Love Solsbury Hill. Have this album on cassette somewhere in the basement. It is the only "album" of his I have ever owned. Never owned the vinyl or the CD or sacd. But I do have his greatest hits and, On a side note, I was listening to PG videos Play in 5.1 last night. My God is that good. Just incredible 5.1.
It is a great dvd. The mix of Games Without frontiers is very different, but I grew to really like it. It was nice to hear Kate's voice more clearly
I agree with you here ... One thing though. Gabriel did express that from his perspective the public went from thinking he was Genesis, to what, if anything, did he actually do anyhow. Fortunately Gabriel has always seemed fairly level headed, and I don't get the impression (purely speculative) that he was in the habit of rushing anything.
As others have said, I came to Peter Gabriel through So. I remember when So and Invisible Touch came out around the same time. I was in high school, and I thought Invisible Touch was the better album then. What a fool I was! As for PG1, I like it quite a bit. "Solsbury Hill" is way over played and I know PG kind of resents it now, but wow, what an amazing pop song. I also really like "Here Comes the Flood," both the version on this album and the re-recording on Shaking the Tree. What a great display of PG's versatility.
I guess I came to Gabriel through the Security album, which friends of mine had when we all started getting CD players. This was 1985 or so... It might well have been 1986, but it was definitely before So came out. That said... it took So and my infatuation with Genesis' back catalog to start picking up Gabriel's solo albums (even though I had already heard and loved "Games Without Frontiers" and "Solsbury Hill". I love that first album. It's so different from everything that followed. "Moribund the Burgermeister" is so quirky and HUGE-sounding. Is that partially Ezrin's doing? The big moments on the first album are BIG.
to some people Ezrin overpowered most artists he worked with. Often times folks don't like albums he produced because of the production. I am not one of those people. To be honest up until doing the thread I had never really realised that Ezrin produced it. Listening now, yes you can hear Ezrin's touch, but I gather Gabriel didn't let him go too far, because it is a little more reserved than a lot of his work.
I should say that Solsbury Hill is one of the few radio hit songs that haven't outworn their welcome. I've seen him play it live several times, heard it on multiple live albums and, of course, the original studio version and I never tire of hearing it. It's just so joyous (although it's current use on a Nespresso ad is bemusing in the extreme). The actual hill is very underwhelming, by the way
I love this album. Probably my favorite Gabriel album. The songs are good but what makes it for me is the sound Pete and Bob Ezrin got. I love the big bombastic stuff on this one. Moribund is a fantastic opener. I never get tired of it. Peter Gabriel is a top 5 rock vocalist for me. Thanks for this thread.
My first ever concert was PG at Sheffield City Hall in 1980 (aka Tour Of China 1984). What an induction it was. I remember the band entered the venue from the back wearing head torches. I was sat the end of a row and PG walked right passed me!!! I think I actually touched him. I love his first 6 studio albums, my favourite is probably the first. His best song is Wallflower from IV. If I had to choose between PG solo and PG with Genesis it would have to be with Genesis. The reunion in 1982 at Milton Keynes was probably my most memorable concert in 38 years of concert going. Solsbury Hill made an appearance too.
I believe this UK cassette is what Paul is remembering. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel The US cassette differed even more. At any rate, those track orders all varied wildly from the LP.
Some amazing songs on the debut: "Moribund the Burgermeister" "Solisbury Hill" "Excuse Me" "Humdrum" "Slowburn" "After the Flood" .....unfortunately the other songs aren't very good which makes for a lopsided affair.
Having been a big fan of Peter's work with Genesis, I was very excited to hear how he would present himself outside of that context. When I first heard the album, I was surprised and delighted - it was not at all what I expected, and I absolutely loved it, and still do. Even then it seemed like he was searching for his "true" voice and direction, but watching him search was fascinating. Actually, once he did settle down into a more consistent sound and attitude his music became more gradually less interesting to me. But his first solo album seemed to be the sound of a young man bursting forth into the world with a thousand ideas and unlimited energy. I saw two of Peter's shows at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles just a few weeks the album's release. The concert was mostly the entire album played live with essentially the same band. Hot stuff! Steve Hunter was on fire! I treasure my tape of the radio broadcast of one of those Roxy shows and have played it hundreds of times. I've always hoped a more pristine copy of that broadcast tape would be officially released, maybe in a package with the studio Car album itself..
I didn’t know it was French either (or Kate Bush). I heard “She’s so funky, yeah”. Getting back to CAR. I believe I read or saw an interview with Peter where he said he’d taken time to learn to play keyboard and that’s what held him up before thinking about his first solo record.
he is an astute fellow, and that wait did him a world of good and also if he learned keyboard in that time, set him up for a career, rather than just an album or two
