UP

As a huge fan of Gabriel-era Genesis, and most of his solo work as well, i'd been long awaiting Peter Gabriel's follow-up to 1992's "Us" LP. Unfortunately, i kind of gave up the wait in 1997. Since the latest work, "Up", arrived 5 years too latefor an ardent fan, imaging how it sounded to a public who hadn't seen much of Gabriel for 10 years? The answer is, "it didn't sound like anything, because (a) few people heard it, and (b) those that did would be hard-pressed to find this very memorable".

The Sound of "Up" is darker, more claustrophobic than the songs on "So" or "Us", a definite return to the spooky density exhibited by Gabriel on his earlier LP's (notably "3" and "Security"). But where Gabriel's tunes used to inspire with latin or african rhythms and interesing sounds accompanying equally-inspired lyrics, "Up" is like throwing too much in the soup. The result is a barrage of disjointed sounds and vocals that don't communicate much except, "it's hard growing old".

There are some beautiful moments when the balance is right (for example "Sky Blue" and "Growing Up"), but they're outnumbered by plodding songs that don't touch a nerve even after many listens. Gabriel's albums have always been challenging to understand, but it's a challenge to like much of "Up". Basically, my sentiments are, "it took 10 years for this?" Nothing noteworthy in terms of themes or sounds. Instead, it's PG revisiting himself, but unable to recapture the creative spark.