My parents first turned me on to Peter Gabriel. They had a couple of his vinyls in their record collection and I remember the fear that one particular album cover instilled in me. It was Peter Gabriel's #3 aka "Melt"and features a black and white photograph of Peter Gabriel's face melting. It also stirred such curiosity in me that I had to pick up the record and play it. Songs like the cool and creepy "The Intruder" and the catchy whistle of "Games Without Frontiers" immediately hooked me in. Peter Gabriel to this day stands alone in creating a category all his own in the world of alternative music that never been rivaled.
I noticed that many of the songs from that record are on a recent Gabriel album called "New Blood". The record consists of orchestral re-recordings of past hits from the Peter Gabriel discography. Please read on to learn more about it.
"New Blood" was released in 2011 and is a continuation of the previous album "Scratch My Back" which consisted of orchestral covers of other artists' songs. Peter recruited arranger John Metcalfe to rearrange his songs for orchestra. Just about all of the songs chosen happen to be favorites of Mr. Gabriel's amazing career.
-"The Rhythm Of The Heat" - a song from the 1982 album "Security" that was inspired by the experiences of psychologist Carl Jung during his time in Africa with a group of drummers.
-"San Jacinto" - an emotional song about the changing life in North America during The Battle Of San Jacinto and the fight of the Mexican-American War. This symbolizes the life that the American Natives will soon lose despite their best efforts.
-"Intruder" - from Gabriel's 3rd album. An unsettling yet brilliant song about the description of a break in told through the eyes of the intruder. Gabriel's old Genesis buddy Phil Collins played drums on the original song. The track has achieved cult status and has been covered by the altrock band Primus.
-"Red Rain" - my favorite Peter Gabriel song and is from the 1986 album "So". The song is about a recurring dream Gabriel had in which he swam in his pool drinking cold red wine and watched bottles falling off a cliff. The bottles were in the shape of people. As they smashed to the ground they bled red wine. Then it began to rain red liquid from the sky. The song also is about acid rain and nuclear fallout.
-"Don't Give Up" - also from the '86 album "So". It is a duet with another of my favorite artists: Kate Bush. The lyrics that Peter sings are about a man's feelings of isolation, despair and lonliness. Kate's chorus lyrics offer words of hope and encouragement. The music video was in heavy rotation on MTV and featured Peter and Kate in a hugging embrace that lasted the entire clip.
-"Wallflower" - a touching song from Peter Gabriel's 1984 soundtrack to the Alan Parker film "Birdy" starring Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine.. The film and the song are about two buddies who return from Vietnam. One returns physically damaged and the other mentally damaged and is put in a mental asylum. Through the circumstances they remain close and try to save one another.
"Solsbury Hill" - Peter Gabriel's debut single. A song about his departure from the band Genesis. The track seems to be a glorious statement celebrating the fact that Gabriel knew the type of innovative music he was certain he would invent and that it would be unlike anything ever heard. Because of this fact, this is why I feel that Peter Gabriel was one of the most notable innovators of what we now call "Alternative Music".
-"Mercy Street" - an endearing yet gloomy song about the life of poet Anne Sexton. The song references her famous poem "45 Mercy Street". The song touches on the subjects of suicide, troubled parental relationships, and attempting to come to terms with the past, and confessing.
I do wish they had included "I Have The Touch", "Steam", "Games Without Frontiers", and "Secret World". Also I wish he had included some of the music from his original score for "Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ". It is a beautiful score to the 1989 Martin Scorsese film "The Last Temptation Of Christ" starring Willem Defoe as Christ.
Click here to reserve Peter Gabriel's "New Blood"
Click here to reserve Peter Gabriel's "Scratch My Back"
Click here to reserve "The Last Temptation Of Christ"
Thank you for reading and enjoy,
-Fred
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