Peter Gabriel III - Happy 35th Anniversary !!!

Arguably the best Steve Lillywhite production, or at least the equal of U2 - Boy and XTC -Drums & Wires/Black Sea/English Settlement.

 

35 years already??
I bought it on it's release when I was a seventeen year old starting out with my first audio rig. Aside from the wonderful singles there was a lot of pretty deep schitt going on with this record- 'Start','Family Snapshot', 'Lead A Normal life' and 'Intruder'. Unsettling thematically, very satisfying musically. My musical interests have moved in many directions in 35 years but there's always room for what I'd call NIR- 'non-histrionic intelligent rock'.

 

I was over at member dobyblue's place for one of our semi-annual audio get-togethers, along with a few other friends, and he cued up Biko on the 200g Classic. Holy crap! I was absolutely blown away by the dynamics and power of this cut. When I got back home I started to look for a copy and soon after came across a minty fresh one. This is a seriously good reissue!

 

I still remember the C90 cassette and the portable cassette player I took with me on my holidays with my parents in 1980. PG3 on one side and Scary Monsters on the other. I must have played that cassette 1,000 times in a summer.... Peter Gabriel, David Bowie.... and Robert Fripp on both sides!!

 

Wow, I had not heard that Atlantic story before. That is shocking!

 

Plays Live is a superb live album. I don't think it gets mentioned enough.

 

Classic Records reissues of PG's albums are, indeed, really good. Classic was able to take advantage of their market by fully recreating the dynamics on the master tapes, an attribute that had to be limited for the traditional commercial releases. And interestingly, Classic went back to the original analog master for So. The original release used a digital master derived from the analog master, even for the LP.

 

I agree Peter Gabriel III is his best album. My favorite however is Peter Gabriel II.

 

I get why some people dislike 80s production in general, but this album would not be half as powerful without it. It needs to sound chilly, brittle, echoey, and alienated.

The wailing at the beginning of "I Don't Remember" is one of my fave PG moments.

 

It's worth mentioning that the gated drum sound that many complain was overused in the '80's got its start on this album... But, at that point, it was a fresh, innovative effect.

 

I think my favorite is Peter Gabriel, followed by Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel is alright but a bit too hit-or-miss.
Not a fan of Peter Gabriel. Sorry.

 

My vote for best album without cymbals ever!

 

Oh for the days when you could buy a new Gabriel album unheard, and know you were going to get something great, something different, something inventive. I loved everything up to So. If I had to pick a favorite I'd go with the one that just felt astonishing at the time - Security. The rhythms on that one were so new at the time, and it sounded so exotic and strange, while at the same time laced with terrific melodies. These were the days where Gabriel worked on many different layers, and at all times something was strange, even if you were singing along. Hell, this even has Kate Bush on it in a song I can stand to hear more than once.

As for PG III, who can forget the inner sleeve with the minuscule pink writing.

The only track I tend to grimace a bit on these days is Biko. Family Snapshot is fantastic stuff (thought it was about Kenedy's assassination at the time, but learned later is was based on a book by Arthur Bremer). And Through the Wire was also a favorite at the time.... but there's nothing here that's bad. Given Security was next this was obviously a mind bendingly creative period for the man. Strange, but So sounds so simple alongside these earlier works, but I saw a documentary about the recording of So and one hell of a lot went into that too......

 

I only call them that when someone asks for clarification (i.e "Which one is the 3rd album?"). The Rolling Stone Record Guide referred to them as the Atco album, the Atlantic album, and the Mercury album, respectively, since they originally came out on different labels in the US. (The 3rd album was eventually reissued on Geffen.)

As a variation on the So? story, I'm convinced that Geffen sent some flunky to pester Gabriel at a hotel or concert venue to force him provide a title to the 4th album, to which Gabriel called for "Security!".

 

Kate Bush followed the idea of cymbal-less arrangements with "The Dreaming"... it is an interesting approach as it eliminates the masking effect of the cymbals on the high frequency content of other instruments, but even more importantly, it makes the drummer play differently when the cymbals are taken away.

Both great albums.

 

Will you guys shut up and appreciate the damn music like this anniversary thread is supposed to? Come on, it's a nickname for Christ's sake. Calm down.

I can't believe it's that old, makes me feel even older. I remember when it first came out. I kept waiting for PG's awesome album cover streak to end. I had to wait six more years for that to happen.

 

Thanks for helping me lower my blood pressure. No thanks for telling me to shut up.

 

Did all your troubles just MELT away?

 

A fantastic CD!

 

I don't think PGIII sounds like '80s production. I think '80s production sounds like PGIII.

Seriously - I think this album is a (possibly the) major architect of that decade's sound.

 

I want Steven Wilson to remix it in 5.1!!

 

My favorite PG album is the first - it was just so audacious, and it told us in no uncertain terms that his departure from Genesis was the right decision and that he was an artist to re reckoned with. Also, I saw one of his first solo shows in L.A., which impressed me for life. But I have to admit that PGIII is the better album - damn near perfect in every way.

 

Wonderful album and the second of his that I had bought, the first being the First. Collin's spooky drumming on Intruder is ironic in that it sets up the album for other tunes that sound nothing like it. These days, however, I tend to play I and II more often.

 

I don't remember anyone calling those albums by Car, Scratch and Melt until fairly recently. I think it may have been PG himself who introduced those labels. I've always called them I, II, and III myself.

The OP's article is really well written - nice post!

 

I feel like he started calling them by these names when the albums were remastered in 2002. I never heard them before that.

If you were going to name it after one of the songs (not that Peter ever did that), I always thought "Games Without Frontiers" would be the right thing to call this album, however obvious it might be.