Peter Gabriel Appreciation Thread

[snapple]

At my new job they're letting pick the music that'll be played in house.

What I have selected already...

Peter Gabriel: So
Peter Gabriel: Car
Sting: Symphonicities
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Return to Forever: Romantic Warrior
Gordian Knot: Gordian Knot
Gordian Knot: Emergent


It's going to be fun there!

[Orbert]

At my new job they're letting pick the music that'll be played in house.

I want your job.  I don't care what it is.

[snapple]

At my new job they're letting pick the music that'll be played in house.

I want your job.  I don't care what it is.

I wish I could pick dream theater, but it's supposed to be sort of "easy listening" music. My boss loves Peter Gabriel, so it was easy to convince him of that.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I could listen to this man's stuff all day long. He's probably right now one of my top 10 artists of all time. God, his Scratch my Back versions are absolutely stunning, better in some cases than the originals.

[Mebert78]

Peter Gabriel's "And I'll Scratch Yours" CD comes out next month apparently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYbmTMbinQ&feature=youtu.be

I hope he releases some new original material someday.

[ytserush]

I could listen to this man's stuff all day long. He's probably right now one of my top 10 artists of all time. God, his Scratch my Back versions are absolutely stunning, better in some cases than the originals.

Gabriel (post-Genesis) is one of those guys who I never worry about. I'm always into whatever he wants to express.

[skydivingninja]

Peter Gabriel's "And I'll Scratch Yours" CD comes out next month apparently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYbmTMbinQ&feature=youtu.be

I hope he releases some new original material someday.

Meeeeeeeeee too.

All these covers sound good though (at least the ones we haven't heard already).  Looking very forward to Arcade Fire's cover.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Damn, it's official. Peter Gabriel just made it to my top 5 artists of all time.

[ProgSphere]

PHISH And PETER GABRIEL To Perform "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"?

[Orbert]

Oh, so now Peter wants to do it again, now that Genesis is no more.

Well, if there's a band that could cover it, it's Phish.  Phish can play anything.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I doubt it'll happen. Anastasio is just saying that they'd be willing to play it with him.

[Tom Bombadil]

I'm a huge Genesis fan but I've never been able to get into Peter's solo stuff. Any suggestions on where to start?

[Sketchy]

So and Peter Gabriel III are my favourites, although I think the fourth is the one I hear about most often. Either way, they're all massively different from Genesis, so I'm not really sure where is a good start.

[Orbert]

I doubt it'll happen. Anastasio is just saying that they'd be willing to play it with him.

Ah.  I didn't read the article.  I guess I should have (but I didn't care enough).

[Zydar]

I'm a huge Genesis fan but I've never been able to get into Peter's solo stuff. Any suggestions on where to start?

His solo debut got me sold. It's one of my very favourite albums ever.

[Outcrier]

I'm a huge Genesis fan but I've never been able to get into Peter's solo stuff. Any suggestions on where to start?

Definitely Peter Gabriel third album (popularly called "Melt").
If you like it, check Passion (film score of The Last Temptation of Christ, one of the best works he did), Peter Gabriel fourth album (Mask) and So too.

[rumborak]

Ancient thread, but I was just listening to PG's "Down to Earth". What a brilliant song.

[Stadler]

I like Peter, certainly a true artist in every sense of the word (and a handsome man, to boot), but if there was ever an artist that needed a Lucy Jordache, or a Nick Davis, or (to use other musicians), a Mike Portnoy or a Jimmy Page, it's Peter.   He has a b-sides/soundtrack/unreleased on album box set in his archives that most musicians would kill for.   But his catalogue is woefully underserved.   

(Phil Collins, too).  I'm very surprised that with the care and love that the Genesis catalogue got (especially with the 5.1 releases) that Phil and Peter - being the mouthpieces, and the most successful of the solo artists in the group - don't take the lead on their own material.

[?]

Just dropping in to state the obvious by saying that So is an awesome album

[Stadler]

Just dropping in to state the obvious by saying that So is an awesome album

And US is even better (seriously; I think it is his highwater mark, along with Security).

[ytserush]

Just dropping in to state the obvious by saying that So is an awesome album

And US is even better (seriously; I think it is his highwater mark, along with Security).

I don't have a problem with anything solo the man has ever done....especially live.

[jammindude]

Bumping this to say that I decided to go back and start buying the PG solo albums, and I just purchased the newest re-release of the first album (later titled "Car")

The music isn't the issue, it's the sound quality.   Seriously one of the worst sounding CD's I have EVER purchased.   I mean, this CD just sounds so bad.   It may even be worse than the original CD of the self-titled Rush album before it was remastered.   It's just freakin awful. 

It almost sounds like a flat transfer...like it wasn't EQed or anything.  It is flat and thin and just garbles when you turn it up.   I thought it might be my speakers, but I bought a couple of others CD's at the same time and they sound fine.    Granted, it may have been a bad idea to put it in immediately after SW's new remix of Jethro Tull's The Minstrel in the Gallery album....but still.   YUCK!   Anyone else had an issue with the newest re-releases of the older albums?

[goo-goo]

Just watched the So documentary on Amazon Prime. It was a great behind the scenes. Loved the Manu katche stories. I must say, production wise, it's one of the greatest albums out there.

[KevShmev]

I'll have to check that out.  PG almost always seemed to take great care in how his albums sounded.  So, Up, Melt and Security all sound fantastic.

[Polarbear]

I'll have to check that out.  PG almost always seemed to take great care in how his albums sounded.  So, Up, Melt and Security all sound fantastic.

True! So is one of the best sounding albums of all time!

But no matter how much he is a perfectionist, he should hurry up and release some new music already!

[Dave_Manchester]

PG 4 (Security) is a top ten album for me. For me it's his masterpiece.

As for new music, I have a feeling Up will prove to be his swan song (ignoring all that 'Scratch my Back' and 'New Blood' malarky). He'll be 70 next year, and it's almost 20 years since Up. If there was another album in him I think we'd have heard it by now.

[jammindude]

PG 4 (Security) is a top ten album for me. For me it's his masterpiece.

As for new music, I have a feeling Up will prove to be his swan song (ignoring all that 'Scratch my Back' and 'New Blood' malarky). He'll be 70 next year, and it's almost 20 years since Up. If there was another album in him I think we'd have heard it by now.

I haven't heard Scratch My Back.   But I did hear his version of Heroes on Stranger Things and was absolutely freaking out at how good it was.   It took me a minute to even process what I was hearing.   It was like...   "Oh hey, this is Peter Gabriel, I've never heard this one before."    "Wow, this is a really freakin cool song, I wonder what album this is on."    "OMG THIS IS A COVER OF HEROES!!!!!"

[Polarbear]

PG 4 (Security) is a top ten album for me. For me it's his masterpiece.

Oh man, I love that one as well!

San Jacinto is a top.5 PG track for me.

[Fritzinger]

PG 4 (Security) is a top ten album for me. For me it's his masterpiece.

As for new music, I have a feeling Up will prove to be his swan song (ignoring all that 'Scratch my Back' and 'New Blood' malarky). He'll be 70 next year, and it's almost 20 years since Up. If there was another album in him I think we'd have heard it by now.

I haven't heard Scratch My Back.   But I did hear his version of Heroes on Stranger Things and was absolutely freaking out at how good it was.   It took me a minute to even process what I was hearing.   It was like...   "Oh hey, this is Peter Gabriel, I've never heard this one before."    "Wow, this is a really freakin cool song, I wonder what album this is on."    "OMG THIS IS A COVER OF HEROES!!!!!"

Scratch My Back is hauntingly beautiful.

You guys can all call me crazy, but if I got asked which is my favourite PG album, I'd probably name Scratch My Back.

[Max Kuehnau]

Scratch My Back has great orchestral arrangements IMHO. (and song choices to cover too). I'm a big fan of PG (both Genesis and otherwise), seen him live in 2014 too. I loved it. So is one of my alltime favourites (as are his first four records except PG2: Scratch)

[Stadler]

PG 4 (Security) is a top ten album for me. For me it's his masterpiece.

As for new music, I have a feeling Up will prove to be his swan song (ignoring all that 'Scratch my Back' and 'New Blood' malarky). He'll be 70 next year, and it's almost 20 years since Up. If there was another album in him I think we'd have heard it by now.

I believe this is truth, from top to bottom. 

[KevShmev]

As for new music, I have a feeling Up will prove to be his swan song (ignoring all that 'Scratch my Back' and 'New Blood' malarky). He'll be 70 next year, and it's almost 20 years since Up. If there was another album in him I think we'd have heard it by now.

Agreed. For my money, Up is his best solo album.  Sky Blue and I Grieve, in particular, are tremendous individual song achievements.

I haven't heard Scratch My Back.   But I did hear his version of Heroes on Stranger Things and was absolutely freaking out at how good it was.   It took me a minute to even process what I was hearing.   It was like...   "Oh hey, this is Peter Gabriel, I've never heard this one before."    "Wow, this is a really freakin cool song, I wonder what album this is on."    "OMG THIS IS A COVER OF HEROES!!!!!"

I am glad you say this, as it is a reminder that I need to get his cover of that.  Fantastic stuff.

San Jacinto is a top.5 PG track for me.

Same here. 

If I had to list my top 10 PG solo songs, I'd go with:

Sky Blue
I Grieve
San Jacinto
Mercy Street
Solsbury Hill
Washing of the Water (live from Secret World Live)
Biko
Secret World (live from Secret World Live)
Family Snapshot
Red Rain

[Dave_Manchester]

Up's defintely a fantastic album, and if it ends up being the one that caps his career it'll be a fine way to end it.

A top 10 is all-but impossible for me, the best I can do is 15. In chronological order (* indicates top 5):

1. Moribund the Burgermeister
2. Humdrum (*)
3. Here Comes The Flood
4. On The Air (live version on Plays Live is fanastic too)
5. DIY (as above)
6. Home Sweet Home
7. The Rhythm of the Heat
8. San Jacinto (*)
9. Lay Your Hands On Me (*)
10. Red Rain
11. Mercy Street (*)
12. In Your Eyes
13.Secret World (* - live version on Secret World Live may be his single finest moment)
14. I Grieve
15. Signal To Noise

And even that kills me to leave off songs like White Shadow, Mother of Violence, Family Snapshot, Not One Of Us, No Self Control, Intruder, Biko, Wallflower, Love to be Loved, Digging In The Dirt, Downside-Up, Father Son, Make Tomorrow, Darkness, Sky Blue, My Head Sounds Like That...

PG 2 (Scratch) seems to be the runt of the litter with most fans but I absolutely love it. It has a really cool 'low-fi' feel that I like, especially coming after the 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach he took on his debut, where it seems to me he was eager to explore all the music he hadn't been able to in Genesis (barbershop quartet, jazz, orchestral), with...'interesting' results, if a little bit messy. The debut sprawls, it's like a huge feast, whereas PG2 feels like some cool little record he recorded in his basement during a quiet moment.

[King Postwhore]

More Than This is my go to on Up.

[SwedishGoose]

Peter Gabriel is totally awesome.... his records with Genesis are fantastic and so are his solo albums.

Soo glad that I got to see him live 3 times:

- Secret World Live 1993-04-13 - THE best concert I have ever seen. Totally amazing from start to finish, both musically and as a show.

- Growing Up Live 2003-04-24 - Very good, but can't hold a candle to SWL

- Back to Front ' 2014-05-22 - Still good but prefer the two earlier



The only complaint I have is that he has released too few albums....