Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I've got a version of "Start" without the sax, which is interesting.

I also found a copy of this album sung in German on vinyl recently, which had some different mixes of the songs to boot.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I also have vinyl "Ein Deutsches" LPs of this and Security. The German versions are interesting, but the lyrics to these songs are so good that a lot of the impact is lost for non German speakers.

Looks like these are available on CD as well.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HII5VANpiAU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HII5VANpiAU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

I like how he extends or shortens some of the words/phrases to compensate for the meter of the song. :)

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

@Suprmallet--The version of "Start" you have-Is that on an import copy, or is your copy possibly the Geffen pressing? I had the Mercury one and the sax was on there.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I found it floating around the interwebs years ago, I'm not sure what the source is.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I think the first time I heard "Games Without Frontiers" I thought the beginning lyrics were "she's so funky, yeah". Yeah I'm slow sometimes.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

^ It's definitely one of the classic misheard lyrics. Not surprising considering it's not English.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Now that I just don't get. It's quintessential New Wave, to my ears (though I realize that the term can be an umbrella that covers many different styles). And its year of release puts it at the pinnacle of New Wave, as well.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

If you'll notice, the German version of the album has "Start" and "I Don't Remember" combined into a single track, "Frag Mich Nicht Immer".

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I have that as well, in a bootleg collection called Ashcombe Works, which also includes instrumental versions of many of the Melt songs.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I thought it was "she's so popular".

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Hearing the "Senzeni Na" recordings on "Biko" the first time was quite a revelation for me. Very good use of this recording as both the intro and outro of the song.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I still think of those as the lyrics, even when I know they're not. ;)

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

One of the concert highlights of my life was seeing Peter at the Cow Palace on the Conspiracy of Hope tour back in '86. Did a stunning version of Biko that night...... unbelievable.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Is it time for Security yet? ;)

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

^ Just came in to ask the same question. :D

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I'll try and get to it tomorrow or Sunday.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

In anticipation of Security, I offer this two-part video from a UK TV show on the making of that great album. It's really an awesome look into Gabriel's process, and certainly worth your time if you cherish this album like I do:

http://videosift.com/video/Peter-Gab...ng-of-Security

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I was going to post that in the album post, but there you go. Fantastic documentary.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Peter Gabriel (aka Security), 1982

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Tracklist (All songs written by Peter Gabriel):

1. The Rhythm of the Heat
2. San Jacinto
3. I Have The Touch
4. The Family and the Fishing Net
5. Shock The Monkey
6. Lay Your Hands On Me
7. Wallflower
8. Kiss of Life

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_Z2s4xOQi-c" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rzwMe-3XVn4" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jEHBQ9zTJVE" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
This is a recent recording Gabriel did for his website, which I think shows just how much power is in this song.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I got the cassette of this album in 1984, and I had a small stereo boom-box (The kind that had a street-wide setting along with plain stereo and mono) that I played my tapes on, and it was just incredible to hear! I must have played this tape into the ground more than any other tape. It sounded so deep then, and this pre-dated CDs (at least in most markets).

'Rhythm of The Heat' was pulverizing, and 'San Jacinto' had such a pretty, frosty intro coming right after that. 'Lay Your Hands On Me' always sounded exciting on my boom-box.

I always thought 'Kiss of Life' was too upbeat for Peter Gabriel! I liked the song, but it seemed odd to end the record with after 'Biko' closed out the Melt LP!

Loving the documentary! Funny how the songs sound like Phil Collins solo stuff in the working stages (It's the keyboard). It's great that they spent that much time making the record. It paid off tremendously. How many people would have been using that sampler at the time? It was ingenious!

Live version of 'RoTH' from that documentary matches the excitement of the original. I've never heard it before!

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Not many. That's a Fairlight synth, and from what I remember it cost around $40,000 or so.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

I was shocked at how many sounds I thought were world instruments, only to discover they were a sampled sound played at intervals through the Fairlight. Really creative stuff.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

This is definitely his "heaviest" record. When that drum kicks in for Rhythm and the Heat, it still blows me away every time.

Re: Album by Album: Peter Gabriel
 

Peter Gabriel's my second favorite musical artist, and Security is my favorite album of his, so it's pretty high on my list of all time favorite albums.

I still remember my best friend playing me this album on his family's super high end audio system. I can't remember what prompted him to play it for me, but he cranked the volume and the bass and sat me down to listen. When Rhythm of the Heat kicked in, the bass nearly knocked me off my chair. I listened to the whole thing, mesmerized, completely in awe of the music unfolding from moment to moment.

Security takes the experimental nature of Melt even further, using samples and combining them with foreign sounds for a completely unique experience, even within Gabriel's varied catalog. Security tends to be more minimalist than Melt, with more open aural soundscapes (although a few tracks, such as "I Have The Touch" and "Kiss Of Life," are as dense as anything on his previous album). I always felt that this openness allowed the listener to fill in the spaces with their own thoughts, making Security a more free form listen than Melt, which always felt tightly controlled by Gabriel's vision.

Melt was an album whose lyrics often dealt with with menace, even if the music didn't always sound like it. Security is the opposite, with menacing sounding music married to lyrics whose origins are rather innocuous. "The Rhythm of the Heat" is based on Carl Jung's description of his time with an African tribe. "The Family and the Fishing Net," which sounds downright nefarious, is about a marriage ceremony!

Security also expands upon the social awareness we saw in "Biko." "San Jacinto," "Shock The Monkey," and most especially "Wallflower" are all about the way we treat each other and our world. "Wallflower" is perhaps my favorite Gabriel song, marrying a beautiful melody to a moving lyric about the mistreatment of political prisoners in Latin America. Gabriel commits to fight for their cause, singing, "Though you may disappear, you're not forgotten here, and I will say to you, that I will do what I can do." It's no secret that Peter Gabriel has long been a champion for human rights worldwide.

I cannot shower Security with enough praises. A true work of modern art, and proof that if the music industry would let it happen, music could be so much more than what we hear on the radio.