#17 – Peter Gabriel

Joe Music Listener: Finally! Someone I know! Now you’re talking.

The Overload: Well, I’m glad you’re thrilled about this selection, because I’m kind of not feeling it any more.

JML: What?! How could that be?! Peter Gabriel has so many great songs!

TO: That’s what I was thinking when I put him on this list initially, but I kind of soured to him after listening all the way through some of his albums. Peter Gabriel 1 is an over-produced, overly-ambitious mess. Peter Gabriel 3 is an obtuse, indulgent sprawl. So never quite gains momentum and lacks cohesion.

JML: Wow, someone’s a little full of themselves. Each of those albums you mentioned have some great moments on them!

Peter Gabriel: The Original Lady Gaga.

TO: This is true. “Solsbury Hill” (that’s a link to a live 1978 recording, since you all have heard the studio version in every movie preview you’ve ever seen) is one of the best songs written about quitting your job. It captures the feelings of hope and liberation and joy better than perhaps any other recording. And “Here Comes the Flood” is a great song, finally done justice in the stripped down live version Gabriel played in later years. The rest of the album is just lacking.

JML: And Gabriel has admitted as much! He was the first to say it was over-produced, and his later output put his money where his mouth was. And he was getting over his prog-rock Genesis phase. Cut the man some slack!

TO: You’re right, you’re right. 1980’s Peter Gabriel 3 (commonly known as Melt) has a couple of classics in “Games Without Frontiers” and “Biko.” I have to admit that in listening to these songs again now (particularly “Frontiers”), I’m struck by their fantastic musical arrangements. There are so many things going on in these songs, and they somehow don’t sound busy! He also has some other good tracks on there, like “I Don’t Remember,” but it just seem deserving of its reputation.

JML: You’re also forgetting his artistic experimentation here! He told his drummers to refrain from using cymbals as much as possible. He forced Phil Collins to use only toms on “Intruder” while applying the new “gated drum” studio technique to give the drums more punch without destroying the rest of the mix, and that’s what directly led to the sound on Collins’ megasmash, “In the Air Tonight.” He also began embracing the first computerized samplers around this time. It’s an incredibly forward-thinking work.

The cover of Gabriel's third, and arguably best, album.

TO: That might be the problem: it’s forward-thinking, as is much of his output, but it doesn’t always translate into the greatest of songs or albums.

JML: Well what about Security in 1982? His lyrics pick up on where “Biko” left off and he attacks big themes of human and animal rights on songs like “Shock the Monkey” and “San Jacinto” while continuing to push the bounds sonically.

TO: Whoa, I didn’t realize you were such a big fan.

JML: Well, you haven’t even gotten to So.

TO: This is true. 1986’s So was his opus. It’s filled with an eclectic array of hits, most notably, “Sledgehammer,” whose incredible music video remains the most played video of all time on MTV – a record that likely won’t be broken any time soon at the rate they’re playing videos. It remains a stunning achievement in the art of the music video, which shouldn’t be surprising considering Gabriel always emphasized the visual element of music during his live performances with elaborate costumes, choreography and sometimes aerial displays.

But on top of that, he produced “Red Rain,” “Don’t Give Up” (a duet with Kate Bush that shows him extending his vocal ability while tackling the personal ramifications of unemployment), “Big Time,” “Mercy Street” (which I never cared for, but was recently covered by Fever Ray, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it), and of course the timeless “In Your Eyes,” featured in Say Anything in that famous scene where John Cusack holds the stereo above his head in the rain.

JML: See? There are so many great songs Peter Gabriel has written that are now part of the fabric of our culture.

TO: But that’s not enough for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame! This is the best of the best we’re talking about here.

Peter Gabriel: Coy elder statesman of indie rock.

JML: Well, I’ve already talked about his early musical experimentation. How about his embrace and promotion of world music? His duet with Youssou N’Dour? He stepped up in bringing other cultures to Western ears in ways that only Paul Simon and maybe David Byrne or Sting could compete with. And he was the forerunner in the World of Music Arts & Dance movement that brought all kinds of distribution and performance channels in the West for artists from around the globe.

What about his passion for political causes? Like many artists, he wrote songs about politics, but he took it a step further the longer his career progressed. He was a leader in supporting Amnesty International and Human Rights Now in the 1980s. He established ApeNet in the early 2000’s to enable the first interspecies internet communication as part of his promotion of animal rights…after he jammed with bonobo apes in the Congo. And, unlike, most artists of his age (and younger, even!) he is a proponent of digital downloading and file-sharing.

As you mentioned, he gets the concept of being a multimedia artist and entertainer in ways that few others have. His marketing for 1992’s Us showcased artists and filmmakers around the world. He has launched a video-sharing website dedicated to human rights. He was one of the first mainstream artists to compose original songs for video games.

TO: Wow, and all that while somehow becoming a grandfather to the modern indie rock movement. He’s covered Bon Iver’s “Flume,” the Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage” and teamed up with Hot Chip to collaborate on a version of Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which namechecks Peter Gabriel himself!

I guess Peter Gabriel has transcended the role of the pop artist. He’s more than any song or album. He’s undoubtedly left a legacy that has made the world a better place in ways that most musicians could only dream of.

JML: Then I guess, the only question that remains is…which Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee sucks more than Peter Gabriel?

TO: Easy. Rod Stewart. Like Gabriel, Stewart branched off from a successful band (The Small Faces) to enjoy a fruitful solo career. And while Every Picture Tells a Story may be a more cohesive album than anything Gabriel’s ever released, Stewart followed trends instead of starting them. He never pushed musical boundaries the way Gabriel did, and Gabriel has more extra-curricular accomplishments in his fingernail than Stewart has ever amassed. Rock Hall, you set your own bar, and Peter Gabriel has cleared it with ease.