This leaves us with just a few songs that actually pass muster. The reggae-pastiche of "A Wonderful Day in a Wonderful World" reminds me of the comic German rocker Udo Lindenberg, particularly the way Peter sings: 'My name is Einstein, did you know time is a curve?' "Mother of Violence" is a delicate ballad, beautifully accompanied on piano and acoustic guitar. And "Home Sweet Home", finally, is a great way to finish a mediocre album: a sad ballad in which Gabriel treats us to one of those cynical narratives that were his speciality in Genesis days. (Strangely enough, it is another satire aimed at the buying and selling of real estate, just like "Get 'em out by Friday"!)

All in all, it seemed obvious that Gabriel urgently needed a change. And change he did.

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