Peter Gabriel [1] the MORIGBUNSTER
Overall Album Score: 8.4 out of 10 First class jerk Peter Gabriel left Genesis!!!! ... and he certainly doesn't fail to make his first solo album interesting! There's a lot of experimentation on here and experimentation's always a good thing, even though many of the songs are misfired in one way or another. Gabriel also attempts to do some old-time music. One song in here ("Excuse Me") is music hall. Another ("Waiting For the Big One") is jazz. Gabriel doesn't necessarily make bad with these songs, but he does prove that he isn't as graceful with melody as, say, Paul McCartney. Whenever McCartney tried writing music hall stuff or jazzy stuff, his songs typically turned out fun, hooky, and entertaining. Gabriel's attempts are a bit lame. Easily and not surprisingly, the greatest songs on here are the closest to resemble his work with Genesis. The album opener "Moribund the Burgermeister" is absolutely smashing, and I'm also very very attached to the calm and strange ballad "Humdrum." Another notable number is "Salisbury Hill," which is so nice and pleasant (with a good melody) that I can't help but love it! Yeah ... Peter Gabriel [1] isn't going down in history as a classic, but it's going down in my book as pretty awesome even though there are some iffy spots in here. Overall Album Score: 8.4 out of 10 (This is a good album ... this isn't better than Genesis or anything.) Average Song Score: 8.3 (This is a fair blend of WONDERFUL songs and so-so songs.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (This makes for an interesting listen - I'll certainly give it that!) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Well, this album certainly has artistic merit. That's not really surprising considering that this is Peter Gabriel!) Track Reviews Moribund the Burgermeister 9.5/10 A neat song! ... Reminds me a lot of Genesis, actually. The quirky instrumentation, the bombastic chorus ... yeah! That's Peter Gabriel! The man we knew from that one band that Phil Collins took over. This is a really neat song that certainly had Gabriel-era Genesis fans leaping for joy. Salisbury Hill 9/10 Another very awesome song from Pete. The melody is very nice (...although not filled with deadly hooks ala Paul McCartney). I really enjoy it, though. It's very pleasant with some nice acoustic guitars, some quirkiness with the rhythm section, and nicely-chosen synths. Also, this apparently has Gabriel's excuse for leaving Genesis within the lyrics. Modern Love 8/10 This has nothing to do with the 1983 David Bowie hit! ... I was hoping that it would. I guess that indicates how dumb I am. Anyway, this is a pretty good song! The instrumentation, I think, is a bit murky and the melody ain't the greatest, but Gabriel gives a good vocal performance and the song has good energy. Another well-done ditty!! Excuse Me 8/10 Barbershop quartet??? ... Uhhhhokay! And then the song turns into a music hall sort of thing. The song is alright, but ...... I'm not sure why Gabriel wanted to do this. The chorus is good, but other than that, I think he should have done some more progressive stuff! I've heard this type of song before too many times done better! Humdrum 9.5/10 A slow-moving tune to begin with, this turns into one of the most progressive tunes out there!! I really enjoy it, too. The melodies within it are all creative and engaging. Wonderfully artistic, this. Slowburn 7.5/10 Well, just because it's artistic, it doesn't automatically mean that the song is *good*! There is a big problem with the melody on this one ... it's not that good! ... Yeah, this one was a little bit misfired, but it's still entertaining altogether. Waiting For the Big One 6.5/10 Here, Peter Gabriel tries jazz on for size. It's not like he's *bad* at it. He's just boring. And he should seriously stick with art-rock. That's the dude's forte ... not jazz. Jazz is dead, man. Then he gets into this strange bombastic sequence that's not good whatsoever, and repeats it about three billion times all throughout this song. This song is probably experimental, but it's not all that great. It's not always easy to have to sit through the entire seven and a half minutes of this. Down the Dolce Vita 8/10 Starts out with typical old MGM-style movie music, and then a disco theme starts up. I think both parts are okay, but neither are phenomenal. The disco part really could have used a more exciting melody. It's too imaginative for me to trash this, but it's not all too wonderful, either. Eh. Here Comes the Flood 8.5/10 Well, this is a solid song! ... It pretty closely resembles a Genesis tune. It has a well done, bombastic chorus, and the other parts are pleasantly uneventful. ... A very nice song to close the album with, certainly. Peter Gabriel fans and non-fans come hither to leave comments here! slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received Sept. 3, 2004 Nice to see good old Gabriel on your site. Two years after
leaving Genesis, Peter Gabriel comes waltzing back into the spotlight
with PETER GABRIEL, or also known as RAINY WINDSHIELD. [Side note:
Gabriel once said that his first four albums (first three in the States, as
PETER GABRIEL 4 was called SECURITY there) were such named because he
wanted them to be like issues of a magazine]. It peaked higher on the
album charts than the last album he did with Genesis, and "Solsbury Hill"
was even a minor hit! Gabriel performed along with King Crimson's
Robert Fripp and (future KC member) Tony Levin, along with producer Bob
Ezrin (Lou Reed's BERLIN, Pink Floyd's THE WALL). Cover was designed by
Hipgnosis, who designed some covers for bands like Genesis and Pink
Floyd. There are a diverse range of styles on this record: rock, prog/art
rock, barbershop(!), blues, and even (gasp!) disco/rock.
fhrunobulax@hotmail.com (Andreas) received Feb. 14, 2006 Check out the version of "Here Comes the Flood" on Robert Fripp's album "Exposure". Gabriel singing with a very minimalist arrangement. Really Great! |
All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He onced got a forked tongue, and the doctor had to remove the metal that got stuck in there.
