Peter Gabriel Vol.1
Audio CD
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£5.99
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Reviewer
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Moribund the Burgomeister, Waiting for the Big One, Excuse Me... they're my favourites.
Peter Gabriel is second to none and the fact he's still making new music and pulling in huge audiences speaks volumes.
The master at the start of his solo career: better than his contemporaries - always.
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`Peter Gabriel' is Gabriel's first solo album after leaving Genesis and although that bands influence is still evident here, you can also hear Gabriel finding his own voice. Obviously `Solsbury Hill' is a stand out track here but it is surprising just how fresh it sounds after all this time, I truly never tire of hearing it. I also love `Here Comes the Flood' which has the most amazing poetry and although some of the lyrics seem confusing at first take, they sit together perfectly and weave a pattern of beauty every time I hear them. This is a slightly confused album and it feels less coherent than later releases but it shows how he was beginning to emerge from a band situation and find his own feet in the musical world. Some tracks are easily discounted, but others still sound rich and relevant now. Maybe don't come to this album for your first taste of what Gabriel has to offer (a best of compilation, `So' or `Us' may be a better first album) but definitely add it to your collection at some point and see where his solo work started out and track where it subsequently lead to.
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my favorite line must be: "...and I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway... " The album is so original, beautiful and odd that for me it's one of his best. "SO" is more commercial, but still does not dretact from its greatness, but this first one, stands apart. Nothing like anyone had ever done before. His slightly cracked, yet perfect voice along with magical, humorous lyrics makes it a jewel. You need to listen to it a lot to appreciate it. The guy is a genius! And still is. His latest, "Down to Earth" (Wall-E sound track) is wonderful, and even more so once you've seen the movie. And for trivia buffs, he did not give titles to his first albums and also did not want to show his face clearly, and this to spite his mother (for fun!)
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Lyrically and musically, Gabriel is on excellent form on this, his debut solo effort. Unfortunately, the album is hampered by a muddy mix, with far far too much reverb, paricularly on Gabriel's voice. Gabriel is backed by a talented, but wholly inappropriate group of AOR musicians, many of whom - along with producer Bob Ezrin - were more famously associated with theatrical rocker Alice Cooper, and were just not suited to Gabriel's off-the-wall experimentative approach to making music. One exception is Gabriel's long time friend from King Crimson, bassist Tony Levin.
Final word of warning - if you do buy this, get the remastered issue. The original CD release sounds particularly nasty.
On a more positive note, if you can get past the slightly MOR rock arrangements and muddy over-production, the songs underneath are every bit as good as anything else Gabriel has written, with his trademark clever chord sequences, weird time signatures and inspired melodies. His musical genius is still evident throughout.
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I was a latecomer to the delights of Peter Gabriel, seduced by "So" and "Us" before working my way back through his catalogue. What you have here is a wonderfully clean-sounding remastered version of his first album which, although far from his best, still contains some great songs. Nobody could resist "Solsbury Hill" for starters, but even the lesser-known tracks such as "Down The Dolce Vita" are very good, and the original version of "Here Comes The Flood" sounds positively joyous and huge when compared to the stripped down (and, in my opinion, superior) version to be found on the "Shaking The Tree" and "Hit" collections.
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