[Pez]

Hey guys and gals,
Any fans? I've been really getting into his stuff lately. Recently bought Security, So, Us, and Scratch my Back. All absolutely masterful, worldy and beautiful. Scratch My Back is WAY better than a few reviews I've read would have you believe. Definitely have to be capable of higher thinking to truly get what he's done with it.  Any way there's a lot of Gabriel material out there. Any suggestions?

[Scott F.]

Hiya Jason,

I didn't realize he had a new one out (Scratch my back). I'll have to pick that one up.

Speaking of Up, of all his releases, that is my favorite.

OVO is fairly decent as is Passion.

Secret World Live is really good and takes you through US (if I remember correctly). The concert video is even better because of the stage show.

Birdie is fair. For some reason I didn't connect very well with the music of that release.

I don't have the Long Walk Home. I'll have to sample some of the tracks for that soundtrack.

I've always been a big fan of Gabriel and Genesis (with Gabriel). If you want to experience some more of his early work with Genesis let me suggest Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, and [obviously] The Lamb Lies Down.

Gabriel's work has always been far enough out of the 'mainstream' that I've followed it (with a couple of 'pop' exceptions). I find him very creative and a unique musician. His UP release is a great example. It's dark, brooding and intense...quite good actually. Oh, the Classic vinyl release of that is excellent too 

[eclein]

+1 on UP!!! Incredible sound...

[zybar]

Hey guys and gals,
Any fans? I've been really getting into his stuff lately. Recently bought Security, So, Us, and Scratch my Back. All absolutely masterful, worldy and beautiful. Scratch My Back is WAY better than a few reviews I've read would have you believe. Definitely have to be capable of higher thinking to truly get what he's done with it.  Any way there's a lot of Gabriel material out there. Any suggestions?

Do you have the hi-rez version of "Scratch My Back"?

If not, try to get it, it is excellent!!

George

[ted_b]

My wife and I are such big Peter fans we almost named our middle son Peter.  I/we have seen him 8-9 times (I include the Lamb Tour while he was with genesis too).  I've been into him since Day 1 but for newcomers I'd recommend PG3 (aka Melt) and PG4 (aka Security) as good starting points.  The SACD's are great but difficult to find.  His only real multichannel HiRez release was UP, and as stated here, is a masterpiece IMO, and Peter mixed it specifically for multichannel 5.1 use.  Incredible.

I agree with George, the HiRez release of Scratch My Back is even better than the nicely recorded redbook.  The album, though, would NOT be my first recommendation for new PG fans...it's an acquired taste...

If multichannel is of interest (other than UP) then the label also put out a nice medley of his music videos all remixed for DTS 24/96 5.1.  It's called Play.  Although PG was a leading edge MTV'er with his wild animated videos, to me they look dated and are only ok...but the disc is marvelous for its sonics (i.e turn off the tv once you pick the correct layer  ).

[eclein]

"Scratch.." is good?? I'll have to check it out. "Solsbury Hill" is my fav tune!!

[ted_b]

"Scratch.." is good?? I'll have to check it out. "Solsbury Hill" is my fav tune!!

Yes, but you're talking with big PG fans here.  Some say it's boring and lifeless...it's an acquired taste in his cover ideas.

SH is my wife's fave tune too.  We were vacationing in Santa Fe recently and had a rental car with sat radio.  As we entered a beautiful part of the city area the song came on; made the beginning of the vacation really start out nicely cuz Jennifer was convinced it was a message. 

[eclein]

I'm right with you as I have all his albums and Genesis albums with him as well.."Scratch.." is the only one I don't have yet, and that will change soon...LOL!!!
"Don't Give Up" has significant meaning for me, and is extremely hard to listen to at times...at a particularly dark time in my life that song
literally saved my life. Made me stop and pause..not give up, brings tears just thinking of it!! PG is by far my favorite male singer/songwriter/performer!!!! "Shaking The Tree" collection is a great compilation for new folks also...I'm listening to "UP" as this thread
inspired me to play it...amazing dimensionality even in a 2.1 setup..The BEST!!!

[drphoto]

Check out his concert vids, esp. 'Growing Up'. The opening version of "Here Comes the Flood" alone is worth the price of admission. The show is more performace art than traditional concert. PG (and Genesis) have always been at the forefront of stage and lighting design. (In fact Genesis and their lighting company developed the VariLite)

He may have hit his commercial peak in the 80's, but I think he only gets better with time. "UP" is a very dark record that doesn't appeal to a lot of people, but I think it's brilliant. Plus his singing voice is better than ever. ''US" is a fantastic, but darkly themed album too.

Probably my all time favorite musician.

[mfsoa]

I never really got into the PG thing, but I have caught a few of his live shows on TV and enjoyed them much more than just listening to the music alone.

For years my wife had this thing going where we'd be flipping around the FM dial in the car and something would come on and she'd say "eeew, what is this, it's horrid" and it was usually PG, without her knowing who it was! Happened again and again...

But I'll admit, there's more in the music than I'm giving it credit for and the blame is on me for not digging down deeply enough to appreciate it for what it has to offer.  Just can't stand the incredibly over-processed vocals though - just too computerized for me.

-Mike

[czapp]

I have Scratch on vinyl, and it is excellent

[low.pfile]

I happened to listen to Scratch my back very late last night, nearly in the dark, doing some catch up work. A very good recording.  I really like the orchestral additions to some of the songs.

Note that Scratch is another project type album by PG where he covers some of his songs (Bowie, talking heads, Paul Simon,etc) and they will cover his on the followup album.

[SlushPuppy]

I spent the past year tracking down all his 2002 remasters. I only bought his proper albums, as I don't care for the soundtracks. Believe it or not, the toughest one to find was "So". Seems most of his stuff is OOP. I like them all, but "Plays Live" is probably my favorite. The live versions of "I go swimming" and "On the air" are amazing.

[highfilter]

One of the stand out tracks that got me really interested in Peter Gabriel is "Signal to Noise". Woke me up, for sure!

I think the mix on Gangs of New York first started it. Yeah, I'm late to jump on board.

[simoon]

I'm a big Genesis fan, and therefore a Gabriel fan.

I like all his releases up through So. Nothing after that has done anything for me.

His best work was with Genesis, but I'm a bigger fan of progressive music than his later popier and world music influenced releases.

I would rate any of his Genesis output better than any of his solo works. Although I think Security is his best solo work.

[doorman]

Another Gabriel fan starting about '69/70.
He's lost me. I've tried I really have, but----!!
Don