Search - Peter Gabriel :: Revisited

What's Wrong with This album?

John Stodder | livin' just enough | 08/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't understand the scorn with which this little collection is greeted. It combines most of the songs from the first two Peter Gabriel albums, the two that preceded his sometimes rewarding but often tedious excursions into what's often called "world music," by which I gather is meant grafting African rhythms onto exceedingly white-oriented lyrics and melodies (see Paul Simon, David Byrne...). As with Byrne and Simon, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's almost always highly presumptous (i.e. why is African music the sina qua non of "world"? What about Irish? Hawaiian? Chinese? Russian? Sicilian? etc. The idea that a single, overeducated, overpraised white man from America or England can somehow embrace all the varied musics of the world is preposterous and insulting to true ethno-music scholars... butIdigress...)This album documents the best (with one terrible omission) from the two albums Gabriel put out when he was content to bring his surreal theatricality and quasi-symphonic tendencies, carried over from the "progressive" group Genesis, into the era of power pop. Not to be confused with Elvis Costello or Marshall Crenshaw, to be sure, but on those albums, Gabriel delivers relatively short, punchy, highly melodic, sometimes dissonant, occaisionally bizarre songs that are extremely entertaining, and seldom take themselves too seriously. For those who are accustomed to Gabriel taking the entire weight of all the world's suffering on his shoulders, it's very refreshing to hear the humor and whimsy that run through much of this music, especially stuff from his first solo album. There's also a lot of fabulous musicianship on this record--especially from Robert Fripp, but also Roy Bittan, Jerry Marotta, Larry Fast and Dick Wagner. These albums are no less thoughtful than Gabriel's subsequent, politically correct tomes, but they are far more enjoyable. So, what's wrong with this album? Nothing, except they left off the second album's most wonderful song, "White Shadow." To solve that, I guess you could buy both PG albums and dispense with this one. But those two albums are too short for the CD era; this one plays for over an hour and get can you farther. That's all. It's useful for people like me who like a lot of their favorite music packed onto one disc. It's economical. Go with it!"

What's the point?

Distant Voyageur | Io | 03/16/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"There is no real point in getting this compilation. This is basically a set containing material from Peters first two albums with songs that alternate between the first and second LPs. Go get the WWWAAAYYYY superior shaking the tree album for a great sample of his works.For a far better investment, look forward to his entire CD catalog being rereleased remastered. You can get the remastered editions of his first two albums. I agree with the reviewer below, this is one compilation that should go out of print. This album is completely unnecessary, even for die-hard PG fans."