"Up" -- The New Peter Gabriel Album

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Tom Head, Oct 7, 2002.

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  1. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    ...has all the characteristics of most of his pre-1986 stuff: it's brilliant and deep, but sounds tedious the first time you hear it. In other words, it grows on you. The single you've probably seen/heard--"The Barry Williams Show"--is lyrically the weakest track, but instrumentally it's one of the strongest. (The backing vocals in the chorus create what could almost be called a reggae effect, and the instrumental buildup is much stronger on the album version--which runs to 6:29--than on the clipped single version.) I give Up ***3/4, with hopes that the man doesn't wait another ten years before releasing his next non-instrumental studio album.


    Cheers,
     
  2. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Forgot to address the other tracks:

    * With the exception of the closer ("The Drop"), every track on album runs to 6-8 minutes. The CD format seems to be completely maxed out.

    * Album title aside, the lyrics and tone are much deeper and darker than his previous two studio albums, featuring meditations on death and the meaning of life (though this is not a stereotypical "mortality album," as I'd originally feared from reading the lyrics sheet). You're not going to find anything like "Sledgehammer," "Big Time," "Steam," or "Digging in the Dirt"--"The Barry Williams Show" is the closest thing to Gabriel funk you'll find. There are some cheerful tracks--"Growing Up" and "More Than This" will/would make good singles--but they sound spiritual, not Motownish. Approximately half the album would qualify for airtime on a Christian Contemporary station if performed by someone other than Peter Gabriel.

    * There are some really nice collaborations to be heard--"Signal to Noise" features the always complex and passionate vocal talents of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan, and the Blind Boys of Alabama add a gospel ambience to "More Than This" that has to be heard to be believed.

    * If Gabriel's voice has changed at all since Us, he actually sounds a little younger.

    * Bottom line: If you like vintage Peter Gabriel, here he is at his best. If you like his singles ("Sledgehammer," et. al.) but hate his long-form stuff, this will probably bore you to tears.


    Cheers,
     
  3. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    (I would add that I'm still undecided on whether this is a ***3/4 album; it's certainly **** for me, as I've been listening to it nonstop on loop for a week and it sounds better each time, but an objective rating demands that I shave off 1/4* for the initial yawn factor. Star ratings are bunk anyway.)


    Cheers,
     
  4. tcnixon

    tcnixon Active Member

    Tom,

    What have I told you about writing to yourself? You do know that people will think that you're crazy.

    Not that they didn't already.



    Tom Nixon
     
  5. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    I don't talk to myself, do I? No, I don't. Of course not. Why would anyone think I talk to myself? I don't know. I never talk to myself, so there's no basis for that accusation. I'm offended. Well, not quite offended, but annoyed. Well, a little more than annoyed, but still not offended. About halfway between annoyed and offended, because I'm half-conscious. Why am I half-conscious? Because...

    [at this point, Tom ignores the keyboard and simply talks to himself for 20-30 minutes or so, then notices there's an unsent post sitting on his web browser, and doesn't bother to read it before clicking "Submit Reply"]


    Cheers,
     
  6. Orson

    Orson New Member

    NO Tom, very interesting thoughts....

    I confess--I never liked prog rock that so shamed my ears into Brit Punk in the later 70s. So I was never a fan of Genesis.

    (A plausible pet thesis of mine I've never seen developed anywhere: Prog rock killed pop song writing, which cut it from pop music's mooring as a social device to get the the sexes to mingle, thereby creating a demand-gap that disco had to fill. Capitalism fills social needs even in the arts! See the works of cultural economist Tyler Cowan.)

    I have, however, long been a fan of his solo work. Your observations are stirking and compelling. I have to buy it!
    (Tom's work is done now-for me at least.)
    and you give me much to chew on as I listen and learn.

    Indeed!--it has been too long since his last non-instrumental release!

    --Orson
     

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