I/O

This dude obviously knows he has time on his side: 20 years! Can you imagine a 17-year old taking 20 years to puy out an album?! In a solo career dating back to 1976, this is only Peter's eighth studio album of solo material--and four of those came in the first six years, so four albums of original new music over the past 40 years!

1. "Panopticom" (5:17) sounds like someone else's anthemic song--especially the chorus. Nice to hear Tony Levin's big bass sound on a PG song again. The layers of subtleties are PG-worthy but, 20 years worth? (8.75/10)

2. "The Court" (4:21) a song that is quite reminiscent of many of PG's most classic (and top-selling) albums. The strings-heavy chorus motif is rather fresh for PG. Having really lost any lust and/or enthusiasm for Peter Gabriel music since Passion, I can't say that I am a fan. (8.75/10)

3. "Playing for Time" (6:19) a cross between RANDY NEWMAN and PAUL SIMON. I don't know if Maestro Tony Levin ever played with Randy Newman, but I know he played & toured with Paul Simon (as well as Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, Jules Shear, and Warren Zevon). I love the presence and arrangement of the (New Blood) Orchestra. Though this is far from any kind of prog that I would credit as such, it is a nice song. (8.75/10)

4. "i/o" (3:53) more RANDY NEWMAN-like music and singing (with a slight nod to TOM WAITS). Interesting piano style for PG. (I'm guessing it's Tim Cawley). Again, builds like one of his classic crowd-pleaser hits. (8.66667/10)

5. "Four Kinds of Horses" (6:48) harkening back to the soundscapes of old PG. Unfortunately, there is something in the chorus that again sounds like it comes from an old classic (even one of his own [or Don Henley on THE EAGLES' "Hotel California": "You just can't kill the Beast"). Matter of fact, with repeated listens there is no doubt that this song uses the Hotel California chord progression. (13.25/15)

6. "Road to Joy" (5:22) sounds like a modernized revisitation to/melding of "The Tower that Ate People" and the theme from WAll-E. Great Tony Levin work. One of the more proggy, classic PG songs on this album. Another top three song. (8.875/10)

7. "So Much" (4:52) now this piano and bass-founded song is much more like PG piano, but another testimonial to the fact that PG's voice has changed and all those years of singing covers (on his Scratch My Back albums) (including one of Randy Newman's) (8.75/10)

8. "Olive Tree" (6:02) horns used in the Phil Collins accent way. Classic PG. (8.75/10)

9. "Love Can Heal" (6:03) sounds so much like STEVE HOGARTH that I thought for sure it had to be him! The music has a very ethereal otherworldly feel despite its use of a variation of the tuned-percussion-based music of his old masterpiece "San Jacinto" from 1982's "Security" (also used in his Birdy soundtrack music). The constant presence and use of Linnea Olsson's cello as the only other instrument other than Peter's voice in the foreground is brilliant. The spectre-like background vocals (courtesy of Peter's daughter Melanie) are also quite effective. Great song-crafting. A top three song. (9/10)

10. "This Is Home" (5:05) old-style "radio oriented" pop music. (8.6666667/10)

11. "And Still" (7:45) another gorgeous composition showing a side of PG that is new and like a freshly opened bottle of aged red wine. Another top three song. (13.375/15)

12. "Live and Let Live" (6:47) sounds like a Robbie Robertson song (very much like the song that PG performed with the late BAND member on Robbie's 1987 self-titled solo album, "Fallen Angel"). Nice touch with all of the unusual world instruments and Soweto Gospel Choir. (13.25/15)

Total Time 68:34

Note: All editions of the album include both the Bright-Side and the Dark-Side mixes, and the Blu-ray includes the In-Side mixes as well.

The songs are nice but, unfortunately, they are completely recognizable as Peter Gabriel songs as there are so many techniques and sounds that M. Gabriel has used before--but more, there is great evidence here that M. Gabriel has been lured back to the "great" songwriting styles and forms of some of the great masters of our pop-rock heritage--especially the artists of the 1970s and 1980s. In terms of the progginess of this album's music, well, M. Gabriel has definitely fallen (despite his amazing attention to detail in the sound engineering room) far from those roots and days. The choice between Dark-Side, Bright-Side, and In-Side Dolby Atmos mixes are really difficult to judge for several reasons:1) the amount of time one would have to invest into this album in order to differentiate between the three; 2) the absence of hi-fidelity external sound system in my life, and; 3) the lack of progginess necessary to keep me engaged and coming back.

B/four stars; an album of finely-crafted Peter Gabriel songs that easily stand up to any studio album PG has ever done, it's just not proggy enough to warrant too much excitement for prog lovers who are looking for progressive rock music (as I do).