Peter Gabriel

Listening to the second album this morning -- my first in more than a decade -- I still think it forces Gabriel into unbecoming drag. Given rock 'n' roll arrangements, he bellows, which means even good tunes like "D.I.Y." and "On the Air" sound like affectations.

The quieter things like "Mother of Violence" come off best. I'm glad he got this phase out of his system; or, rather, learned what his limits and strengths are. The punk-influenced guitar things on Melt are vast improvements.

PG2 feels like stuff that had to get worked out, but yeah for sure.

3 was really such an inspired shift

speaking of bad investments, wasnt womad funded by the mob or something?

Vastly disagree with that (Alfred's) take on PG2. That album is a direct continuation of PG1 with some kind of eclectic/eccentric rock sound to it that is nowhere as avant-garde as, say, Beefheart or Zappa, but not exactly conventional mainstream either, which I find makes for a unique and highly interesting sound with many great pieces. It may not have a Solsbury Hill butbon the whole I think the songs are much better than on its predecessor. White Shadow and Flotsam & Jetsam in particular rank among my all-time fave PG songs but there is not a track on there which I dislike. If there is anything I mind about the album it is that songs like Animal Magic and Perspectice are a bit sameish in regards to the opening tracks. PG3 on the other hand sounds far more conventional/mainstream, which is probably also why I find it less interesting myself (although very good).

The jagged, abrasive arrangements on III put it over for me. I hear how "No Self-Control" and "Not One of Us" are not dissimilar to similar rock songs on II, but I cringe hearing his I'm-in-character-now voice on, for example, "DIY."

I'd say that the third album is more "theatrical" than the second, in that it's a change from presenting the tracks as songs to setting them as small movies with sampled sound effects and expressionistic backgrounds. I see Scratch as his only really "song-based" record (rather than based on sound or concept); I basically agree with Valentijn's assessment.

I think this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_All_Odds_(soundtrack)

might be the only time Phil Collins successfully ethered PG

I never knew about this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO6fAJcN89k

it's solid!

who is that singing the chorus?

Sinead

oh duh!

The quieter things like "Mother of Violence" come off best.

Agreed. I like PG best when he underplays, which he's done less and less of over the years. The only song on Up that really works for me is "The Drop."

I see Scratch as his only really "song-based" record

Check out a little album called So.

You can't spell SONG without SO

II is a fine album but I could do without Perspective and Animal Magic which I think are pretty rubbish. Indigo, White Shadow, DIY, mother of violence are wonderful.

“Perspective” has some of my favorite lyrics ever— “Oh Gaia, if that’s your name, treat you like dirt but I don’t want no blame”.

wow i did not know about that willie/sinead cover, thanks much for that!

New album and European tour in the works:

https://petergabriel.com/news/i-o-the-tour-announced/

lol it's actually finally coming out?

The new album should be called "$/$".

I suspect for a lot of boomers, 2023 will be the year of "use it or lose it."

in disbelief that this is happening. torn between biting the bullet and getting london tix and waiting for a US tour announcement. I don't have a job right now so waiting probably best

I say this as a fan, bit I'm going to suggest that this will not be a hot ticket.

Though maybe things are different in Europe, who knows.

Pretty sure there will be a really nice live video that I can watch on my own couch with my own wine and snax

Could there be a more Peter Gabriel-y album title than i/o ?

Yes, "Peter Gabriel."

I like to think that the guy in Vampire Weekend is singing "It feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel 2"

lol that's what I've always thought and I will not be convinced otherwise

Yes, "Peter Gabriel."

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, November 8, 2022 9:43 AM (forty-three minutes ago)

lol unavoidable

Could there be a more Peter Gabriel-y album title than i/o ?

he's stuck with that as the title for this album for like 20 years, I'm surprised he actually went through with it

also have always heard the VW song that way

in disbelief that this is happening. torn between biting the bullet and getting london tix and waiting for a US tour announcement. I don't have a job right now so waiting probably best

Thanks for bumping the thread, I don't think I would have heard about this otherwise. My wife and I were just talking last night about a summer trip that could include a London stop (we want to see the Hilma af Klint show at the Tate), so I just went ahead and bought some cheap seats for the June 19 show.

PG is high on my list of longtime faves who I've never seen perform. Pretty psyched about it, regardless of what the new album is like.

I've mentioned before that I did see him on that dual tour with Sting in 2016 or so, and he was still pretty good! They both were, honestly.

I've seen him 5 times, I think (an amnesty show in 88/89, twice on the Us tour, again at a festival after Us, and then not again until the Back to Front So tour). I still kick myself for not going to the Growing Up shows and the Sting tour; don't regret, per se, skipping the orchestral ones though, as I find those albums a dire slog.

Miami was the last stop on his Secret World tour and it remains a top fiver.

yeah those shows blew my mind. the video release doesn't really capture how great they were.

The Growing Up and Secret World tours were as cool looking as any concert I have ever seen. I have a feeling we won't get anything so elaborate again, the guy needs to refill his coffers. Then again, while I didn't see it, as I understand it the So Redux tour, while relatively subdued, visually, was still pretty striking.

The most I know is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Sledgehammer, and the end credits for WALL-E.

the Back to Front tour was very stripped down, yeah, I think the idea was to have it visually compliment the original So tour (everyone dressed in black and white). There were projections, but no elaborate staging.

I have a feeling this tour might be more elaborate though. that said, peter is old and I don't expect him to ride a bike around the stage (and obv he's not going to fall backward into the audience again...I actually can't recall if he did this on the Secret World tour but I think no? He did it at the Amnesty show I saw)

As long as there are white oxford cloth shorts and ethnic waistcoats, I'm in.

collarless shirts!

*shirts duh

I saw him on the Still Growing Up tour - the tour following the Growing Up tour, which I think was basically the same but with some setlist changes, not sure if there were other changes. Maybe riding segways on Games Without Frontiers? Anyway, it was visually the most impressive concert I've ever been to. The hamster ball was obviously a highlight, as was Peter and Melanie walking upside down on the inner ring of the circular stage during the second half of Downside Up.

I saw him once more afterwards, on the next tour in 2007 where the idea was that they would fill the setlist with songs that they hadn't played on the previous tours (some big ones like Sledgehammer, Solsbury Hill, In Your Eyes were repeated nonetheless), which meant for an awesome set including songs such as Rhythm Of The Heat, On The Air, Intruder, Family Snapshot, Mother Of Violence. There were no props or anything for that show, but the setlist (and the nice location - stage in a park) made it really special.

While liking the material, I skipped the New Blood and Back To Front tours, but am very excited to see him next year. I got tickets for some seats in the back of the arena, which still came at 135 euro's a piece... possibly twice as much as those Growing Up tour tickets were back then, so I'd say they should be able to afford some more hamster balls, but I'm also not sure if Peter is still able to bounce around as he used to.

I'm expecting the return of the Slipperman costume at those prices.

Slipperman costume currently on loan to The Musical Box.