When putting together a list like this perhaps the one kind of album that should never appear is a greatest hits set or a compilation. For that reason alone I hesitated momentarily about the inclusion of this years Peter Gabriel set but then, such was the impact this record had on my musical year, it was literally only a moments deliberation. After all, if you're going to be particular about the actual year of composition on any album in an end of year selection then that would knock out the vast majority of classical records up for contention. Besides, in orchestral terms, pretty much every song here uses the original structure as the loosest of back bones from which a whole lot of imaginative new music is created. Strange to think that Gabriel has so doggedly resisted a heavily pushed for return to his Progressive Rock days by re-uniting with Genesis, with their frequent early leanings into extended song forms and classical persuasions. Yet here he is, working with a full orchestra and yet still managing to move forward. You'd think some of those Genesis pieces he hasn't gone near for 30-40 years would hold some pull with such a large ensemble at his disposal yet he refuses to even consider them. The oldest work covered here is 1977's solo debut single 'Solsbury Hill' and even that's tacked on the end of the album as if to serve as an audience pleasing encore. Instead Gabriel re-works tracks that may have seemed the least suited to a classical makeover. Something like 'Rhythm Of The Heat' was originally created as a vehicle for an early 80s obsession with working songs from the back beat upwards, with the throbbing pulse of the piece both the starting point and the central theme. You'd be forgiven for thinking that beyond a bit of atmospheric background sound, there'd be little for the orchestra to work with. That's where the effort put into this album has really paid off. Songs like 'San Jacinto' and 'Darkness' are awash with newly created layers, lines, textures and sections. 1980's 'Intruder' more than anything was not calling out for orchestration, built as it originally was around a groundbreaking compressed drum beat, but here it's hammer horrored into whole new dimensions of suspense and creepiness. And the most satisfying thing for the long time Gabriel admirer is how he's been bold enough to put his fantastic voice at the front of all this, making a definitive showcase for one of the greatest vocalists of the Rock era.Tuesday 27 December 2011
ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2011 No.6 - PETER GABRIEL, New Blood
When putting together a list like this perhaps the one kind of album that should never appear is a greatest hits set or a compilation. For that reason alone I hesitated momentarily about the inclusion of this years Peter Gabriel set but then, such was the impact this record had on my musical year, it was literally only a moments deliberation. After all, if you're going to be particular about the actual year of composition on any album in an end of year selection then that would knock out the vast majority of classical records up for contention. Besides, in orchestral terms, pretty much every song here uses the original structure as the loosest of back bones from which a whole lot of imaginative new music is created. Strange to think that Gabriel has so doggedly resisted a heavily pushed for return to his Progressive Rock days by re-uniting with Genesis, with their frequent early leanings into extended song forms and classical persuasions. Yet here he is, working with a full orchestra and yet still managing to move forward. You'd think some of those Genesis pieces he hasn't gone near for 30-40 years would hold some pull with such a large ensemble at his disposal yet he refuses to even consider them. The oldest work covered here is 1977's solo debut single 'Solsbury Hill' and even that's tacked on the end of the album as if to serve as an audience pleasing encore. Instead Gabriel re-works tracks that may have seemed the least suited to a classical makeover. Something like 'Rhythm Of The Heat' was originally created as a vehicle for an early 80s obsession with working songs from the back beat upwards, with the throbbing pulse of the piece both the starting point and the central theme. You'd be forgiven for thinking that beyond a bit of atmospheric background sound, there'd be little for the orchestra to work with. That's where the effort put into this album has really paid off. Songs like 'San Jacinto' and 'Darkness' are awash with newly created layers, lines, textures and sections. 1980's 'Intruder' more than anything was not calling out for orchestration, built as it originally was around a groundbreaking compressed drum beat, but here it's hammer horrored into whole new dimensions of suspense and creepiness. And the most satisfying thing for the long time Gabriel admirer is how he's been bold enough to put his fantastic voice at the front of all this, making a definitive showcase for one of the greatest vocalists of the Rock era.
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