Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (1977) - Atco Records
Hello Friends,
Another Summer is growing long in the tooth and we're celebrating the changing of seasons with one final Prog Rock Saturday. Who do we have on the Vinyl in the Valley trusted turntable tonight? Why, its our old friend Peter Gabriel and his first solo album since leaving Genesis, aptly titled, Peter Gabriel.
In fact, this would be the first of four Peter Gabriel solo albums to be called Peter Gabriel so in most Peter Gabriel circles, to avoid confusion, his first album is usually referred to simply as Car due to the big blue car on the album's cover. (Incidentally, his other three solo album nicknames would be Scratch, Melt & Security.)
In our opinion, Car would be the best of the bunch! (They all have pretty great album covers though!)
First, a little background. In August 1975, when Genesis was at the peak of their prog rock prowess, frontman Gabriel wrote a letter to the English press (aka the "Out, Angels Out" Letter) that began:
I had a dream, eye’s dream. Then I had another dream with the body and soul of a rock star. When it didn’t feel good I packed it in. Looking back for the musical and non-musical reasons, this is what I came up with:
OUT, ANGELS OUT – an investigation.
In just as an unlikely scenario, Gabriel too would flourish as well as one of the most successful solo artists of MTV's Golden Era.
"Moribound The Burgermesiter" opens Peter Gabriel and it sounds pretty much like something off of Nursery Cryme with a slightly more polished production (courtesy of Bob Ezrin!) The song seems to be about a Medieval village who comes down with the plague and the only effective remedy seems to be St Vitus's Dance.
"This thing's really outrageous, I tell you on the level
It's really so contagious must be the work of the devil
You better go now, pick up the pipers, tell them to play
Seems the music keeps them quiet, there is no other way."
The record's second song is also Peter Gabriel's first single as a solo artist (and perhaps his best solo recording ever)-- "Solsbury Hill". Its a real departure from the sonic escapades and cartwheels of Genesis and, instead, is a straightforward, catchy pop song which seems to be about the artist reflecting on his recent move from band-guy to solo artist:
"To keep in silence, I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut.
Turning water into wine,
Open doors would soon be shut."
And speaking of sonic escapades, the album's second single "Modern Love" sounds unlike ANYTHING Gabriel has ever done. Its very upbeat, sharp and dare we say, dance-able? Think Face Dances-era Who redone as a New Wave album! Do yourself and check out the video. Its pretty fucking amazing!
Don't worry sports fans! Things get weird again on "Excuse Me" which has Gabriel sounding like a very odd, very depressed Randy Newman fronting a barbershop quartet.
Side One's closer, "Humdrum"-- a dreamy, slow burning ballad with cryptic lyrics like "I saw the man at JFK / He took your ticket yesterday / In the humdrum" and "Empty my mind, I find it hard to cope / Listen to my heart, don't need no stethescope" is nothing short of fantastic!
Bob Ezrin recruited Alice Cooper guitarist, Dick Wagner (who died earlier this year... RIP!) to supply some hard rock licks on Side Two's "Slow Burn", which sounds a little like something off of Welcome to My Nightmare mixed with some more late-period Who. An arena rock anthem that never was!
"Waiting for the Big One" is a seven-minute long jazzy torch song that comes across sounding like overproduced Tom Waits. Its pretty clear by this point, seven songs in, that Gabriel really wanted to explore a lot more musical styles than being in Genesis would have allowed him to! Eclectic is good, as long as its not too eclectic!
"Down the Dolce Vita" employees some disco beats and some spaghetti western orchestrations (courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra.) Obviously, someone was doing a lot of cocaine during the recording of this album! Our money's on "The Ez"-- producer Bob Ezrin. Sure the guy produced Alice Cooper, Berlin, Destroyer and The Wall, but can we really forget he was manning the controls on Music from The Elder. "Down the Dolce Vita" is not a bad song by any stretch, but it sounds like it could be the closing credits to a dystopian roller ball movie where the winners compete to be society's most respected celebrities and the losers are gunned downed by lasers! Hey Tiki... Get my agent on the phone!
Remember earlier in this post when we said that "Solsbury Hill" might have been the best Peter Gabriel solo song. Well we were mistaken. That distinction belongs to the album's closer, "Here Comes the Flood". Probably one of Gabriel's best solo pieces! An incredibly sad and pretty song that seems to be about "the big one" that Gabriel was talking about two songs ago. From the St.Vitus dance in the opening song to the world ending in Biblical proportions here, Peter Gabriel at its heart is a very dark and morbid record in spite of much of the music sounding uptempo and bright.
It reminds us a little of The Killers' first record, Hot Fuss, which on the surface seemed like a danceable post-punk, New Wave record when, in reality, a lot of its theme's had to do with stalking, raping & murdering! The good ol' rock & roll dark stuff. No doubt, The Killers (at least on their first two or three records) owed something to Uncle Pete!
Rumor has it that Gabriel was somewhat critical of Ezrin's bombastic-sounding production on the record and we tend to agree. Parts of this album do come off sounding a little over-done and showtuney.
Two years later, Robert Fripp (who played guitar on Peter Gabriel) would re-record "Here Comes the Flood" in a much more stripped-down, bare bones manner with Gabriel reprising his vocals. Quite a difference!
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry!
RATING: 4 Grab Your Things I've Come to Take You Home out of 5
"This thing's really outrageous, I tell you on the level
It's really so contagious must be the work of the devil
You better go now, pick up the pipers, tell them to play
Seems the music keeps them quiet, there is no other way."
The record's second song is also Peter Gabriel's first single as a solo artist (and perhaps his best solo recording ever)-- "Solsbury Hill". Its a real departure from the sonic escapades and cartwheels of Genesis and, instead, is a straightforward, catchy pop song which seems to be about the artist reflecting on his recent move from band-guy to solo artist:
"To keep in silence, I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut.
Turning water into wine,
Open doors would soon be shut."
And speaking of sonic escapades, the album's second single "Modern Love" sounds unlike ANYTHING Gabriel has ever done. Its very upbeat, sharp and dare we say, dance-able? Think Face Dances-era Who redone as a New Wave album! Do yourself and check out the video. Its pretty fucking amazing!
Don't worry sports fans! Things get weird again on "Excuse Me" which has Gabriel sounding like a very odd, very depressed Randy Newman fronting a barbershop quartet.
Side One's closer, "Humdrum"-- a dreamy, slow burning ballad with cryptic lyrics like "I saw the man at JFK / He took your ticket yesterday / In the humdrum" and "Empty my mind, I find it hard to cope / Listen to my heart, don't need no stethescope" is nothing short of fantastic!
Bob Ezrin recruited Alice Cooper guitarist, Dick Wagner (who died earlier this year... RIP!) to supply some hard rock licks on Side Two's "Slow Burn", which sounds a little like something off of Welcome to My Nightmare mixed with some more late-period Who. An arena rock anthem that never was!
"Waiting for the Big One" is a seven-minute long jazzy torch song that comes across sounding like overproduced Tom Waits. Its pretty clear by this point, seven songs in, that Gabriel really wanted to explore a lot more musical styles than being in Genesis would have allowed him to! Eclectic is good, as long as its not too eclectic!
"Down the Dolce Vita" employees some disco beats and some spaghetti western orchestrations (courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra.) Obviously, someone was doing a lot of cocaine during the recording of this album! Our money's on "The Ez"-- producer Bob Ezrin. Sure the guy produced Alice Cooper, Berlin, Destroyer and The Wall, but can we really forget he was manning the controls on Music from The Elder. "Down the Dolce Vita" is not a bad song by any stretch, but it sounds like it could be the closing credits to a dystopian roller ball movie where the winners compete to be society's most respected celebrities and the losers are gunned downed by lasers! Hey Tiki... Get my agent on the phone!
Remember earlier in this post when we said that "Solsbury Hill" might have been the best Peter Gabriel solo song. Well we were mistaken. That distinction belongs to the album's closer, "Here Comes the Flood". Probably one of Gabriel's best solo pieces! An incredibly sad and pretty song that seems to be about "the big one" that Gabriel was talking about two songs ago. From the St.Vitus dance in the opening song to the world ending in Biblical proportions here, Peter Gabriel at its heart is a very dark and morbid record in spite of much of the music sounding uptempo and bright.
It reminds us a little of The Killers' first record, Hot Fuss, which on the surface seemed like a danceable post-punk, New Wave record when, in reality, a lot of its theme's had to do with stalking, raping & murdering! The good ol' rock & roll dark stuff. No doubt, The Killers (at least on their first two or three records) owed something to Uncle Pete!
Rumor has it that Gabriel was somewhat critical of Ezrin's bombastic-sounding production on the record and we tend to agree. Parts of this album do come off sounding a little over-done and showtuney.
Two years later, Robert Fripp (who played guitar on Peter Gabriel) would re-record "Here Comes the Flood" in a much more stripped-down, bare bones manner with Gabriel reprising his vocals. Quite a difference!
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry!
RATING: 4 Grab Your Things I've Come to Take You Home out of 5
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