Has anyone listened to this yet? What did you think?
How is it that Peter Gabriel has moved from the epitome of cool (in my opinion) to a weird old guy in a black muumuu (in my opinion)?
I still thoroughly enjoy his music.
Oh please God, please let someone comment on my post.
There’s no such thing as “listening to a little Gabe” with this album. Only one track is less than 6 minutes long. Reserve a 3-day weekend for it.
It’s gonna take a couple more listenings to really judge it. I did not appreciate the beginning, starting out low and then screaming in my ear. And nothing really grabbed me upon initial listening. Nothing seemed overly interesting - in fact, since I’ve heard Nine Inch Nails and people who want to sound like them before, it sounded all-too-familiar to me.
However, Peter Gabriel has earned the benefit of the doubt. I’ll give it some more spins.
The first track is very annoying. But already “More than This” is a favorite of mine. He performed it on the Today show this morning:).
The only complaint I have of Peter Gabriel is that his music hasn’t changed much over the years. This album doesn’t sound much different than “Us”.
I haven’t heard the album – only the first single, “The Barry Williams Show.” And I loathe it. It’s horrible and preachy and way overdue for any relevance. Since I hate it so much, I of course watched the video on VH-1 last night. I thought that also sucked.
So I’m disinclined to buy the album. I’ll wait until a friend buys it to give it a listen. By the way, I think your analysis is spot-on, ouisey.
I really liked “Us” and am looking forward to hearing “Up.”
I didn’t even know he came out with a new album…did anyone ever check out that album he did that came out only in England. OVO or something like that?
I think he’s been drinking.
It’s grown on me (I got an advance copy so I’ve had a few weeks for that to happen). Sky Blue and More Than This are just fine, thank you, although The Barry Williams Show is, well, not so much.
I really, really like it. I wasn’t too shocked by the dynamic change in the first song, since I’d been listening to the online samples he was posting, and knew pretty much what it would sound like. I quite like the contrast between the noisy sections and the quiet ones, myself.
There has got to be something in the water over there, though, for him to have chosen The Barry Williams Show as a single. It is, indeed, heavy-handed and not by any stretch the best or most catchy or singable song on the album.
Up is going to take some listening to get all of it, but my first-off faves are Sky Blue and No Way Out. More than This is also very nice.
I prefer the live versions of Signal to Noise that have been floating around the internet for years, and I didn’t like I Grieve when it came out on the City Of Angels soundtrack-- go ahead, flame me. I know the song has some diehard fans, but it just leaves me cold. This version doesn’t do much more for me.
Still, if you’re turned off by The Barry Williams Show, don’t let that stop you from giving the whole album a listen–several listens, if you can, because this isn’t the sort of thing you can just swallow right down without thinking about it.