The gorgeous San Jacinto for me.
― Valentijn, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:50 (five years ago) link
between I Have the Touch and San Jacinto for me. The latter has always had a strange appeal to me, being familiar with San Jacinto (probably moreso than PG) and finding it really odd that this effete Englishman had written a song about such a boring place from the POV of a Native American, and making it sinister and dramatic in the process - a bit of a jarring disconnect for me.
otoh I Have the Touch is a great synthpop banger
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:51 (five years ago) link
Going with "Kiss of Life" but these are all 8/10 except "Lay Your Hands On Me", which is closer to 5/10. He should release the rough cuts of this album, before the lyrics were added.
― Jeff W, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:52 (five years ago) link
There was a really good making of that I saw, which revealed, among other things, the number of sounds I thought were synths but were actually guitars, or the number of things I thought were guitars that were actually vocals. Let me find it ...
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:53 (five years ago) link
I think this is it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scmYG1Pv1_Q
That sampled flute coda to "San Jacinto" ("Hold the line, hold the liiiiinne...") is the creepiest, scariest sequence in Gabriel's music.
I have no use for "The Family and the Fishing Net" or "Lay Your Hands on Me," despite the chorus and excellent percussion.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:53 (five years ago) link
He should release the rough cuts of this album, before the lyrics were added.
Try the Birdy soundtrack.
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:53 (five years ago) link
Rhythm of the Heat is a strange opener.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:59 (five years ago) link
One of the more interesting aspects of this album is that while only the third one was explicitly cymbals/metal-free, this one was not, yet still flows largely without (to my ear) cymbals. Lanois said one of his pitches for So was that after a couple of albums with little to no cymbals, he wanted to make an album that was super cymbal-heavy, which So is. Lots of splashes and crashes and hi-hats and stuff all over it (which is what made Manu Katche such a good fit). But I digress.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 18:59 (five years ago) link
as a Fairlight experiment, a masterpiece; he does run out of songs, though.
I definitely agree with the former. I sorta agree with the latter as I think it's the least song-based of the self-titled records, but this is part of the reason I like it so much - the emphasis on these long, sinister, rhythmic pieces.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:00 (five years ago) link
xpost They even brought in Stewart Copeland to play hi-hats on So.
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:02 (five years ago) link
xpost In the doc I posted, the making of San Jacinto comes around the 12 minute mark.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:02 (five years ago) link
― kornrulez6969,
I was so delighted to discover this album in high school at the same time I discovered Jung and The Waste Land -- I understood his verbal sampling too.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:03 (five years ago) link
Fairlight fooling around at about the 16 minute mark of that doc. One of the Depeche Mode deluxe docs also had some good fooling with Fairlight stuff.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:05 (five years ago) link
I really love the second half of 'The Rhythm of the Heat' where it goes into full-on percussion overload. Superbly mixed, too.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:08 (five years ago) link
Working title: Jung in Africa.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:08 (five years ago) link
One thing I love about the first five "proper" Peter Gabriel solo albums is how different and distinct they all are from one another - he really couldn't have been accused of making the same album twice from 1977-1986. I wish he'd made So a self-titled release as well, or hadn't caved in to pressure to title this record Security for the American market.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:16 (five years ago) link
So works as a title -- a break in every sense.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:21 (five years ago) link
Wallflower sounds like it was written for an Amnesty International PSA.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:33 (five years ago) link
Back in the cassette Walkman days, this was my running soundtrack for many summer evenings. Immersive, and fun when "Kiss of Life" timed with the last leg.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:34 (five years ago) link
I saw him play the Brendan Byrne arena (meadowlands, NJ) on the So tour and he played a bunch of these. Opened with San Jacinto. Also played Shock The Monkey and I have vivid memories of Lay Your Hands On Me, which had some super cool hand movements.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:42 (five years ago) link
'Wallflower' was the one that got my vote in the end - I just think it's a beautiful song. I've said it before, but I feel you'd have to go right back to 'The Lamia' (from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) to find anything as beautiful.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:46 (five years ago) link
I may be misremembering or confusing it with something, but it rings a bell that the Pet Shop Boys claimed they wanted to use So as a title. Maybe not.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:47 (five years ago) link
Wallflower ("May you not be deterred") vs. Don't Give Up shows how he grew as a songwriter.
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:48 (five years ago) link
Leaning towards San Jacinto, but gonna listen again just to be sure. I'm the weirdo whose favorite song on Melt is "Lead a Normal Life," so...
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:50 (five years ago) link
'Lead a Normal Life' rules!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:57 (five years ago) link
All the 'Plays Live' versions are much more limber and enjoyable than the versions on Security - especially Rhythm Of The Heat which is an amazing opener - so for that, I vote Wallflower which didn't make the live album.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:04 (five years ago) link
This album suffers in the digital age. The vinyl brought out every sampled wrinkle (I used to study those credits fascinated, tracing the triggered, sampled sounds).
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:06 (five years ago) link
"Shock The Monkey" will win - that video just grabbed me by the collar when it came out.
This is truly a bizarre (fantastic) album with a number 1 US hit. Do you suppose it blew kids minds who bought it on the strength of that one song?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:10 (five years ago) link
I didn't hear this album until after "So", I have a distinct memory of checking the CD out from the local public library. It was definitely a little wtf
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:14 (five years ago) link
"Shock the Monkey" didn't hit #1. It was his first American top forty hit, though, and a central part of early MTV.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:16 (five years ago) link
I checked the tape out of the public library!
OMG GUYS I DON'T THINK THOSE FAT MEN ARE PLAYING WITH THEIR GARDEN HOSES!!!
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:43 (five years ago) link
Of all the various versions of "I Have The Touch", there's a rare/alternate version (recorded by Peter Walsh of Penthouse & Pavement fame) of that I'm very fond of... and am pretty sure is a wholly different performance (vox/instruments) from the LP version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px4KcWq-ACo
I have it on the flip of this lol:https://www.discogs.com/Peter-Gabriel-Walk-Through-The-Fire/release/1211782
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 25 October 2018 21:47 (five years ago) link
Loved Shock The Monkey as a kid discovering MTV.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 25 October 2018 21:54 (five years ago) link
My favorite gag ever on South Park is when Stan was talking to the goth kids about how to win Wendy back and they told him to stand under her window playing Peter Gabriel with a boombox Say Anything-style.
Cut to... Stan at her window blaring "Shock the Monkey."
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 25 October 2018 22:20 (five years ago) link
Albert, that mix is on Shaking the Tree, I'm sure.
Also: Gabriel was rather handsome for a while, no?
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 22:32 (five years ago) link
is he? kinda doughy
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 25 October 2018 22:41 (five years ago) link
well, now
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 22:51 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju85sA8UTjc
― MaresNest, Thursday, 25 October 2018 23:44 (five years ago) link
So I can see there's these studio versions of "I Have The Touch":
LP version, 4:36'85 remix, 3:44 (found on "Shaking The Tree")Robbie Robertson mix, 4:19 (found on "Hit")Phenomenon soundtrack version, 5:27 (an extended version of the Robertson mix)
Did I miss anything? I don't see anything that's 5:00 long as stated on that Discogs entry.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 26 October 2018 02:37 (five years ago) link
But it made a great concert opener on that tour as the band entered drum corps style through the back of the theater.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 26 October 2018 02:46 (five years ago) link
I saw the tour for this album and "San Jacinto" was so spectacular that I completely forgot about the other songs on here.
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 26 October 2018 02:57 (five years ago) link
Is the Deutsches Album version of "I Have the Touch" an alternate mix? There are a lot of differences between the two albums, but I don't remember if that's one of them.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 26 October 2018 03:01 (five years ago) link
Albert, that mix is on Shaking the Tree, I'm sure.― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, October 25, 2018 3:32 PM (four hours ago)
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, October 25, 2018 3:32 PM (four hours ago)
Negative, the shaking the tree version is 3m45s and the version I posted is 5m05s.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 26 October 2018 03:02 (five years ago) link
It's just shorter. Both versions have Gabriel adding ONLY...ONLY before "Wanting contact..." and those roller coaster synths.
― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 26 October 2018 03:03 (five years ago) link
one has Simon Phillips playing drums, I know that much.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2018 03:04 (five years ago) link
xxxxpost
Yes! I remember describing the staging of "San Jacinto" to my dad the next day.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 26 October 2018 03:08 (five years ago) link
I Have The Touch slightly ahead The Family And The Fishing Net for me. This album to me is split between sound and production experiments and standard tunes and I think I Have The Touch is a good enough tune to warrant the vote. I wonder how feted Gabriel would be if he hadn't been in Genesis before making albums 1-4? He's one of those artists who is genuinely interested in sound - something you'd like to think is true of everyone who makes music for a living. Alas...
― Daf, Friday, 26 October 2018 11:16 (five years ago) link
went for san jacinto
― fred-a van vleet (voodoo chili), Friday, 26 October 2018 15:53 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3oub27yzpo&list=PLeE7IE2UYXF8dyglwIWt-zWtN378rr31a
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 27 October 2018 18:26 (five years ago) link
This whole show is cool. Don't know why it wouldn't let me link to the complete one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lhxencRCCU
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 27 October 2018 18:28 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRCFKoCs9nk
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 27 October 2018 18:30 (five years ago) link
The record cover is so great, wish I knew what it actually was.
From http://realworldgalleries.com/security/
“The artwork on album 4 was something that I’d been working on with a sculptor called Malcolm Poynter, who’s work I thought was really strong. There was a book I’d seen on distortions, a little like fairground mirrors, and we started using Flexi Mirrors”. Peter GabrielThe final sleeve art is from an experimental video directed by Malcolm Poynter, with professional help from his editor friend David Gardner. The cover features the distorted image of Peter.“My memory of this project, which was crucially pre Photoshop, was us dragging around Flexi Mirrors and Fresnel Lenses, and some sculptures, and then having a very creative (if chaotic) time. It was good!” Malcolm Poynter.
The final sleeve art is from an experimental video directed by Malcolm Poynter, with professional help from his editor friend David Gardner. The cover features the distorted image of Peter.
“My memory of this project, which was crucially pre Photoshop, was us dragging around Flexi Mirrors and Fresnel Lenses, and some sculptures, and then having a very creative (if chaotic) time. It was good!” Malcolm Poynter.
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 27 October 2018 18:58 (five years ago) link
oh, that's nice to hear. I wondered about that for years. It looks like he's wearing a ski mask but maybe not. The images in the internal liners are great too.
― akm, Saturday, 27 October 2018 19:15 (five years ago) link
Just did an image search for Malcolm Poynter--lots of distorted face sculptures. He also did a cover for Test Dept.:
https://img.discogs.com/tKaSJwgQs04AhMtgQqqi4K6BjOo=/fit-in/555x557/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-359226-1405021199-4577.jpeg.jpg
― Hideous Lump, Saturday, 27 October 2018 20:12 (five years ago) link
Wow, I’d always thought the photo was a still from a security camera, per the album title.
― dinnerboat, Saturday, 27 October 2018 20:27 (five years ago) link
Also, as Listening Wind is mentioned upthread, PG’s cover is the only one of his orchestral songs that does anything for me. Could be a Security B-side:
https://youtu.be/RZ2omdkdk2k
― dinnerboat, Saturday, 27 October 2018 20:31 (five years ago) link
Time for an 'album covers sourced from video stills' thread, a la Cabaret Voltaire
― MaresNest, Saturday, 27 October 2018 20:39 (five years ago) link
well, I’ve got it narrowed down to not The Family and the Fishing Net and probably not Wallflower
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Saturday, 27 October 2018 20:41 (five years ago) link
that’s enough work for today I think
Wow, I’d always thought the photo was a still from a security camera, per the album title.― dinnerboat, Saturday, October 27, 2018 8:27 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― dinnerboat, Saturday, October 27, 2018 8:27 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Nah, I don't think Gabriel would have designed the artwork around a title that the album wasn't really meant to have!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 28 October 2018 16:12 (five years ago) link
No, but if the artwork was in place and the label said, "Sorry, dude, we're gonna need a title for this one," Security might have seemed like an obvious choice.
― grawlix (unperson), Sunday, 28 October 2018 16:15 (five years ago) link
I dunno about obvious, but I quite like the way the title Security is at odds with the image - there's really nothing about that image that seems designed to make one feel secure.
It's not just the distortion effects, I think the way that the photo on the front cover has been lit as well as the colour scheme that the final product has both add to the sinister edge. The fact that people tend to not have any idea what's going on makes the sleeve creepier.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 28 October 2018 16:28 (five years ago) link
yesterday I found PG1, PG4, So, (2002 remasters) and UP on cd for 50p each.sometimes I love charity shops.PG1 will require a few listens I suspect, but as soon as it started I immediately knew PG4 was going to be the one for me.
― mark e, Sunday, 28 October 2018 16:44 (five years ago) link
you haven't heard them before? 4 is certainly the winner of that batch, followed by So. Up would be improved by being shorter but at least he took 'burn you up, burn you down' off before releasing it (it was on the promos), it's a terrible song.
― akm, Sunday, 28 October 2018 17:48 (five years ago) link
It took a long time (and middle age) for me to appreciate Us but now I love it. Up is still a work in progress for me. Certainly starts out wonderfully. Need more time with it.
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 28 October 2018 18:27 (five years ago) link
mark e, buy any of the film scores with confidence if you see them, they rule
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 28 October 2018 18:28 (five years ago) link
yup. all new to me.may have had So on cassette at some point, but I am not 100% certain.and yeah, listened to Us earlier today, and its a definite moody sunday listen. really enjoyed it.and of course if I see any of the soundtracks I will grab them, his stuff has always been on my 'see it, buy it' list when I dig around my charity shops.I have just had to wait a little longer, hence why yesterdays score was a lovely surprise.just a shame they didn't have PG2 and PG3.
― mark e, Sunday, 28 October 2018 18:54 (five years ago) link
Until I looked it up, I always thought that the album cover reminded me of Colonel Stapp's rocket sled experiments.
http://supercurioso.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1738_1279s-Copy.jpg
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 28 October 2018 19:09 (five years ago) link
I was at this same concert. My memories are vague but very positive. Bought the tour book which had all kinds of weird shit in it (an interview with Koko the sign language gorilla, some mildly disconcerting manipulated photos of Gabriel, etc.).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 28 October 2018 19:18 (five years ago) link
I saw the So tour in Glasgow, sat in probably the farthest away seats at the SECC which is/was a big useless metal barn, still enjoyed the show but yeah, I recall it being quiet.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 28 October 2018 19:35 (five years ago) link
One thing I love about that South Bank Show episode is Gabriel sketching out 'I Have the Touch' and proper getting into it...
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Monday, 29 October 2018 20:55 (five years ago) link
I saw Gabriel at the Human Rights Now tour a few years after So and it was so thrilling and amazing. He did the stage dive and everything. I saw him multiple times on the US tour and I think he'd dropped that by then (great though those shows were)
― akm, Monday, 29 October 2018 21:54 (five years ago) link
Weird that this didnt get auto-bumped when the results came in. Every track got a vote, though!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Monday, 5 November 2018 19:20 (five years ago) link
this is the best album ever made
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 4 September 2019 04:10 (four years ago) link
I unfortunately heard and loved Plays Live first - the studio versions are weirdly awkward sounding to me, rhythmically :-(
― StanM, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 05:45 (four years ago) link
it's my favorite. also the first album i ever got on cd, and for a kid who was used to just taping stuff off the radio with cheap cassettes, i was NOT prepared for the sound of PG's opening wail jumping out of the speakers and into, you know, my soulllllllllllllll
― orifex, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 06:24 (four years ago) link
'Plays Live' was my gateway to PG as a kid, the versions of all the Security tracks are fantastic.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 4 September 2019 21:05 (four years ago) link
wait - there's a band that covers songs from the first four albums and Jerry Marotta is their drummer!?
http://securityprojectband.com/go/
― StanM, Friday, 6 September 2019 08:42 (four years ago) link
― MaresNest, Friday, 6 September 2019 08:48 (four years ago) link
The metallic flutes/scraping in the coda to "San Jacinto" scared the hell outta me.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 September 2019 10:08 (four years ago) link
"I unfortunately heard and loved Plays Live first - the studio versions are weirdly awkward sounding to me, rhythmically :-("
"'Plays Live' was my gateway to PG as a kid, the versions of all the Security tracks are fantastic."
i don't really like the plays live arrangements of these songs although I feel like I may have heard that first too, I can't remember. It's not that they're more commercial sounding, but they are less....idiosyncratic. This is true for the live arrangements of most of his stuff TBF.
― akm, Sunday, 8 September 2019 16:45 (four years ago) link
"wait - there's a band that covers songs from the first four albums and Jerry Marotta is their drummer!?"
yes, with Happy Rhodes doing vocals now and they've expanded their repretoire to include Kate Bush. You can check out their live releases, they're all pretty cool.
― akm, Sunday, 8 September 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link
I will, thx!
― StanM, Sunday, 8 September 2019 17:42 (four years ago) link
The Plays Live version of “The Rhythm of the Heat” def. struck me as inferior to the studio version. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking the big African drum ensemble coda was less powerful and Gabriel did a much shorter “The rhythm has my/SOOOOOOOO-UUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLL.”
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 13 September 2019 03:37 (four years ago) link
btw, Gabriel release a 62 track rarities collection digitally today. All the b-sides, etc.
― akm, Friday, 13 September 2019 12:43 (four years ago) link
but no "Out, Out"!
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 September 2019 12:50 (four years ago) link
The cover of Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun" — one of the rarities on the new collection — is one of my favourite songs of his. All the brooding & menace of his sound (90s-fied, like the production on Us) but with more direct lyrics.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 13 September 2019 13:54 (four years ago) link
Flotsam and Jetsam is grayed out in my Spotify. Not available in the US?
The omission of "Out, Out" is puzzling, but then it didn't appear on Rated PG either. Kind of hard to imagine that there would be a rights issue — I assume PG controls all of his recordings at this juncture.
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Friday, 13 September 2019 14:05 (four years ago) link
I'm a big fan of "Quiet Steam" and the Massive Attack remix of "Games Without Frontiers." So this collection is out now?
Tangentially related, I wonder how much Pearl Jam made for smartly releasing all of those live CDs when the getting was good, or certainly better? It must have been like minting money. Every time an artist like PG does something like this so late in the game, or Springsteen suddenly opens the vaults to studio stuff and especially live stuff, or Prince reissues not coming out until after his death and so on, I think, man, I know you're artists, but I wish you released all this shit people have been collecting and trading for decades when you could have made some moolah. I know Gabriel must still be swimming in it, but my first thought when this most forward thinking of artists did the anniversary "So" tour followed by a joint tour with Sting was that he needed the cash to support all his various endeavors.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 September 2019 14:36 (four years ago) link
He seems like a massive perfectionist though, so he probably had “plans” for all of it. I guess this is just a time to let go.
― Manitobiloba (Kim), Friday, 13 September 2019 19:32 (four years ago) link
"but no "Out, Out"!"
yeah it's weird that's not on there when what I feel are duplicate or kind of useless remixes of other songs are. I'd actually forgotten what that song sounded like so I went to YouTube and it's hardly a bad track. Lovetown was left off too so I thought maybe there's some licensing thing, but who knows. Out, Out is one of two songs he did that were done with Nile Rodgers (the walk through the fire remix included was as well) and they're both overly clattery and cluttered sounding IMO; not the best creative fit.
― akm, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:35 (four years ago) link
flotsam and jetsam is available on apple music in the US, so there might just be a lag with spotify, dunno, I don't use it.
my favorite discovery on this release (aside from me and my teddy bear which i'd totally forgotten about) is the elbow remix of More Than This which is better than the album version. I know some on ILX hate Elbow and find the dull but I wouldn't mind Garvey producing a Gabriel album at this point.
― akm, Saturday, 14 September 2019 15:38 (four years ago) link
I didn't care for it at the time but listening back, Curtains is a lovely song, but it's still called 'Curtains'
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 14 September 2019 17:20 (four years ago) link
yeah I love curtains. I had it on the big time CD single.
― akm, Saturday, 14 September 2019 18:17 (four years ago) link