I probably fall in that category too, but Plays Live was my first, and I love the arrangements on that album. It took me a little bit to get used to the stripped back (comparatively) studio versions
Being a big Genesis fan, especially of the early days, you'd think I'd be a Gabriel fan. I'm not. I have all his albums up to "Us", and might dig them out for a play once in a very long while, but I am not that enamored with his stuff, for whatever reason. That said, I do like his debut record very much. Whether this is due to the Genesis hangover or the Ezrin production (ding ding ding) is debatable. It's probably Ezrin. I can play this, "Welcome To My Nightmare", "Destroyer" and "Berlin" all in a row and have a little party. I don't know when I initially heard it. I know I first got exposed to PG via MTV "Games Without Frontiers" and "Shock The Monkey" videos when I was like 5 or 6. But I didn't buy any of his albums until my teens. I think I picked up a used "Us" tape or something first (and I didn't really care for much of it!). But I have no recollection of finally getting this first solo record. But I'm glad I did as it a record I like quite well. "Solisbury Hill" is a classic, of course. Wonderful song. I like "Modern Love" and "Humdrum" a lot too. I like PG going down disco mountain on "Dolce Vita" and "Flood" provides an epic closer (ravine waters running high, are they?). "Excuse Me" is cute, I guess, and is a cousin of Alice Cooper's "Some Folks". "Waiting For The Big One" is the only track I tend to pass. He's all over the place on this record. It sounds like he's looking for a direction to go in. But since he hasn't gone full-on Gabriel yet I find many things I like on it. Definitely my favorite record of his, which probably says a lot about my ability to appreciate his music. He's a great artist, but most of his stuff puts me to sleep.
— From what I get even Phil was feeling out with him and the costumes. I think he was hurt by Tony the most since they were mates at school. I guess they made up as Peter inducted him at the Prog Gods awards a few years back. Youth is to blame here. Probably could have had a few more albums if they would have been more civil, but that’s reflective.
Love PG1. 1 and 2 are my favorites from his whole career although I will admit he is definitely more creative on 3 and 4. I just connect more to the first two.
Moribund The Burgermeister Gabriel's solo career starts with a track that although quite unusual is quite magnificent. It really sounds like a leftover track from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. We start with an unusual percussive section that introduces some synths, one with a modulation effect on it and Gabriel's vocal comes in. The song moves into a very dynamic and loud section, that has an orchestrated sound and feel, very much like his Genesis era songs. To me this is a fantastic way to start the album because firstly it reflects his past (and is probably one of the few songs he ever did solo that does) but has enough difference that it in no way sounds like Gabriel is going to follow this Genesis replication path, because it is just different enough. The construction of this song is quite brilliant also, and I personally love the way it breaks down into the Movie soundtrack-like "I will Find Out". This section musically sounds like it belongs in some creepy little horror movie from the seventies. Gabriel wrote this song, but I feel certain that Ezrin would have had a lot of input also. It is rare for Ezrin to be involved with a project where he doesn't embed himself into it. Anyway, a great opening to a very satisfying album.
Well now, I'm staggered. I've never owned the vinyl but every source I've ever seen has listed Big One as the side 2 opener. It sticks in the mind because it's so odd to see such an unequal amount of songs on each side. I'd swear I'd even seen copies with only 3 songs listed on side 2. Must be going mad. Either that or I'm misremembering. I really ought to check my documentation before commenting. Anyway, the album just loses all impetus for me at that point. I still love the more straightforward (if that's ever an appropriate word to use for Gabriel's work) pop sensibility he employed here. Short songs, catchy tunes, clever lyrics. Perfect. His more recent (again, not sure that's the most appropriate word!) material has suffered from his insistence on overly long arrangements.
Man, a Bowie or Kate Bush style CD and/or vinyl box of Peter's albums would be most welcome right about now.
Good idea for a thread. I do like PG solo (although I haven't listened to much in recent years) but I have absolutely no time for Genesis in any of its incarnations.
I had the PG III and PG IV LPs back in the day ... loved 'em ... but didn't really like PG I and PG II enough to purchase. They seemed to me at the time to be copying the new wave / punk sound of the time, to my untrained ear. That's not really the case, but I didn't feel that Gabriel had a fully formed sound until PG III, so I kinda just skipped the first two albums. But a few weeks back I picked up a box set of PG I-III picture discs (for $2!) so I guess I need to revisit them to keep up with this thread. --Geoff
Moribund is a highlight for me. I remember listening to it for the first time and thinking "WTF is this?? Love it!" For some reason it always reminds me of Jabberwocky.
I think - and I need to double check as I don't own it anymore - but I think the cassette is as you say with Slowburn ending side 1 and Big One starting side two. I say this only because when I subsequently bought the vinyl I was as staggered as you! edit - looking at Wikipedia I'm way off as the cassette tracklist is totally different. Something odd here then...maybe my mind playing tricks
There's a lot to like about Gabriel's debut and it's certainly the closest he came to his old Genesis sound at times, particularly on the gloriously creepy "Moribund" which as Mark points out wouldn't have sounded out of place on The Lamb, so it was a nice transitionary move to start off the album (and I also agree that you can hear Ezrin's fingerprints all over this one). It does feel a bit as if he's casting about for a new direction at times: Art rock? Check. Modern rock? Check. Orchestral bombast? Check. Barbershop quartet? Check. Randy Newman? Check. So it doesn't feel as cohesive as the albums that would follow, but it was a good way for him to get his feet wet and see what he could do on his own.
I'm shocked by how quickly he abandoned the Genesis sound. As pointed out previously Moribund the Burgermeister sounds like Genesis and there are few songs on the first album that sound like they MAYBE could have been Genesis if reworked/re-arranged. But after that nothing. Even Genesis lost the old Genesis sound gradually. I wonder if he was writing Genesis type songs and then discarding them? I'm surprised he never again came up with anything like Harold The Barrel or Willow Farm.
I too came to Peter Gabriel via So and its MTV juggernaut. I was 15 at the time and heavily into Maiden, Metallica and Priest...but you couldn't help but love 'Sledgehammer' and 'Big Time.' I remember being surprised that he was once in Genesis. As I progressed back through his catalog I was maturing musically and able to appreciate the songs on the debut better.
Great idea to continue the Genesis thread over here...thanks. PG1 is a fine album, as is 2, but as many will say, the man becomes a unique force with his own distinct sound only from PG3 onwards I think. This first album is a little inconsistent with some padding, but with some fantastic moments - to be discussed! I got the impression that PG was issuing an album in 77 because he thought "I'd better get something out there otherwise I'll be forgotten, especially now that Genesis are doing so well everyone thinks my contribution to the 68-75 sound was not as significant as they did at the time!". Mind you, the gap gave him quite a bit of cred in the UK where the punks and new wavers were able to disassociate him from the excesses of the early 70s perhaps. Moribund is a cool opener, which has a great sound, is superbly produced, and a cracking vocal performance. Lots of light and dark, loud and soft, major and minor...sets things off nicely. But as JumpinJimF says, better is still to come.
It must be remembered that Genesis really was a writing co-operative, in the truest sense of the word. A lot of the musical structure was down to Banks, Hackett, Collins and Rutherford ... Banks and Hackett were probably the main chordal writers and Collins seems to have mainly organised rhythmic structure in the early days at least, obviously Rutherford wrote also, and no doubt Gabriel put forth musical ideas over the course of their albums .... so it isn't strange to me that Gabriel would a) sound rather different solo b) would throw his net wide on his first solo album looking for a style that fits where he wants to go ... For all the talk of the variety on this album, it actually isn't unusual for any of his solo albums really, it is just a little more obvious on this one. I like every song, to be honest and find that fit together well anyway
I guess i should say how i came to Gabriel too... It was Games without frontiers for me ... but my first album was Plays Live ... Always loved Games without frontiers .... as a young fella, I thought he was singing "she's so popular" and had no idea why. Later I realised it was French
