630 Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (III - Melt) (1980)

Studio Album - Art Rock

About the Act:

Peter Gabriel is somebody I know a fair amount about, so most of this is from memory with reminders from Wikipedia.

Peter Gabriel met Tony Banks at school, and they formed a band called "Garden Wall". Shortly after they left school they formed Genesis, with some other people. They did one folky album and then started to get weird, bonkers, and famous as one of the pivotal bands of the Prog Rock scene. Peter became increasingly eccentric in his stage appearances, dressing up in all sorts of bizarre costumes, reciting stories between numbers, and generally getting them attention and press as a result. In 1975 he left Genesis.

He then started on a solo musical career, which took him in different directions. His first four albums were called "Peter Gabriel". Apparently the rationale was for it to feel like a magazine or periodical. These albums are generally referred to (in order) as I, II, III and IV (fairly logically) or Car, Scratch, Melt and Security, referring to elements of the cover pictures. He then started to have names, but seemed set on two-letter words, so we have So, Us, and Up. Then came an album of cover songs called Scratch My Back and an album of orchestral reworks of earlier songs called New Blood. There is an album in progress, which may be called I/O. He has also recorded soundtrack albums.

He has made a huge impact on music and recording. He was impressively important in bringing World Music to the UK in a big way through his Real World label, he has been active politically in all sorts of ways and is well respected for his musical, political and ethical integrity.

He is one of the few acts in this list that I have seen live. It was in the Up tour (may favourite of his albums) and it was proper bonkers, including dancing in zorb balls, walking upside-down on a suspended track, and choreographed Segways.

About the Album:

This was Peter Gabriel's 3rd solo album, often called "melt" because of the melting effect on the cover art. The album features Phil Collins on drums on some tracks, and this album saw the invention of the Phil Collins "Gated Snare" sound that became the backbone of Genesis and Phil's solo work for a while. Apparently, Peter told his drummers not to use cymbals, which led to some creative playing. 

My History with this Album:

I have had a copy for years and barely ever listened to it.

Review:

After all these details we finally get to the review. One of the great things about doing this set of reviews, along with exposing me to all sorts of things I would never normally listen to, is that it gives me the impetus to listen more closely to some albums that I own, but have not really focused on. This is one of those, and it is an extraordinary album.

Possibly the least extraordinary thing about it is the music, which is not to say that it is boring. It is mostly quite "normal" in terms of tunes and harmonies and chords, although some discords are used. The patterns are fairly accessible mostly, with choruses that can be sung, and only a few odd time signatures, but some quite interesting rhythms at times. It's pop-rock with an arty side, which is not unexpected.

Building up from there, let's think about production. Well the album is produced by Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgam. Hugh was very much in demand amongst a certain type of musician in the 80s, a lot of stuff I like, to the extent that I bought at least one album that I knew nothing about because I saw his name as producer. The production is rich, complex and inventive. I checked the thing about cymbals as I listened, and yes, there are no cymbals on the album at all as far as I could tell. There's a tambourine and a shaker at one point. The sounds are carefully crafted and layered, and it all feels very purposeful, and I would say it is effective. It's the sort of creative production I really enjoy.

Then there's vocals. Peter is a good vocalist. He's not flashy and technical, not showy, like Freddie Mercury for example, but he is solid, and pretty expressive. In Genesis he used to do different voices for different characters, and this album is less eccentric than that, but he manages to bring menace, or a feeling of being lost, or pathos, as needed.

And the words. So, I think I will always respect songs that have something to say, and not just the expected clichés. I'm going to do a quick roll call of some (most) of the songs here, I think. Intruder is about being an intruder in someone's house, messing with their stuff, No Self Control is about being depressed and listless, Family Snapshot is about assassinating somebody (I think it is meant to be from Lee Harvey Oswald's point of view), And Through The Wire is about electronic communication and mass media, Games Without Frontiers is famously political and compares political personalities with playground politics, Not One of Us is about why people exclude other people and have an us/them attitude, Lead a Normal Life is about mental illness, and then there's Biko.

Biko is lyrically probably the least inventive song on the album. It is also one of the most aptly political songs ever to be popular, and is about a black activist in South Africa, who opposed Apartheid (still in effect in 1980 when this album was released), and was beaten to death in police custody in 1977. I don't think it is an exaggeration to claim that it was pivotal in bringing public opinion in the west to bear in the struggle against apartheid. 

All in all, this is an impressive album, it's enjoyable, well-crafted, thoughtful and nuanced, and it made me wish I had listened to it properly before.

9.2/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0KLyPao7XpXHSAMmbkxCoz

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLML7ziSV-WtOSMN1GeSC-otS7FrCLxs0V

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gabriel_(1980_album)