Peter Gabriel wants to have a word with you back at his main page ... Uppppppppppp Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 Up! Up! Up! I wonder what two-letter word Peter Gabriel will use for his next album, which will probably be released around 2020. Maybe it will be Me ... or would that be too self-centered? (Besides he already used up the singular plural version of that word.) Or maybe It would be appropriate. ... That was a movie in the 50s, I believe, but ... by 2020, no one with much of a memory would remember it. Or how about No? Or Or? Or something totally made up, like Bp? ... I think I'm looking more forward to what Peter Gabriel will name his next album more than I'm looking forward to the music that will be in it! Well, if Up is one thing, it's LONGGGGG! ... That two-letter title ought to be considered false advertising! This album is so freaking long that it took me ... I don't know ... 66 MINUTES TO LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM!!! ... Oh, don't let the fact that there are only 10 tracks in here fool you! THIS ALBUM IS 66 MINUTES LONG!!! ... Hey! He waited 10 years! Maybe he did a song a year! It certainly seems like he worked on these enough. They are so intricately produced and polished ... sound is layered upon sound ... and it's impossible to sort everything out in one listen. I only listened to this album three times (Hey! I'm not going to spend my entire life listening to a 66-minute album! I have a job, you know!) and I haven't even sorted everything out. Perhaps the actual score of Up should be higher than a 9.2, but ... heck! How the bloody heck would I know such a thing? That's up to all the eggheads of this galaxy to decide. At any rate, this album was certainly fine enough to receive a 9.2 ... so, it's not exactly going to be hard for me to listen to this album more and try to gain everything that I need to! I'm honestly a bit confused why "The Barry Williams Show" is supposed to be so great. It didn't strike me as being that good. It seemed a little loud and obnoxious to me, but ... each to his own. My pick on here is the first track: "Darkness." Very very very excellent and effective song. Another favorite (and close second) is "No Way Out." ... Man ... now *that's* a Peter Gabriel song!! I can't say I like this more than Us, even though this is most certainly a more interesting product! Us is the more immediately accessible product. Up will take me a little while longer. Don't throw Up. Throw Us! ... (...I was hoping for a better use of my very clever "throw Up" pun, but I sort of gave Up on it before I could effectively employ it.) Overall Album Score: 9.2 out of 10 (Yet another masterpiece by Peter Gabriel. It took him 10 years, but it was more than a worthwhile effort. It seems like it takes freaking forever to sit through, though ... and it takes its toll!!) Average Song Score: 9.0 (Every single one of these songs offers something interesting and were near-perfectly mastered in the studio. He goes a little bit too far sometimes, I'm afraid.) Album Tilt: 9.0 (I really have a hard time sitting through this ... especially toward the end ... but not once did I doubt that Peter Gabriel is one of the world's greatest human beings ...) Artist Rating: 9.5 (It's all done for the art, I guess. Even the dancey songs are too-strange-to-be-hip.) Track Reviews Darkness 10/10 He must have been going for the whole Pink Floyd's The Wall thing. The song starts up with very quiet bongo beats ... and so I turn up my speaker, because I think I have it on too softly. And them ***WHAM*** THIS ELEPHANT NOISE!!!!!!!!!!! Gaaaaaaaaaagggggg!!!! All of your fans have been waiting *patiently* for your follow-up to Us, and *this* is what you do??? Man! Peter Gabriel has turned all cranky in his old age! ... But, after that initial shock, we get this utterly astounding 7-minute epic that is violent at times, peaceful and pleasant at times, dark and ominous at other times. Quite simply put: Gabriel didn't spend 10 years doing nothing! (Other than a few side projects ... nothing wrong with that, you know.) There was *A LOT* of thought and care put in this song. And ... it's sweet. You can't not like music and say you think this song is horrible. If you do THEN YOU'RE YOU ARE A HOSEHEAD!!!! Growing Up 9.5/10 For Pete's sake. When are you going to learn? If we wanted to listen to these 7.5-minute electo-dancy songs, we would be listening to Ace of Base!!! ... Oh wait, I like this song. Ace of Base can do a doodoo. ... I'm not sure if I'd want to dance to this, anyway! The beat stops at certain intervals of the song! ... What am I supposed to do when the beat stops? ... I guess that would be a good time to smoke some of my reefer ... Wait! I don't have any reefer! (One of my classmates was going to the barrier reef in Central America ... wouldn't bring me back any of that good stuff.) ... Well, what can I say about this song? For a 7.5-minute song, it certainly doesn't get boring! It's all evil-sounding and danceable, and then it pauses to think sometimes. It's all classic Gabriel for the kids. Sky Blue 9/10 Pete sure hasn't figured out what brevity is all about! ... Maybe these long running lengths are evidence of Gabriel's very hard and intricate work developing these songs! Really, they're quite amazing to listen to! ... The melodies might not be great here (but it's hardly pedestrian), but ... man! I cannot (and have no reason to) pretend that I'm not utterly impressed at how these songs sound! This one included! ... It's so intricate, it's so perfect ... Petie! When can I invite you over to my house for roast beef sandwiches? ... You can help me with all the psychological difficulties I'm facing with losing my hair. I mean ... Pete looks kinda cool in his old age with no hair ... And he was the king of dorks in the early 70s ... I needs him for the inspiration ... No Way Out 9.5/10 An eight minute song? NO PROBLEM!!!! Man ... Peter Gabriel freaking worked on *this* song until it bloody shone, too! ... MANNNNN!!!!!!! ... This one has got a lot of piano, which is always a great thing. ... This even has one of those choruses that is so uplifting that it manages to take you up above the atmosphere and lets you soar through outer space!!! ... This is an amazing adventure in SONG, man!!!!!!!!! GAOGIRNO!!!!! ... I owe Peter Gabriel much more than a roast beef sandwich, dude. ... If I ever go to Central America ... I Grieve 8.5/10 The first three minutes of this song is sorta dark and no fun ... but it really picks up into something desperate and amazing ... MAN! ... And then a rhythm section strikes up, and it starts getting all dancey and happy (but, kinda conflicted). And finally it gets all slow and boring again. Yeah ... but it means more here. I like the emotion, but ... I'm not sure this one particularly connected with me. Still wonderful, though. Peter Gabriel must be an *artist*! He's not trying to ride high on that one hit he had in the 80s! PEEEEEEETEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! The Barry Williams Show 8/10 Oh, no!!! ... This song isn't excellent!!! I mean, it's still kinda fun to listen to, but ... this almost seems like more of a normal 00s dance song (with some interesting touches throughout it), but ... it's not AMAZING! ... I like the emotion in it, but ... I can't get caught up in this at all. Hmmhmmmhmmmmhmmmmm. And these insane running times are beginning to take their toll (I can't say it gets boring, though ... it really doesn't approach getting boring). My Head Sounds Like That 9/10 I'm not an official "young person," I guess, for really enjoying this laid back piece with nice, quiet pianos (and a rather goofy drumbeat in the background) and that really thickly layered (symphony-orchestra-sounding) background music! ... The song gets even weirder as it heads toward its conclusion (with this **really** freaky upbeat, theatrical segment) The melody isn't catchy at all, but ... it doesn't matter so much when the song sounds so freaking atmospheric. ... It's not even *pretty* ... This song is like a bad dream where you're watching old people on Zimmer Frames walking through a botanical garden. And Pete is making me *enjoy* it. He is my MAIN MAN, dudes! More Than This 8/10 A Roxy Music cover? ... NO!!! THIS ISN'T A ROXY MUSIC COVER!!!! ... He only did that to *fool* you, you see! And I bet he fooled you *so* bad! (Hey! This is a short song! It's six minutes long!!!!!! Are you running out of ideas or something?) Yeah! And this isn't a particularly *great* song, either. I'm sitting more bored through this than most other songs in here ... which is strange because, this is quite an upbeat song! ... Of course, Gabriel makes it interesting just by all those freaking crazy sounds throughout this! But ... yeah ... That's not enough all the time. Signal to Noise 8.5/10 A peculiar song, if there ever was one! ... It's a rather low-key (7.5-minute) song that relies on how much you enjoy the atmosphere (and I enjoy it a lot) ... but through intermittent periods in this song, Peter Gabriel starts singing REALLY WEIRD. At first, I thought he was trying to sing like they do on Bollywood features. (You know ... all Indian-like!) But ... listening to it closer, I think he was shaking his head with his tongue wagging out of it, and he was screaming. ... Yeah ... That's good old Pete for you! I *really* like the way this song picks up steam at the end and forces you to pay attention to it (if you wandered off ... and I'd imagine that's easy). The Drop 9.5/10 The last song!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is only the 10th track, and I've been sitting here writing these track reviews for AGES!! I'm supposed to review a Styx album after this ... I'm not sure if I'm going to have the energy ... Oh, it's okay! This is only a three-minute song! ... Wow!!! THREE MINUTES!!!! Awesome! ... Well, this song is hardly exciting. It's just Pete singing a very dreary and sad song with just a piano. ... It's very modest ... and sometimes that's all you need. (Oh, man! Right after this song ended, "The Grand Illusion" by Styx started playing ... That totally ruined the mood. I recommend that you don't listen to Styx within a week after you've listened to this.) Be the cool commenter! Here! I am waiting for you... carrotkins@hotmail.com (egle) received May 24, 2007 man, you're probably bored of my emails, but oh gosh. you make the best reviews that i've ever read! mostly becus they have an awesome sense of humour (you'll say "really? didin't know that! =DDDdfdf")and your oppinion always matches with mine! i hate the barry williams show! i adore peter (the king of dorks during the early 70's.. that sounded so lovely :') but that's probably the worst song he's ever written. just a couple of things: how old are you now, and how old you were when you wrote most of your reviews, for example this one? where do you work at? it left me so delighted when i read that both "the dreaming" and "PG3" are on your top albums list, becus i've been planning to buy those this saturday since like one month ago. it's just tomorrow i'm getting money, i "work" as a book translator. now officially. i know you're bored of me, but please answer closely!

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He won't stop until he reaches the top.