PLAYS LIVE

This could be THE live album, but unfortunately, and despite all its obvious qualities, it is not. I was expecting a very powerful, raw version of his studio offerings. And while the playing here is spotless, the band and Gabriel sound a bit restrained. This is specially true with the songs he sings from his third (and best) album. The studio recordings of those tunes are more energetic than the ones you hear here. Still, I can´t give this record anything less than four stars, as a good sum up of his career up to that point. And besides, some few tunes are actually better than their studio offerings (few, but this is the case of D.I.Y. and Humdrum).

Overall the performances are good and they can´t take away the brilliance of tunes like Family Snapshot, San Jacinto, Solsbury Hill and so many others. And with a band like that, how could he be wrong? Unfortunately my CD was given to me by my sister as a gift and it is the one CD only version of the original double LP. It was called Plays Live: highlights.The result is an atrocity, with many songs missing (including the great opener The Rhythm Of The Heat! this is really unforgivable!). The guy who was responsible for choosing those highlights should be hanged for such butchery. So pay attention to get the complete CD. It is well worth the extra price. Peter Gabriel is one of the most extraordinaire and influential individuals ever to appear in the prog music scene. And this album is a good live display of his talents when he was at the peak of his solo career. Recommended to any prog lover.