The BIG TIME Peter Gabriel "So" Poll

I suspect the HI DERE factor.

Mercy Street

http://www.joeclipart.com/blog/images/2007/04/20070402lloyd-final.jpg

yeah gotta go with mercy street

sort of forgot how good this album is. guess i'll go with the kate bush weepie, but "red rain" is a close second.

I could go for almost any of these but right now I'm voting for "That Voice Again."

I love the keyboard sound on this album. This is the peak of the Fairlight and Prophet 5 era.

this and the contemporaneous kate bush albums. (kate's always my first reference point for fairlight.)

It was a close fight, but...

http://www.multinet.no/~jonarne/Hjemmesia/Favorittartister/peter_gabriel/peter_gabriel_sledgehammer.jpg

was thinking "Sledgehammer" but "Mercy Street" is the one I listen to the most so I go with it

Basically this album is perfect.

I'm generally a fan of Gabriel's more nuanced, slow-burning songs, but in this case "Sledgehammer" is undeniably topz.

funny to see this poll coinciding with all the lanois hate going on in the producer thread

Lanois got it right on this album! But Gabriel's a solid producer in his own right.

all the lanois hate going on in the producer thread

Glad I didn't visit that thread. It would just make me sad.

this is maybe lanois' best production job. it's certainly before he went insane with the reverb

I kept hearing "That Voice Again" in my head last night/this morning. Such a nice 80's sound. I'm amazed how much long this album's appeal has endured. It's pretty impossible to get tired of "Red Rain", for me. Sometimes you really just don't have a clue what's going to turn out to be special and last until enough years go by.

Sometimes you can hear an album once and know instantly it's going to be one of the greatest things you've ever heard, which was exactly my reaction upon hearing the first few notes of "Red Rain" back in 1986.

^^ this

Obvious classic from day one. With an extra helping of WTF/awesome for sneaking Laurie Anderson into the in-car cassette players of an entire generation of American jocks and cheerleaders.

(that, and the video for "Beautiful Red Dress")

Yeah, "Mercy Street" with "Red Rain" a close second. This album never gets old.

Did this album top the PG album poll? If not, it should have. So is the perfect compromise b/w art and commerce.

"Sledgehammer" is kind of an unimpeachable pop song My wife and I heard it last night on XM and were commenting on the sly nod to the horn arrangement from "Superstition."

"Mercy Street". But haven't we done this at least once already?

Sometimes you can hear an album once and know instantly it's going to be one of the greatest things you've ever heard, which was exactly my reaction upon hearing the first few notes of "Red Rain" back in 1986.

I had the same reaction, but for me it was live (part of the 1986 Amnesty Int'l tour), about two months before the record was out, and he dedicated it to all death row prisoners.

Excellent, excellent version from Amnesty International.

Not that I am going to spark a lot of opposition towards one of my favourite artists of all time, but exactly why is Peter Gabriel's social conscience so much more credible than Bono's or Sting's to most ILM'ers?

That's a fantastic question, Geir.

Because Peter Gabriel has never been omnipresent the same way Sting and Bono have, plus he likes to wear surrealist funny outfits.

His hair was much better too.

Because Peter Gabriel has never been omnipresent the same way Sting and Bono have

But isn't this simply because U2 and Sting/Police are/were much more popular than Peter Gabriel/Genesis have ever managed to become?

their music is worse

I was an American jock when this came out and it did indeed sneak Laurie Anderson into my in-car cassette player. Had never heard of her before. Actually, it's funny, I absolutely loved this album right when it hit, I guess I was 16, and I feel like I learned a lot from it. I didn't know who Anne Sexton was but I found out. Never had heard of Stanley Milgram. Didn't know from Senegalese vocalists, no idea what these new synthesizers where, knew just a bit about Kate Bush but all of a sudden wanted to know a whole lot more. Just working to figure out what was going on was tremendous fun. An almost perfect album (never warmed to "Big Time" but it's OK). Can't decide on a track yet.

his political songs are also better. less obvious, more potent. "biko" has real anguish in it, which "russians," say, does not.

their music is worse

Truth bomb alert!

I remember heading to Rasputin's on Telegraph with my friend Lance to buy this the day it came out. "Sledgehammer" was so far afield from "Shock The Monkey" that our hopes were a little low, but... still had to hear it... got to the store right as a record was ending. the sound of the needle drop on the new record was so loud, it was clear the volume had been cranked up intrusively high for the new record, about 80 people in the room and it wasn't going to be background music and I sort of knew that meant it had to be the new Gabriel -- we were sort of waiting for the giveaway confirmation and then the Rhodes came in over the drum fills and Lance & I kinda nodded to each other

their music is worse

More like Peter Gabriel's music is better ;)

Had never heard of her before. Actually, it's funny, I absolutely loved this album right when it hit, I guess I was 16, and I feel like I learned a lot from it. I didn't know who Anne Sexton was but I found out. Never had heard of Stanley Milgram. Didn't know from Senegalese vocalists, no idea what these new synthesizers where, knew just a bit about Kate Bush but all of a sudden wanted to know a whole lot more

Mark, this was my experience too. I got the album somewhat later (1990), and it was the perfect gateway to a lot of weird, wonderful sounds.

Those of you around at the time: was there a sense of "betrayal" that Gabriel had suddenly gunned for the charts? I'm sure no one thought Gabriel would record a Number One hit in the "Games Without Frontiers" era.

"Games Without Frontiers" may not have been a (US) number one, but it was a UK number 4 like "Sledgehammer".

Well I'm a bit envious of the nice memory Milton shared as for some reason I don't remember a whole lot about what my first experiences were with this record, though I know I'd heard Shock The Monkey before, at least. I knew a real Gabriel fanatic at the time, though (going back to Genesis and all) and he didn't seem to hold any of it against him.

The "Shock The Monkey" video scared the fuck outta me in second grade.

"Sledgehammer" came out a month before the album. I only knew one other hard core fan, and we were both pretty horrified. his smile in the video was just so ludicrous and we wanted to read it as a pisstake so badly (a few months later the video for "Big Time", same smile). the cover of the album also uncharacteristically safe. so the month before the album came out was a little rough, and it was a relief to find he'd pulled it off -- not very weird, but still epic, and still kind of haunted. and the b-sides were reassuring.

anyone watching MTV 1982-1986 on a weekend after midnight, or watching USA's "Night Flights" (i.e. most US suburban teenagers) knew the "Shock The Monkey" video & he was already playing small stadiums. his next album was guaranteed to have a huge amount of attention. it was just a shock to see him come out smiling for it.

No sense of betrayal whatsoever. Partially because dude had so earned it, partially because I'd somehow already managed to turn half my class on circa Plays Live (note: my school was very small), but mostly because the album was really as weird and awesome as any other, barring two monster singles that didn't really sound like anything else (yet) and did sound a lot like Peter Gabriel.

Mostly I just feel betrayed that he's only put out one album a decade since then!

(Though betrayed would maybe be the wrong word for what happens when artists on the edge of pop blow up. I remember kind of letting go of U2 circa The Joshua Tree, and REM circa Out of Time, but I didn't feel as though they'd done my corny indie ass wrong or anything.

I'm playing the album now, and I'm trying to hear Daniel Lanois-esque tics, and can hear little to none. Did Gabriel tame him?

As far as the B-sides go, "Don't Break This Rhythm" almost deserves inclusion on the album.

I would vote the hell out of "In Your Eyes" if the extended version with the extra verse ("Accepting all I've done and said...") and the long, Youssou N'dourrific fade out were on the album.

(That said, I voted for...um..."In Your Eyes." But I would have clicked that little circle harder for the other version.)

In a different mood, it coulda been "Red Rain," "Sledgehammer" or "Mercy Street." I'll shut up now before I badmouth "That Voice Again" or "Don't Give Up."

the extended version with the extra verse ("Accepting all I've done and said...")

The extended version is indeed ultimate win. I still remember the whole damn thing!

& the 10 minute live version that _starts_ with the extra verse, only released on a radio compilation, though the video played on MTV for a while around '92

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=7155

More like Peter Gabriel's music is better ;)
-- Geir Hongro, Thursday, 14 August 2008 23:23 (Yesterday)

A small victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFQdoLRtENo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgY3jsphHM4&feature=related

http://thegabrielroom.free.fr/memoFilmPov.htm

I'm gonna go for "That Voice Again", though my secret fave is actually Migram's 37" tbh.

big time.

i did have a similar experience as Mark with this, I was in 8th grade at the time but over the next few years this record completely introduced me to Sexton, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson (who I guess I'd actually already seen on Alive from Off Center on PBS and her bizarre SNL spot). I'd already had "IV" when this came out and around the same time found the earlier Genesis albums but this was a gateway album for me that led me a multitude of music and culture that is still hugely influential to me.

A small victory.

No small victory indeed. Not that I am a huge fan of U2 or solo Sting. But The Police released some fantastic albums back in the day (particularly towards the end of their existence) and U2 have had their moments too. Yes, even Sting did, before he decided to go AOR.

I dunno about Gabriel's dancing in that clip.

This album, especially paired with "The Joshua Tree," marked such a paradigm shift when it came to production. Both albums sounded/sound pretty radical, but they were pop hits, so you have to really concentrate to hear what makes them weird. But "So" is just so strange, pop-glossy but not, novel arrangements, a mix of programmed percussion and real drums (often as many as three drummers on a track, playing different stuff). Ample, excellent use of Tony Levin, even sharper than on "III" (the end of "Don't Give Up" introduces the "Nappy Bass," with his daughter's diapers dampening the strings). Plus, it's often absolutely beautiful.

The only thing that irks me is that the remaster sticks "In Your Eyes" at the end rather than in the middle, where I was used to it. Artistic intent and all that, but I thought the disc ending on "This is the Picture" was just the coolest thing.

The instrumental introductions to "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Street" = best ever. Note how subtly Lanois-Gabriel employ the triangle in "Mercy Street," and the "Looking for mercy!" interjections over the close.

exactly why is Peter Gabriel's social conscience so much more credible than Bono's or Sting's to most ILM'ers?

Peter Gabriel never claimed to be Jesus Christ.

Also, Peter Gabriel generally doesn't speechify or release press releases touting his do-goodery. While those other two use their high profile to get attention, gaining personally in the process, Gabriel seems to prefer working behind the scenes on various initiatives and whatnot. Plus, the guy has a thing for founding intellectual think tanks to help achieve his altruistic goals, which puts him in league with other relatively private folks such as Brian Eno rather than the usual camera hogs.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/75/85/91af810ae7a013a9d742b110.L.jpg

Oh, that reminds me, I got a remix 12" of Sledgehammer, never got round to playing it.

Was it worth the effort?

It's ok.

Wow, this thread is too much. I'm gonna go on a whole reinvestigation of this record now. I don't know if I ever heard the b-sides or not, and damn if I didn't forget all about that extended version of In Your Eyes. I remember the live video that had Youssou N'Dour singing at the end, though. I actually saw N'Dour once live and he was fabulous, though it wasn't my usual type of music.

And yeah, Passion soundtrack - utterly essential at the time, but I really wore that one out.

"This is the picture" is the only one here I'd be inclined to hear again.

I really lurve Passion, maybe tied for his best album: something about the vulgarity of the zealously mixed drum sound atop the "ethnic" melodies.

i was really into gabriel up until this record. sledgehammer was fun until it was played to death, but overall this is where i got off the bus. but i don't begrudge him going for the platinum.

This is totally weird. I've never even heard this extended version of In Your Eyes before, ever. WTF? "Curtains" is also extremely good for a short, sweet, placid b-side. "Don't Break This Rhythm" is a close second with its tension and release.

I'm also going to listen to Genesis' "Selling England By The Pound" in a minute here because this guy I met recently from Japan who's older than me recommended it. I used to have the "Trespass" album, but didn't like it much...had one other old Genesis album I think but I can't remember what it was.

For the past couple of years I have not been able to get away from at least some form of Peter Gabriel. He haunts me at least every couple of months if not weeks. And I still say the Birdy soundtrack is better than the Passion one, but never mind.

Anyone have an opinion on the "Walk Through The Fire" single, which I believe immediately preceded "So"? I remember buying the single, and hearing it again now, I love the synth sound (yes I am a New Order fan, sorry). I crave modernized remixes of that, I think.

Anyone have an opinion on the "Walk Through The Fire" single, which I believe immediately preceded "So"?

Sometime in the late 80s, I remember buying the "Against All Odds" soundtrack because of the title track (the only way to get hold of it back then), and "Walk Through The Fire" was the other song on that soundtrack that I really liked.

Yeah, to be honest I'd forgotten "Walk..." entirely until reading the title of it again last night. I recall buying the single of the title track to Against All Odds as well, though...sorry it wasn't available to you in such a form, but hey you got a good Gabriel song out of it! ;)

Also this post of yours upthread was WAY OTM and I salute you for saying it:

No small victory indeed. Not that I am a huge fan of U2 or solo Sting. But The Police released some fantastic albums back in the day (particularly towards the end of their existence) and U2 have had their moments too. Yes, even Sting did, before he decided to go AOR.

I get tired of people who refuse to recognize that yes, Bono and Sting did do some quality things in their careers no matter how much you hate them as people or think they're arrogant, egotistical, whatever. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but people do this all the time with those guys.

Nobody said that!

Not on this thread, no, I didn't mean that. You seem to be irritated with me, Alfred. I'm not understanding why.

Not one bit, friend.

I'm very glad to hear that, friend.

"we do what we're told" sounds like boards of canada

so i will vote for that

Here's a weird thing. Has anyone ever noticed that, when the polarity of your speakers is not on sync (one of them goes + to -), the drums on "We Do What We're Told" sound uncannily like they are coming from far to the left of left speaker? I used to delight in demonstrating this to people back in the day.

what rogermexico up thread said.

though i also really enjoy hearing Don't Give Up" on the radio, every once in a while.

HI DERE

Excellent, excellent version from Amnesty International.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:23 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

thx for that link - made me wonder whatever happened to Manu Katché, the drummer. Turns out he's been active ever since, but not on albums I've been interested in...

Manu Katche plays on just about every album loved by hi-fi-enthusiasts all over the world.

I remember this album as one of the ones in constant rotations on roadtrips, as both my parents were also big solo Peter Gabriel fans (my dad was really into Genesis prior to PG's departure, but mom would never go there). I remember Excellent Birds as one of the weirdest, most fitting things to hear from a back seat, and voted for it happily even though I think my adult mind likes a lot of the other songs more.

It's been fun kind of rediscovering this stuff over the last couple years, because I found a whole bunch of tapes that we used to travel with, including the Kate Bush stuff that I hated as a kid (it was too slow and delicate), and the Laurie Anderson home-made best of that had Excellent Birds on it.

If anyone has a copy of "Walk Through The Fire," I'll appreciate it!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/17199966da2cca81/

Here you go.

Thanks, hoss.

Heard "Big Time" in IKEA today.

Tempting me to buy a snow white pillow for my big fat head.

the drumming on "Sledgehammer" is fucking unbelievable

i wish i could just listen to that as a solo drum track for an hour.

I love how "Big Time" itself should sound terribly dated (the synth bass, drum thwacks, organ breaks) but is really this hybrid of styles and noises which still -- somehow! -- satirizes its subject while reveling in its own opulence.

sOToM

Peter always made those big goofy Fairlights and Prophets sound so much larger than life (ha). All his shit should sound dated, but he pushed that shit so far forward in the mix that that they take a life of their own. It becomes like Tangerine Dream for yuppos or something.

Let's not forget about Jerry Marotta playing Levin's bass with his DRUMSTICKS on "Big Time" :D

I get the feeling PG's rather underrated as as keyboardist.

*a

Is it still possible to listen to "In Your Eyes"? Not because of Say Anything, but because of the Say Anything lols?

Or Solsbury Hill for that matter.

I've never had a problem with Say Anything or the song's use in the film! It's a risk that works.

I'm not saying because of the movie, I'm saying because of like bands than name themselves after it and like Family Guy Robot Chicken internet bullshit

also

I love that this single
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Solsburyhill_gabriel.jpg
is now synonymous with LOL happy feelgood movie trailers. fuck you internet.

and cameron crowe, i guess

I've never seen Say Anything, but I still love "In Your Eyes" so maybe I should watch the movie. And what's wrong/lol with "Solsbury Hill"? That's a tremendously uplifting song! xpost ok I don't know these trailers or movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVjl7gK4HGU

ok I've seen that trailer but that just makes me love the song even more!

i think his third album is his best by far, but the fact that it hasn't been played out like solsbury hill and the So singles is a big plus as well (except maybe games w/o frontiers, which isn't a big fav of mine anyway)

I played Solisbury Hill about an hour and a half ago.

I can't take the suspense with this poll. Please, let's get it over with.

Alfred's got Walk Through The Fire now! :)

Anyway, I'm afraid to watch that Amnesty International video upthread...I mean I might have a heart attack, you know...

i liked walk through the fire and wish So sounded more like that : /

solsbury hill is still one of my five or six favorite songs, despite its reputation w/r/t movie trailers or whatever

i read somewhere that its about gabriel seeing springsteen in concert

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Solsburyhill_gabriel.jpg

Why can't MORIBUND THE BERGERMEISTER be the song in every single trailer ever???? That would make my life!

"Mother...you know your son...and when I say I will...I WILL find out..."

I heard Solsbury Hill wz abt him leaving Genesis? Is this wrong?

Some are jumping up in the air - say "We're drowning in a torrent of blood!"
Others going down on their knees, seen a saviour coming out of the mud

So good for inspirational teacher movie preview!

yeah the story i heard is that gabriel cant decide whether or not to leave genesis and then goes to see springsteen--this is back in what, like 75, maybe before born to run came out--and the concert is so totally transformative gabriel realizes he has to leave genesis.

I also heard it is about being picked up by a giant eagle.

i kinda like if the reverse was true
bruce springsteen goes to a genesis concert and then decides to go proggy

Good lord, folks you're killing me here. I'm too drunk to google. I have to rely on fairy tales. My new friend used to be a Sprinsteen nut in the 70's, too, so this is especially weird because of that.

googling reveals that its a story propagated by dave marsh that isnt specifically true, but springsteen was a strong influence on gabriel

Good work, Max. You see my friend...just mentioned the Street Hassle album to me last night...I usually hate Springsteen but I adore what he did for that song Street Hassle, absolutely adore it.

Sorry I know this is a Gabriel thread.

i kinda like if the reverse was true
bruce springsteen goes to a genesis concert and then decides to go proggy

"Born To Run" is kind of proggy in places. "Jungleland", obv...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The whole record is fucking horrendous. Not even "ironically" salvageable.

It's like wanking on the faces of starving Africans. Not even remotely excuseable.

I love seeing people hate on unhateable things.

Murderer.

I kinda burned myself out on Sledgehammer. Big Time by a pube.

how everyone is not voting "Red Rain" is totally baffling to me. amazing opening song.

Defend the Indefensible: PhilK

No one ever asked Africans how they felt about wank.

Ah well, there's gotta be some bull in every china shop. If it wasn't PhilK, it would have been someone else, lads.

how everyone is not voting "Red Rain" is totally baffling to me. amazing opening song.

I've always thought it's the most boring song on the album, because it has a rather traditional soft rock sound, and not any of those cool synth sounds and other tricks the rest of the songs use

I found out Red Rain was only my #2 after all!!!! After all these years!

THAT VOICE AGAIN by miles!

tuomas WTF

He has a point, but I'm not going to help him argue it, I already voted

red rain is hueg people. the drums.

wow philk you are interesting

how do we feel about "that voice again"?

Well, if you're like me, you feel hysterically happy about it, but you know. Different strokes...

Love it. It almost sounds like it could have been a single – the chorus and middle eight are pure pop – but the music and Gabriel's voice are rather somber. The guitar hook is odd. The keyboard and percussion solos, swathed in massed overdubbed chanting Gabriels later employed to great effect on Passion, are unexpected.

Substitute "subdued" for "somber."

I don't know if anyone here cares, but I've fallen in love with Genesis' "Selling England By The Pound". What gorgeous majestic British music, there.

Agreed that "Red Rain" is one of the least interesting songs here (though it is still good). In a weird way it's slightly generic-- it almost seems like a song that Gabriel is guesting on for someone else. It could be U2. It reminds me a little of "Fallen Angel" by Robbie Robertson.

^^ I still don't get this. At all. The progression is way not U2, and the vocal... well, on the list of songs I wouldn't want to hear Bono sing, this would have to be up there. And I like Bono.

I wouldn't say it's U2, but it sounds much more ordinary than other tunes on the album, like a tune most generic rock bands could've done. The vocal is undeniably Gabriel, but the rest of the tune is rather MOR.

I remember when I first got the album and put it in my Discman and heard the start of "Red Rain", I was kinda like, "Is this what's all the fuss about?". Thankfully it got better.

I mean, it's still a nice, catchy adult rock tune, but not really special at all.

Speaking of that Robbie Robertson track, this is a weird video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQZhSNHCRC4

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Wau -- every song got a vote!

Holy shit, I wish you guys could hear the rendition of "In Your Eyes" my husband singing. He sounds like a drunk muppet of Petey G.

This thread has made me play 'SO' abt 45 times this week.

'In Your Eyes' live, Acropolis, Athens 1987 (9:35)

Okay wait a minute, woah woah woah woah. Mercy Street WON???

Big Time ahead of Sledgehammer does not compute.

^^ what they said

I voted "Big Time" (nostalgic reasons), but even I'm surprised it's above "Sledgehammer." I'm a little surprised anything's above "Sledgehammer," tho.

"We Do What We're Told" sounds perfect on a late Saturday afternoon.

"We Do What We're Told" = ideal pseudo-hangover soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V69XZGiN7g

I got a second-hand copy of "Sledgehammer" remix 12" a while ago, never played it as

1) my turntable died
2) the idea of Sledgehammer (remix) should be awesome, but it could be disastrous...

Anyone?

Looking up on Wiki, apparently it's his only number 1 hit in the USA, and it knocked Genesis off the top with their only number 1 hit "Invisible Touch".

So, ner.

I remember hearing that "Sledgehammer" 12" on my town's indie radio station (KFAI) -- what I remember liking is how it brought to the front that final hammer-worksong sound that ends the regular version.

Pretty Trevor Horn-y.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1YZK-6T9Is

It's like flange-hammer, that sound.

Thank you, Garu-G.

let's take the boat out wait until darkness
let's take the boat out wait until darkness
comes

such a gorgeous song

even that bluegrass-y cover is tolerable

For me, this album (and Gabriel in general) introduced me to the idea that I could really love "arty" pop music that was about doing interesting things with sound and writing about heady ideas. Using "heady" in a relative sense here since I was a 16-year-old jock who knew nothing about the world when I was listening to So, but I like that albums like this, accessible and ambitious records that can serve as gateways to new ways of thinking about music.

I've always thought it's the most boring song on the album, because it has a rather traditional soft rock sound, and not any of those cool synth sounds and other tricks the rest of the songs use

Didn't see this back when, but, really.... OTM in a way.

Now I don't consider "Red Rain" to be a boring song. In fact it is a great song. But it would have been better with a more interesting arrangement, like, for instance, "Mercy Street" has.

one doubt
one voice
one war
one truth
one dream

amazing track

let's take the boat out wait until darkness
let's take the boat out wait until darkness
comes

you've GOTTA see this (if its availabale 'in your area') cause this is honestly fucking brilliant

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01dprvb/hd/Classic_Albums_Peter_Gabriels_So/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zf9QLoWMQA

who the hell are the 8 people who voted "Don't Give Up" - I had my 'pod on shuffle and that song came up and I felt like giving up...my life!

You worry too much. It's gonna be all right.

any doubt i had that frogbs actively tries to get banned from ilx went out the window when he dissed kate bush

Trying to work an eight plus Kate joke in here, but morning caffeine isn't working yet.

ho the hell are the 8 people who voted "Don't Give Up" - I had my 'pod on shuffle and that song came up and I felt like giving up...my life!

got to walk outta here

The Documentary's Big Reveal: Gabriel wrote "Don't Give Up" with Dolly Parton as duet partner. He went so far as to contact her management.

woah

It took a couple of seconds of imaginative replaying but I think the duet would still work! I'd love to have heard Dolly atop those synths.

oh man: Larry Klein discussing his bass part in "Mercy Street."

He also alludes to how his ex-wife Joni Mitchell befriended Gabriel (he sang on Chalk Mark on a Rainstorm's "My Secret Place").

the whole thing's worth it for the bit where Daniel Lanois explains how he got Gabriel to write lyrics when they were pushed for time. i'm sure these are familiar/ well known stories for Gabriel fans tho maybe? any way i had no idea! DL is clearly not a man you mess with.

i'm not familiar, no.

ugh i wish i could watch this

it's on YouTube!

The Laurie Anderson version of Excellent Birds just confirms what I love about the version on So: such an awesome bass workout. Bill Laswell sitting in for Tony Levin, I think, and so many great robo-funk fills.

Nope -- Laswell's on both, playing very simply; Levin overdubs the fancy pants playing you like so much on So.

BTW, there's a South Bank show from 1982 that's kind of like the making of Peter Gabriel 4 - it's on youtube as well (in four parts) & it's quite interesting too, imho.

god "Mercy Street" kills me

it's incredible

The demo version of "Red Rain" at the 2:20 mark is like a Pet Shop Boys track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yudjbg8p9hI

hi dere

'That Voice Again'

I like this record, but am less likely to listen to it than the four self-titled records.

Do I play Sledgehammer at this DJ night in a pub I'm playing on Saturday? Y/N?

Y!

Now that I'm in my mid forties "don't give up" makes me cry almost every time I listen to it

The affective shift when he goes "got to waaaalk out of here" is just...

However, I might have voted mercy st for its soundscape

As a kid I used to mishear "Big Time" as "Pig Time" when it played on the radio - still do, actually

Lately I have been mishearing

And I will pray to a big gunt
As I kneel in the big church

Throw this one on, dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj1JZhk2K34

I've used Sledgehammer in a few DJ sets never had a bad reaction it's just great also it starts off with kind of a good drop

Hi, Kevin!

https://bozelkablog.blogspot.com/2024/02/peter-gabriel-is-okay-and-thats-bad.html

Onion headline: "Why Aren't These Peter Gabriel Albums Any Good? Asks Area Man That Doesn't Like Peter Gabriel"

Was gonna suggest this go into the "... and here's why" thread