On enjoying Peter Gabriel
A couple weeks ago I purchased Peter Gabriel's latest album, Up. While I'm a huge fan of Gabriel's work, I have the sneaking suspicion that Up is nothing more than ear candy, plain and simple.
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great recording. "Signal to Noise" and "I Grieve", the latter appearing in a form improved over its previous appearance on the City of Angels soundtrack, have such fantastic buildings-up that I always crank them up early on and then four minutes later discover that I probably should be more careful about my hearing but what the heck, rocking out. Nearly every song is awash with texture and even the distortion of "Darkness" is visceral musical release. The recording is superlative also: listen carefully on "The Drop" to hear the damper action on Gabriel's Bösendorfer and pine with me for an SACD release. Critics have noted this album for being darker and moodier than Gabriel's previous albums, but I don't consider this worthy of fault. Up is a fascinating musical retreat from the world. But...
The one thing missing from Up is originality. Peter Gabriel has long been master of the hook (perhaps even longer than the term itself has been popular) and he's back in force with this album. "More Than This" is my favorite, with a a catchy opening and a grooving bass riff. But haven't I heard this song before? For that matter, haven't I heard this entire album before? I'm not saying this album rips off anyone other than Gabriel himself, but so much of it is so prototypical that I can't help being somewhat depressed over what seems like missed opportunities. "Signal to Noise" is a great example of this: if Eddie Vedder showed how to use the voice of Qaw'wali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to such quiet, forceful effect in Dead Man Walking, why couldn't Gabriel link Khan's soaring melodies to words more powerful than these ("All the while the world is turning to noise / Oh, the more that it's surrounding us, the more that it destroys / Turn up the signal, wipe out the noise")? At least the drumming of the Dhol Foundation is able to save this song from its maudlin self, but what could save "The Barry Williams Show" from such an inane topic as daytime talk shows? In general, methinks the similies are a bit too obvious, the lamentations a bit too forced. It's a shame, too, because this music deserves more.
Posted by ned at October 14, 2002 01:49 PM