That Voice Again: Peter Gabriel - Album by Album

That Voice Again: Peter Gabriel - Album by Album



Now is a great time to consider the solo career of one of rock’s most innovative and intriguing songwriters and performers, Peter Gabriel. Forum members revisited and relished Gabriel’s years in the band he co-founded, led, and left behind in OldJohnRobertson’s The River of Constant Change: The Genesis Album-by-Album Thread, there is a lot of anticipation about the Gabriel-era boxset (and reunion?) promised this year, and the man himself just celebrated his fifty-eighth birthday a few days ago.

That Voice Again: Peter Gabriel Album by Album will be done in two parts, one focusing on the eponymous albums of the first decade after leaving the band he grew up with, as he struggled to find his own voice and make records with musicians and producers both removed and near Genesis, through the titled albums and his crowning achievement of the decade, the original score for a film about the life of Christ. The second half will pick up with Us and carry through the release of the Big Blue Ball album in the spring of this year.

Gabriel has many fans here at the Steve Hoffman Forums, who followed him since Genesis and came along as he explored visual and aural atmospheres, textures, characters and humanities across Western and Non-Western musical traditions -- and made some of the best rock music of our lives. Please visit and post often about your own experience of his music, the albums, songs, and gigs you lived with, what they meant and how they struck you then and now.

I will post each album in the order of its release with the basic information about it, along with quotes from Gabriel contemporaneous and retrospective about the music, recordings, tours, videos, and photos. We’ll also take some forays into the related singles and selected side projects, since as the periods between each album grew so did the interesting ‘odds and sods’ that themselves equaled the quality and volume of the albums. With our collective knowledge and experience, we can make this thread a good reference source on the journey that is Peter Gabriel’s music.

 

Peter Gabriel
February 10, 1977
Charisma CDS 4006
Atco SD 36-147
UK CHART POSITION #7 . . . US CHART POSITION #38

1. Moribund the Burgermeister 4:19
2. Solsbury Hill 4:20
3. Modern Love 3:37
4. Excuse Me 3:20
5. Humdrum 3:23
6. Slowburn 4:34
7. Waiting for the Big One 7:26
8. Down the Dolce Vita 4:43
9. Here Comes The Flood 5:54

Allan Schwartzberg: Drums, Directories
Tony Levin: Bass, Tuba, Leader of Barbershop Quartet
Jim Maelen: Percussion, Synthibam, Bones and Barbershop
Steve Hunter: Full Frontal Guitar, Electric and Acoustic, Rhythm Guitar, Pedal Steel
Robert Fripp: Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Banjo
Jozef Chirowski: Frontal Keyboard, Barbershop
Larry (Wires) Fast: Synthesizers and Programming
Peter Gabriel: Voices, Keyboard, Flute, Recorder
with
Dick Wagner: Backing Voice and Solo Guitar on the Flood and end Slowburn
and
The London Symphony Orchestra

Produced by Bob Ezrin
Recorded and Mixed at The Soundstage, Toronto
Additional Recording at Morgan Studios, London, Olympic Studios, London

Mastered at J.A.M.F., Toronto, by George Graves

Cover by Hipgnosis
Layout: Mekon

"The first record I really wanted to be different from the stuff that I'd done with Genesis so we were trying to do things, different styles there was a variety of songs and arrangements that were consciously trying to provide something different than what I'd done before."

"Bob Ezrin I'd chosen having met with many different producers and he was based in Toronto at the time and we were working in his studio there and there was a selection of people that he'd recommended and some that I'd brought in. I think really it took me 3 albums probably to get confidence and find out what I could do that made me, I think, different from other people."

"The album cover was done with Hipgnosis who I worked with a little bit at the end of Genesis period. Storm and Peter particularly from there and I think they are, are very important in the way that album sleeves have developed over the years, this was actually his car that I was sitting in on the front cover and I liked the idea of the, the water and the sort of black and white and blue colour."

'Here Comes the Flood'
“When I wrote this song I had an obsession with short-wave radio and I was always amazed at the way in which the radio signals would become stronger as daylight faded. I felt as if psychic energy levels would also increase in the night. I had had an apocalyptic dream in which the psychic barriers which normally prevent us from seeing into each others’ thoughts had been completely eroded producing a mental flood. Those that had been used to having their innermost thoughts exposed would handle this torrent and those inclined to concealment would drown in it…. In the case of ‘Flood’ it felt as if the song was writing me rather than me writing it.”

'Solsbury Hill'
“It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get, or what you are for what you might be. It’s about letting go.”

 

A great album.....BTW I think it was a dumb idea to name each of the 1st 4 albums "Peter Gabriel". He thought of them as magazine issues....but ultimately its just confusing to a novice.
Is there a bad song on this album?
The back story is that Gabriel and Fripp would go out to dinner during the sessions and complain that they hated Ezrin's producing.
One final thought: PG had a knack at discovering great rock producers throughout his career. Ezrin was famous at that point. But Lillywhite was discovered through XTC and Lanois was out of nowhere.

 

A head-scratcher when it first came out...but it didn't take long for me to love it. There's just something intriguing about an artist in search of himself, in search of his own sound. And that searching permeates this album. There is Genesis-like bombast ("Moribund" and "Slowburn"), dark moodiness ("Humdrum" and "Here Comes The Flood"), Tin-Pan Alley ("Excuse Me") and even a balls-to-the-wall rocker ("Modern Love"). The album is all over the map, but somehow it all works. Plus Robert Fripp on banjo, no less...how can you go wrong!? Was never crazy about Ezrin's echo-drone/concert-hall style of production, though. Also have to put in a plug for the great guitar work by local hero Dick Wagner (who once fronted The Frost, a great late-60s Detroit band).

 

I liked this album before I liked Genesis. From what I've heard of his later solo work, he's never subsequently topped this album. "Here Comes the Flood" and "Solsbury Hills" are definitely the highlights. For some reason, he's recorded a couple of later, sparser, versions of Flood, which although good, aren't nearly as good as the original.

 

I've only ever heard Solsbury Hill off this one, but it's fantastic. A lovely tune...

Dale

 

I spin PG's catalog at probably twice a year... not intentionally – I'll randomly pick a title and then wind up playing them all... I keep mistakenly thinking that I really don't like PG's music all that much, but after each 'catalog tour', I come away more and more amazed by this guy and his intelligent, thoughtful music.

This first album is a pretty good starter-upper to say the very least... Moribund is a fave – it seems like one last salute to Genesis before he goes to that Other Place.

That Fripp is on this album is frosting on a rich cake – always wondered how PG might fit into an edition of King Crimson (I hear hints of that in Up)... in any event, PG would go on to surround himself with world-class musicians.

Re: Ezrin... I'm sure I have several recordings produced by him, but I dunno what they are... all I can say is that PG1 sounds right the way it is – even if I do prefer the production values in subsequent albums... obviously, PG will develop atmosphere like anything else, as the vision expands.

What this catalog lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.

By a factor of 10.

 

PG I - Awesome diversity. The first time I heard it I thought that the songwriting was very uneven, but after a decade I reversed that opinion.

The backstory of Here Comes The Flood is very interesting. If I remember correctly, it was written in 1976 after leaving Genesis; the basics came while running on a hillside with his eyes closed. Gabriel's original concept was acoustic guitar and piano, and Ezrin made it into the rather extravagant piece on the album. Fripp, of course, did a version with Gabriel singing backup, and it was quieter, as Gabriel originally intended on Exposure. And then Gabriel did his own toned down version for Shaking the Tree.

And the Mozo character idea was most bizarre, originally connected to both Here Comes the Flood and Down the Dolche Vita (and was supposedly connected to other songs on later albums). Unfortunately, the Mozo story never materialized as a book, or play, or whatever form Gabriel thought of at any given moment.

Solbury Hill is also innovative in its own right, with a 7/4 time signature. While we all know this, this thread would be remiss if it did not mention that its lyrics are about Gabriel leaving Genesis.

On a separate note, I wish that I could have gone to the 1977 tours. The Cleveland boots record a very unique and entertaining show.

 

Wating for the Big One

 

I really like Peter Gabriel's solo debut. The production style (especially the orchestral overdubs) may be a bit over the top at times, but this features some of his best and most accessible songs. I would love to see more appearances of "Humdrum", "Moribund the burgermeister" and "Modern love" in his live set.

 

Really great album and probably the one that most connects to Genesis, its melodic and warm and not as overwrought (songwise not production) as his later stuff. I do like Ezrins production on it, it reminds me of 'Destroyer' by Kiss in parts.

 

A wonderful record...especially for its time of release. As a fan of Genesis (I came in through A Trick of the Tail and went backwards from there), I was intrigued by how different it really did sound from Genesis. The songs were more diverse and, in some ways, more straightforward than his previous work. And, there was an aggressiveness present that wasn't there before. What really sold me as a teenager back then, however, was a live radio broadcast of his first tour. He performed tracks from the yet to be released PG II (On the Air, Indigo), covers (ain't that peculiar, All Day and All of the Night) and one Genesis (Back in NYC). The performance on La Dolce Vita is fantastic. (I find it odd that PG is willing to release official bootlegs of his current tours, but has never gone back to release official versions of his first three tours - especially given that every tour after Security has official representation though cd or VHS/DVD)

This was an important work in the same way that A Trick of the Tail was...it indicated that Gabriel was talented enough to make a record on his own and not be forced into the sound of the day. It became clear that Genesis was indeed holding Peter back.

Final note: This was an important record for Erzin as well....I think it is the sonic bridge from Lou Reed's Berlin to Pink Floyd's The Wall.

 

A good beginning - but probably the weakest of his first four.

Not too keen on Excuse Me or Slowburn.

 

This albums is fantastic.

I love its variety and moods. Also it was a great influence for Roger Waters, prior The Wall

 

I didn't. I'll have to pay closer attention to the lyrics the next time.

Excuse Me is the only one I've ever been tempted to skip over..

 

Nobody mentioned Down The Dolce Vita yet??

That track is absolute masterpiece.

 

The first Peter Gabriel is a great one and probably my favorite. Unfortunately "Waiting For The Big One" is overlong filler imo. "Humdrum" is fantastic. I like this version of "Here Comes The Flood" but in the end I'd probably take the quiet version on Fripp's Exposure album (the original vinyl version, which I believe is now on the latest 2 cd release). This Ezrin version is totally over the top - like a rehearsal for "Comfortably Numb".

I recall Fripp saying something about how Ezrin and his gang having extravagant dinners during the recording sessions, knowing full well that the bills would wind up on Gabriel...

 

Does anyone else have the Super Disk (catalog # SD 16615) of this? There's a 39 second orchestral intro to "Slowburn" that's never been released elsewhere that I know of. I wonder who decided to leave it out the original release; Gabriel trimming just a bit of the Ezrin bombast?

"Excuse Me" does seem to be humorous filler and his Newmanesque "Waiting for the Big One" does go on too long. And why doesn't "Modern Love" hit as hard as it should?

"Solsbury Hill" & "Humdrum" are the masterpieces of this album with "Here Comes the Flood" not far behind (it still sends shivers up my spine at the close).

 

Humdrum is my favourite track on the album. Spooky.

 

Mine too

Moribund the Burgermeister, Solsbury Hill and Here Comes the Flood are also great IMO

 

the first album is such a great and unique listen. Nothing else quite like it in his catalog, but what a great bridge from his Genesis work to the beginning of his solo genius.

While not lucky enough to have seen him tour this album, I was lucky enough to see and hear many of these songs live during the 78 second album tours and songs like Waiting For The Big One were fantastic live, where on the album, maybe not so strong. They certainly come into their own live. I remember seeing him at the Palladium and starting the song from the back row of the top balcony and slowly working his way back to the stage during this song and really quite fun how he walked through the audience, and down the stairs, the swarms following the pied piper as security tried to manage the near pandemonium it caused. Years later, he went "swimming" body surfing through the crowd....that was something too...

I had the chance to lay my hands on him as he passed me by at a couple of shows, seeing him from a foot away, touching his arm or shoulder, really kind of cool and weird. he seemed like in a trance, he never broke "character" while singing that I'd noticed. Yet many fans would really grab him. i remember a security guard pulling a fellow off of his back at one point during this number, and it was quite a tussle to manage it. I couldnt believe someone would try to get a piggy back ride off of this guy singing, but there it was....yet it was really a very cool thing his audience strolling as it allowed so many fans far away to see him up close for a fleeting moment. I've never forgotten the impact it had on me as I was "only sixteen"..

 

My favorite gabriel album, last week i bought the classic records vinyl edition (sounds great), favorite track is Humdrum.

 

Cool to see how many people like "Humdrum"...probably my fave track as well. The first half is weird and spooky, the lyrics producing a subtle sense of dread...followed by that big, gorgeous, symphonic second half...with Larry Fast laying down the lush keyboard bed.

Only thing missing is a mellotron.

 

a fantastic song....great lyrics, i love this bit a lot....

Out of woman come the man
Spend the rest of his life gettin back where he can
As a bow, so a dove
As below, so above
From the black hole
Come the tadpole
With the dark soul
In coal she burn, she burn

As I drove into the sun
Didn't dare look where I had begun
Lost among echoes of things not there
Watching the sound forming shapes in the air
From the white star
Came the bright scar
Our amobea
My little liebe schoen

 

William: thanks for the report on the concert. Sounds intense.

If you want to download some good resolution Peter Gabriel videos, like Sledgehammer, try his site:

http://www.petergabriel.com/

Take a look too at the videos of what he looks like today in his late 50s. Aging happens to all of us, and he looks pretty different today--bald, grey, and a little puffy. But I think he's a musical genius.

Not to get ahead of the game, but did he release any really groovy singles after the US album? I remember listening to samples from his release 5 years ago, and I couldn't figure out which track was supposed to be the single.