Since we've now moved past the Peter Gabriel era in the Genesis thread, I thought it would be appropriate to start an album by album for the man's solo career.

Peter Gabriel (1977)



Also known as: Peter Gabriel 1, Car


Tracklist:
1 Moribund the Burgermeister (Gabriel) 4:20
2 Solsbury Hill (Gabriel) 4:21
3 Modern Love (Gabriel) 3:38
4 Excuse Me (Gabriel, Hall) 3:20
5 Humdrum (Gabriel) 3:25
6 Slowburn (Gabriel) 4:36
7 Waiting for the Big One (Gabriel) 7:15
8 Down the Dolce Vita (Gabriel) 5:05
9 Here Comes the Flood (Gabriel) 5:38

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I'll definitely have to get in on this one since I've never really listened to much of his material beyond the hits. Although I do own and enjoy the Secret World live album quite a bit.

Off to hunt down PG's first album.

Anticipation ran high for Peter Gabriel's first album. As the frontman for Genesis, Gabriel had crafted a persona of extreme theatricality and after the release of the the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, many people thought he was responsible for the entire Genesis sound (which of course he wasn't, as A Trick of the Tail would prove). Working with Bob Ezrin, the producer behind some of the more successful and dramatic albums of the 70's (including albums by Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Lou Reed), Gabriel set about to prove that not only was he a viable talent on his own, but also that he could be successful across a wide variety of genres.

Peter Gabriel (more often known as Peter Gabriel 1 or Car as Gabriel made his first four albums self-titled, prompting nicknames in order to differentiate the releases) is thus something of a hodgepodge, without a defining sound or identity. The album opens with a trio of bona fide Gabriel classics. First is "Moribund the Burgermeister," a tale inspired by mass hallucinations that took place in the Middle Ages (now thought to be due to a type of fungus that grew on bread). A weird but heavy tune, "Moribund" showed that Gabriel was turning his dramatic weirdness in on itself, as the track sounded nothing like anything Genesis had ever recorded, but at the same time, wasn't out of place as coming from the man who penned the lyrics to The Lamb.

The album then opens up to present its best known tune: "Solsbury Hill." The track was Gabriel's reflection on leaving Genesis, and its clarity of sound, combined with the evocative imagery of the lyrics, combine to make it one of his most beloved songs.

The third track, "Modern Love," is a fine rocker with shows Gabriel in great voice. "Excuse Me" feels like something of a joke, although the melody is still memorable enough to give it a pass. The album never really regains its momentum after that, and the following three songs: "Humdrum," "Slowburn," and "Waiting For The Big One" feel subpar. Things pick back up with the bombastic "Down The Dolce Vita" before ending poignantly with "Here Comes The Flood."

Peter Gabriel wasn't a bad start, but coming off of a series of practically perfect Genesis albums, it wasn't quite good enough. Still, the five highlight songs (the three openers and two closers) are good enough to make this one worth listening to.

Oh, very cool! Peter Gabriel is my second favorite rock musician (after David Bowie), so I'm very curious to see how these fare to virgin ears. Also, Gabriel definitely went off into different territory from what he explored in Genesis, so I'm also curious as how his stuff comes off to a big Genesis fan.

I love the first PG album. Conversely, I can barely listen to the dreadful second album.

Ha! I much prefer the second album, although I think both pale in comparison to every album he's done from the third one on.

Peter Gabriel's first album was the most experimental of anything he'd make. The songs go off in all different directions, however, they all have a uniqueness which makes each one stand on it's own. Suprmallet...surprised you do not care for 'Humdrum'. I think it's one of the album's stronger tunes.

"I saw the man at JFK...he bought his ticket yesterday...in the Humdrum"

I love the eclectic nature of this first album, as he tries on several hats -- there's a playfulness to it too that has been sadly missing from his more recent work. "Excuse Me" is the kind of song he'd never do today, and while it's a trifle, it's a fun one. "Modern Love" should've been a hit single really. I will also stand up for the brooding, gorgeous drone of "Humdrum" too, although "Solisbury Hill" is such a powerful, bouncy melody that it really eclipses most everything else on the album.

As debuts go, it's not bad at all. Shame the next album would stumble a bit, although there are still gems on it too.

You think this is more experimental than 3 or Security?? Really?

"Humdrum" I think is perfectly titled.

This just isn't true. THe first album is the most traditional rock album of his early albums. Sure there were a couple oddities like parts of Moribund and Excuse me but this was nowhere near as experimental and daring as the third album and Security.

Perhaps he meant the album where he experimented with the most diverse styles?

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. I know starting with the third album he would start introducing African rhythms and beats (which were cutting edge in the western rock world), but this first album contains so maybe different styles of music. That is what I was trying to say.

Give me the catalog singles ONLY, please; hold the full album treatment/content.

With that....I'm done with my PG critique.

Some great songs on Car, but the whole album is almost derailed by the lounge-singer crap song in the middle.

Here Comes The Flood, Moribund, Solsbury Hill were definite indicators of great things to come.

I'm only familiar with his soundtrack albums, my fav being Passion.

I've found I just have a hard time getting into artists that were before my time. Not that I don't appreciate the music, I just don't feel a connection to it like I do music I heard growing up. Supermallet do you ever run into that? I think your maybe a few yrs younger than me.

I usually have a harder time finding connections to artists of my time. That's not entirely true, but I do love older music, whether it be Mozart and Bach, Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, etc. There's plenty of current music I love as well, but most of it is harder to find. I spend a lot of time scouring the experimental section at Amoeba records.

When did you grow up? I started getting into music in the mid 70's and I had no problem getting into all the amazing music that came before 1975.

Born in 79. I started getting into music early 90's. That isn't to say I don't enjoy music from earlier, I just don't feel particularly drawn to it.

PG's first was an excellent debut. I think it's one of those albums that get better and better upon repeated listens. When I first heard this back in the the early 80s I thought 'ugh, what is this'. My older brothers and their freinds seemed to think it was great, and they were the one's that introduced me to Genesis, so I did not completely dismiss it. Now, almost 30 years later, I can say without a doubt, that I absolutely love this album.

I've listened to "Car" several times now. I give it 2 1/2 out of five stars. It is definitely a mixed bag as far as musical styles. Moribund seems to be the most Genesis like song of the group, and, honestly, I don't care for it much. Solsbury Hill I've heard many times before as it is on both Gabriel hits collections. It's a good song, but not as good as what he would come up with in later years. Excuse Me sounds like a barber shop quartet, and I like it, even though it seems a bit quirky. The other songs I like are Down the Dolce Vita and Here Comes the Flood.

I don't know if I would pull this out very often to listen to, but I have enjoyed experiencing it for the first time.

Don't you think that's kind of intentional?

Humdrum strikes me as a quite Nilsson-esque track. I could easily imagine Harry singing that and pulling it off.

You're right, Nilsson could have gotten away from it, but I think he also would have made the instrumentation more interesting.

Just wanted to say that "Excuse Me" sounds like a Randy Newman outtake Gabriel stole the master tape of and released under his name.

Peter Gabriel (AKA 2 or Scratch) (1978)



Tracklist:
1 On the Air (Gabriel)
2 D.I.Y. (Gabriel)
3 Mother of Violence (Gabriel, Gabriel)
4 A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World (Gabriel)
5 White Shadow (Gabriel)
6 Indigo (Gabriel)
7 Animal Magic (Gabriel)
8 Exposure (Fripp, Gabriel)
9 Flotsam and Jetsam (Gabriel)
10 Perspective (Gabriel)
11 Home Sweet Home (Gabriel)

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I know this is a minority opinion but I think the second album is fantastic. I actually like every song on this album. It was truly the end of anything remotely resembling prog for Gabriel and I think it is a great ending to that phase of his career. After this world music took over as a major influence.