Supermallet

Peter Gabriel enlisted King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp to produce his second self-titled album. Gabriel moved away from the bombast of his first album, resulting in an album that sounds more consistent, but also with less immediate highs than before. The album kicks off with "On The Air," a grungy rocker that sets the tone for the album. He then follows with two of his best tracks, the self-explanatory "D.I.Y." and the melancholy "Mother of Violence."

The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to those first three tracks, but never quite descends as low as the worst moments on the first album. Perhaps the worst track is "A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World," which has interesting verses but an annoying chorus.

Other highlights for me are "White Shadow," "Animal Magic," and "Perspective."

While I do enjoy the album all the way through, there's no way Gabriel could have continued in this vein for very long, as he himself must have realized, based on his output since.

Hollowgen

Scratch has the best art of all of his albums, but the lamest music. It's like he was really high on speed when he made this album.

Numanoid

I consider myself to big a pretty big Gabriel fan, yet I couldn't sing you a single song from this album. Much too standard prog/glam fare for my taste.

Cardiff Giant11

I liked "Melt" quite a bit along with his first album "Car". I wasn't into "Scratch" much at all though D.I.Y. and White Shadow are decent songs. "Security" is better than I was expecting so that's up there with Melt and Car for me.

The Antipodean

It's weird, I look at a lot of the songs listed and I quite like them, like Mother of Violence and Flotsam and Jetsam, but unlike pretty much every other PG album where I feel like I've got the whole running order imprinted on my brain this one I hardly ever listen to. Maybe I should give it another try, it's been years since I heard it.

brainee

I never heard this one before (only having heard the cuts that were included on the "Plays Live" album). I liked it a lot more than PG1. More consistent in quality and tone. It's interesting how much more decisively Gabriel moved away from prog-rock than his old band, since he seemed to be one of the "artier" members of Genesis. This sounds very much like a 70s-era rocker. "On the Air" sounds like it could be an early Cheap Trick song. And much of the rest of this had me thinking of Mott the Hoople. I guess that's a negative for some - but not for me.

Falc04

Love the Scratch album. So many good songs, not one I'd ever consider skipping over. I don't think he ever ended an album better, than here with Home Sweet Home.

Alvis

I'm really not getting a good reading on this one. I can take it or leave it. There are a couple of good songs on it. But not one that really does anything for me.

GreenVulture

Screw what Suprmallet says: "Wonderful Day in a One-Way World" is the best song on here. I just adore that affable, electronic/glam-meets-reggae rhythm, and Gabriel sounds like he is having fun with the vocals. Shame he never did anything else like it, but I guess that makes it all the more special.

Too bad the rest of the album is basically worthless, though "On the Air" and "D.I.Y." have their moments.

cungar

Never got the hate for this album. I think it's brilliant. It's rare I like something so many people hate. Usually the other way around.

Supermallet

Peter Gabriel (AKA Melt) (1980)



Tracklist (All songs by Peter Gabriel):
1 Intruder
2 No Self-Control
3 Start
4 I Don't Remember
5 Family Snapshot
6 And Through the Wire
7 Games Without Frontiers
8 Not One of Us
9 Lead a Normal Life
10 Biko

Allmusic Review:
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(Note: This is a totally different mix from the album version)

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cdollaz

I love the drums at the beginning of Biko (studio version). Very haunting.

The Antipodean

PG's first utter classic. I would have trouble picking my FAVORITE PG album -- I've got a deep attachment to So, US and Security too -- but this is where all the potential came bursting through. I don't think he ever made a more paranoid, skittish album, though -- it's perhaps his most intense work.

Supermallet

Peter Gabriel's third album, often referred to as Melt due to its surreal cover art, is the one where all the potential bubbling inside of him finally burst through to the top. Gone are the showy antics of his first album and the tendency to wallow from his second album, and in their place stood a series of songs that were overflowing with creativity.

Right from the word go, you know things are different this time around, as the thundering gated drums of "Intruder" crash down around you, violent and oppressive. Strange creaking sounds and off-key piano and guitar tell you that something is terribly, awfully wrong. Piercing female vocals (courtesy of frequent Gabriel collaborator of the period Kate Bush) are juxtaposed by heavy male vocals shouting "Hey hey hey hey!" And then Gabriel begins his story, telling a first person tale of a home invasion. There's danger in his voice, and perhaps a bit of a thrill, too. "I like to feel the suspense when I'm certain you know I am there," he sings, "I like you lying awake, your baited breath charging the air." Gabriel's pulling no punches, and to my mind, "Intruder" is one of the best openers in rock and roll. Gabriel would begin his concerts of the period with this song, his band entering from the rear of the venue, stalking through the crowd to the stage, an intruder in their own performance.

After that monolithic opening, Gabriel quickens the pace with "No Self Control." Stabbing guitars are punctuated by more backing vocals from Kate, as Gabriel sings of a man consumed by his fears and paranoia. The song is driven forward by kinetic drums, courtesy of Gabriel's former Genesis collaborator Phil Collins, coming to a head with a chorus of male vocals proclaiming "No self control!" while Bush's vocals wail back in response. "I don't know how to stop, no I don't know how to stop!" Gabriel sings, as Collin's slams on the drums, ending the tune.

Things slow down for "Start," a moody number with an evocative sax lead. While not even a minute and a half, the song effectively moves the listener deeper into the aural world that Gabriel has constructed. The sax is by plaintive and pensive, leading perfectly into the next track.

"I Don't Remember" begins with Gabriel yelping incoherently before singing, "I've got no means to show identification/I've got no papers to show you what I am," and charging into the chorus, exclaiming, "I don't remember, I don't recall, I've got no memory of anything at all!" The tune is perhaps the most paranoid of the whole album, full of evocative and threatening imagery. But unlike "Intruder," the violence is pointed firmly at the song's character, making it even more immediate. And unlike the subject of "No Self Control," who at least knew why he was in his torturous predicament, the singer of "I Don't Remember" is literally clueless.

Gabriel seemingly slams on the brakes for "Family Snapshot," but the sparse production and slower pace belie the spine-tingling power of the song. Working up slowly from a bedrock of piano and his own voice, Gabriel weaves a story of a man, ignored by society, who decides to assassinate a political figure. Things pick up, instruments are added, and as the shooter prepares for his deed, he pauses to explain that he's not doing this out of hate, but for attention. "All of you people in TV land/I will wake up your empty shells/Peak time viewing blown in a flash/As I burn into your memory cells," he declares, and the track really picks up, chugging along as the shooter lies in wait for his target. Finally, he takes his shot, bringing everything to a screeching halt. But for the man, it takes him back to his childhood, accompanied by a lone bass line, as his parents argue and ignore him. "I need some attention," he sings feebly, "I shoot into the light." In lesser hands, the track could have been silly or melodramatic. Gabriel uses his voice to command the listener's voice, demanding that they give him their full attention. Incredibly powerful.

From there, it's "And Through The Wire," a song that seems especially applicable in the age of the internet (and internet stalking). "And through the wire, I hear your voice," Gabriel sings, "And through the wire, I touch the power/And through the wire, I see your face." A cowbell drives the song forward, as each verse builds to the explosive chorus. "Be careful where you tread/Watch the wire!" Gabriel warns.

Then it's time for the album's most recognized single, "Games Without Frontiers." Inspired by a game show of the same name, in which members of different countries would dress in garish costumes meant to symbolize their homeland, Gabriel turned the tables, applying the concept to international politics. The song starts with someone counting off "A one, a two, one, two, four!" Kate Bush sings the song's title in French as a descending keyboard run provides the hook. Gabriel sings of the games that children play, but these children sound familiar. The implications of the song are clear as the chorus, punctuated by a whistled melody, declares, "If looks could kill they probably will/Games without frontiers/War without tears." Once again, Gabriel delivers a powerful message without ever feeling trite or preachy. And the tune is damn catchy as well. "Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes by the seaside" indeed.

Gabriel drives the point home even further with "Not One of Us." Using syncopated guitar rhythms, Gabriel puts the listener off balance as he warns us of the dangers of "us vs. them" scenarios. "You may look like we do, talk like we do/But you know how it is," Gabriel intones, "You're not one of us" the chorus shouts backs. "There's safety in numbers if you learn to divide/How can we be 'in' if there is no outside?" Gabriel sings. The theme is much more broad than "Games Without Frontiers," but the message is the same. "It's only water," Gabriel notes, "It's only water/In a stranger's tears/Looks are deceptive/But distinctions are clear." Stripped of any fanciful imagery, "Not One of Us" is a total punch in the gut.

Gabriel again slows things down for "Not A Normal Life," a description of life in an insane asylum. The song is spare, but at times downright pretty, at least before proceedings are jarred by moaning background vocals and heavy piano chords.

And finally, the other hit from the album, Gabriel's forthright protest song "Biko." Telling the story of the South African dissident, the song foreshadows the use of world rhythms Gabriel would use extensively on his next album. The track itself is a sincere anthem, with Gabriel lamenting the loss of an important civil rights activist. "You can put out a candle, but you can't put out a fire," Gabriel tells us, "Once the flame begins to catch, the wind will take it higher."

Steve Lillywhite's production is dense when it needs to be, open and clear just when things might get too rough. The sound is such a step beyond what Gabriel had done before that it must have been a total shock to hear this back in 1980. A lot of bands around that time were making jittery, angular music, but Melt goes beyond that. The album is sumptuous but dangerous, threatening yet seductive. Heck, even today, when thick, full productions are the norm, very few albums can match this one for the sheer impressiveness of its soundscapes. Gabriel's songwriting is more inventive and focused than before, presenting a unified set that was never boring or even featured a track of lesser quality than the others. His lyrics are more descriptive and more pointed. Even the most outlandish lyrics have a sense of context that make them noteworthy.

I don't have a single nit to pick with Melt. It is perfect in a way very few albums are, and present a singular creative vision that, in my opinion, is absolutely awe inspiring. A monumental masterpiece of an album that loses none of its power, even thirty years on.

Damfino

It certainly was

You know it's something special when an artist that you previously didn't pay much attention to suddenly gets your attention with a classic release like this.

That's exactly what happened to me. I was never a fan of Genesis and when I found out that the hit song "Games Without Frontiers" was by that guy from Genesis I couldn't believe it, but I became a Peter Gabriel fan overnight and I still follow his work to this day (even the movie soundtracks!)

I still play Melt frequently and I have never gotten tired of it.

cungar

Nothing to add except this album rocks.

cungar

Funny because I would think you, being an 80's new wave fan would like this album. I actually think this is his most new wave album.

Wonderful Day in a one Way world could be off an Ultravox album.

bunkaroo

Just have to echo what's been said - quite possibly his finest record. I've often considered doing a metal cover version of "I Don't Remember" - such a cool bass lick. Tony Levin is the man.

Numanoid

Apparently your definition of "New Wave" and mine differ greatly. Now Melt, on the other hand, is quite purely New Wave.

And "Wonderful Day" sounds nothing like Ultravox to me (I assume you mean John Foxx-era Ultravox). Like I said, Scratch seems much, much more glam or prog to me than what was to follow.

Numanoid

So is the Games video you posted. (I didn't check the others.) These mixes are probably from the DVD called Play, which has an alternate audio track for all of the videos with newly recorded versions (at the time of its release). It's a trip watching all of his classics with that track on. It's 5.1 as well.

brainee

My first exposure to Peter Gabriel in any form was through the videos for "Games Without Frontiers" and "I Don't Remember". Not on MTV, but on USA's "Night Flight". As a pre-teen catching these late at night in a darkened room, they gave me nightmares!

Supermallet

See, I think Melt goes beyond what any other artist was doing at the time (including Bowie). I don't hear New Wave when I hear Melt.

HUG-H

This was always my favorite Gabriel record, even though Security and So are classics as well, and it's a shame my then-favorite station only played "Games Without Frontiers" and "I Don't Remember" in regular rotation. I was always in awe of the production and the cover art. This record is probably why I started to pay more attention to the quality of songwriting in general.

@Suprmallet: Great review! I couldn't possibly make a review like that even when albums like this deserve them.
My favorites: I love the whole thing, but the songs "And Through The Wire", "Not One Of Us", "Lead a Normal Life" (This one always left me feeling so cold, but in a good way somehow). "Start/Don't Remember", "Games Without Frontiers" and "Biko" always stood out.
The sound of Robert Fripp's guitar must have been in heavy demand in 1980 as Bowie had him playing on Scary Monsters as well (Another perfect album).

I always love hearing the bagpipes come in on "Biko".

Sadly, I probably never would have known who Steve Biko was if I hadn't heard the song first. Peter Gabriel had made such a great impact with his tribute to him.

Hollowgen

Not only is this his best album, but it's one of the best albums ever. If you don't at least like this one, you probably hate music

HUG-H

I also always loved "Start" going into "I Don't Remember", which I've never had the pleasure of hearing until I purchased the album.
The ending of "I Don't Remember" has always had this hair-standing-on-back-of-neck effect on me, like sheer madness crumbling into solitude of acceptance.