Peter Gabriel

2093.

its weird how this full album finally being out has made me reassess the whole thing even though I kept a running playlist of every song as they came out and listened to it all year. I'd been 'meh' on some of it which is often the case when an act like this that was so important to me musically when I was younger releases something after a long time; I'd thought the same about Up when it came out (whereas I'd obsessively loved Us on the day of release). I eventually came around on Up but it took years. I'm inclined to think this is every bit as good as Up and some tracks are superior. When it works it really works; when it doesn't quite work, its really only barely missing...nothing makes me cringe here. Anyway, very happy with the album in the end.

Some of the lyrics are little cringy, but he's been in introspective new age self-help mode since "Us."

Only skippers for me after a few listens to the Darkside mix are "The Court" and "Road To Joy"

"Four Kinds of Horses" is sublime

Wild that this isn’t making any Year End Lists

"Four Kinds of Horses" is sublime

yes! when these were trickling out I was worried there wasn't a standout track, a "mercy street" or "I grieve" etc, but I was wrong, Horses is it.

I love that song.

"And Still" gets me every time I hear it.

Yeah that is also a profoundly moving song for me, having lost my mom this year.

I’m really enjoying the inside mix of the album via AirPods btw. The dark side mix is what I listen to in the car and on vinyl, and it sounds great there. But the inside mix is really rewarding and I like having to listen to it closely via headphones to appreciate it, it makes for a more intimate listening experience.

This album is pretty great. I guess what happens when you take 22 years between records is that a lot of people move on and stop paying attention?

There's at least a handful of albums I can think of that are like that, where I immediately enjoy them and wonder if I'm misjudging the quality, only to realize that it's been over a full decade, maybe even two, and it's likely the artist was able to stockpile or carefully sculpt an album's worth of solid material thanks to the extra time.

I still don't know how to respond to this album

Which in and of itself is an intriguing response.

is there like a dark and light album im afraid to get involved

I didn't get much out of the singles as they were released, but spending time with the album as a whole, I've come to look past some of the PG-in-a-can grooves and melodies and enjoy it for what it is. His late albums (from Ovo onwards) are a different beast from what came before, slower, more reflective, less experimental, more focused on the message than on chasing exciting sounds. I also think his self-production (or "perfectionism") tends to bury the musicians in murk. But accepting all that, his voice is still great, and some of these songs have grown on me: Four Horses, Love Can Heal, even This is Home.

I really like that you can hear a lot of live Manu this time as opposed to the loop-heavy stuff

was not expecting "road to joy" to sound so scritti politti

this is such a 90s-album-by-80s-star album

it's definitely better than i expected, though inconsistent and the tracks tend towards being longer than they need to be (though that's long been the case with him). very possibly his best in over 30 years regardless

truly do not understand the point of the two mixes and the release strategy didn't do him any favours

this is such a 90s-album-by-80s-star album

― ufo, Thursday, December 14, 2023 4:12 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

love this record but will begrudgingly admit that this is otm

^^this

it's like exactly the album he would have put out in 1997 or so

other things "road to joy" reminds me of: music from the spyro games, nine inch nails in a major key

"i'm afraid of americans"

There are a few songs on this album that definitely echo other Peter Gabriel records, or at least the last two. Again, probably because he reportedly started this one in 1995! As early as 2000 Gabriel was saying that "i/o" was supposed to be a quick follow-up to "Up."

Especially interesting because Up came out in 2002.

Yeah. People forget, Up came 10 years after Us, and people were complaining that *that* one was taking too long!

i think i slightly prefer the dark-side mixes but not enough to justify the gimmick.

I'm just glad he didn't release it as this:

https://www.stemplayer.com

wish it were a little weirder maybe, but this album is good! it's also poppier than I expected: I can remember many of the choruses after two listens

As fairly casual fan (I listened to So a lot when I was 8, and that’s about it) the songs here seem more interesting and accessible than anything else I’ve heard post-So

I’m not sure I get the “90s record” reference - it sounds more like a sheen-y 2010s album to me. It’s missing that “someone’s just heard NIN for the first time” vibe