Lots of activity on the Gabriel front these days, so I thought I’d just start this catch-all thread.
I really like the long overdue reissues that have been coming out, especially the digi-pak versions. Very classy. I got PG1, PG3, and PG4 and will probably get So soon. They sound great.
If you haven’t been to http://www.petergabriel.com, get thee hence, as there’s a lot of cool stuff, including QuickTime movies of PG previewing and discussing the new tunes. There’s a discussion forum and polls where you can vote on the setlist for the upcoming tour (who’d have thought that Indigo from the underachieving PG2 album would be so popular?) And check out Gabriel’s alchemist’s goatee! I’ve never thought of or heard that phrase before, but there’s no doubt that that thing PG is sporting on his chin is an alchemist’s goatee.
The site is not all that well organized, so look carefully–there’s lots of neat stuff lurking there.
Sorry–I guess I should warn you that in order to access the videos and forums and such, you have to subscribe to the ‘Moon Club’. It’s free, but you do have to yield an e-mail address.
Ever since Peter got psychological counseling in the mid-80’s, his music hasn’t been worth crap, IMO. (Therapy is the death-knell for the tortured artist.)
At least he’s only released 2 albums since Security, and spared us all a world of aural torture.
Ouch, KGS! Although I do sympathize with your opinion. I feel that after So–or perhaps even before it–PG fell victim to the Sting Effect (I trust this is self-explanatory).
Still, what I have heard of the new stuff is encouraging . . .
Yes, he just got married. They had a baby not quite a year ago.
I do think his lyrics have gotten a trifle self-involved since he got into the therapy thing. But I’ve been listening to the samples since they were started posting them (they post a new set every full moon) and I’ve liked what I’ve heard. Over at http://solsburyhill.net there’s a report from someone who got to hear the whole album, and it’s pretty favorable.
5 Carpet crawlers (Genesis)
9 San Jacinto - live (Peter Gabriel)
12 Family snapshot - live (Peter Gabriel)
13 Cinema show-aisle of plenty (Genesis)
16 Don’t give up (Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush)
19 Wallflower (Peter Gabriel)
22 The lamia (Genesis)
27 Dancing with the moonlit knight (Genesis)
42 Firth of fifth (Genesis)
47 Biko (Peter Gabriel)
52 The rhythm of the heat (Peter Gabriel)
76 Suzanne (Peter Gabriel)
90 Blood of Eden (Peter Gabriel)
I just bought his latest album (soundtrack to an Australian movie) - fascinating.
Dragon, the fact that you have numbered your favorite songs up to at least #90 is, frankly, quite frightening.
I should qualify my statements by saying that, up until the mid-80’s, Peter Gabriel was THE most talented artist working in pop music. Genesis is still one of my all-time favorite bands (although I’m partial to the Collins era), and many songs from Gabriel’s first four solo albums, especially “Solsbury Hill”, also rank among my favorites.
Peter also puts on an amazing live show. Back in '86, I saw him fall BACKWARDS into the audience during “Lay Your Hands On Me”, and he let the crowd carry him halfway across the stadium floor before clambering back on stage. One of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen during ANY concert I’ve attended…while sober, anyway.
Just to bump this thread–surely there are more PG fan here that haven’t signed in–I’ll pose this question: what happened to him that made PG3 so different from his earlier stuff?
I mean, PG1 and PG2 were ‘typical’ rock band records, exploring different genres with varying degrees of success.
But suddenly with PG3, there was a way different aesthetic operating, most recognizably with the well-known edict that there be no cymbals. The advent of technology-- particularly samplers–seems significant, although it wasn’t until PG4 aka Security that this was readily apparent.
What happened with PG3 was he discovered African music and got himself a drum machine. That was when he started basing his songs on drum patters he was getting out of music he was hearing and trying to make on his drum machine.
Melandry
Thanks, but as you could have seen in the link, I am quite aware of that.
Revtim
I did mean the Long walk home. Difficult to compare to Passion (which I like as well), LWH is very much influenced by Australian music and sounds, just give it a try…
