New Peter Gabriel album (1 Viewer)

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

Having now given Signal to Noise and The Drop a good listen, my impressions of this album are even stronger. "The Drop" is amazing.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

^

I can't believe this thread is just being left to die! This is the best Peter Gabriel album in 20 years!

 

[Jeff Keene]

I can't believe this thread is just being left to die! This is the best Peter Gabriel album in 20 years!

Maybe folks are waiting for the SACD. I am.

 

[Brian Bunn]

It is fantastic having new Peter Gabriel stuff...after so many years. And it is every bit as good as we could have hoped for. The guy hasn't lost a step. Just a great album.

 

[Clint B]

When I first heard it, I immediately liked "Darkness," "Growing Up," and "The Drop" with the rest kind of ho-hum for me. Now, after about 4 or 5 listens, I really like the album. While "The Barry Williams Show" and "My Head Sounds Like That" are my least favorite songs on the album, they're still pretty good. Overall, it's not his best album, but certainly not his worst. I just wish Peter and Co. were coming to Dallas on their tour!

 

[Mike Broadman]

I've had this one in the car all week. Just had "Growing Up" blasting while cruising on I-95. It made coming to work actually fun.

Sky Blue got a lot of criticism, but it's one of my favorite tracks on the album.

The use of sparse instrumentation to create dense sound is part of the special Gabriel thing- very remeniscent of Security, an album that I used to not like as much as the others. This approach to making music in the studio was very odd to me, and I like the fact that I was able to re-think the way I listen to some music. I love it when that happens.

 

[Scott Genualdi]

I've listened to this album continually for the past three days. Reading this thread, it seems that the consensus is that the album hearkens back to 1980 or 1982. I think that many of the musical themes introduced on tracks like Mercy Street or 14 Black Paintings are continued and further explored here.

I really enjoy the first half of this album and the last 2 tracks as well. I think the album sags a bit from Barry Williams to More Than This. Growing Up is my favorite track.

Absolutely worth the wait.

 

[Marc H]

I can hear some 'Lamb' in his voice at times.

Superb disc.

 

[Ted Lee]

looks like he's gonna tour:
Link Removed

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

We should change this thread to the Peter Gabriel Tour Thread
Went to his show last nite in Minneapolis, and what a show.
The started late about 45 minutes, (no reason was given, but maybe Axl Rose was still back stage from the previous nite and Peter was chewing his butt out on how to treat his fans)
The show started with the Blind Boys of Alabama, which I have to say really put on a show. Its not often an opening band makes me want to go out and find more info about them, but I will be searching out some CD's from them. They played for about 30 minutes then a African Duo came out and played some of their native instruments. I wasn't much into them, the Blind Boys could of stayed on for another 30 minutes and I would of been fine.
The Peter Gabriel came on by himself and performed "Here comes the Flood. Then after that the band joined him for the rest of show. There were some technical issues during the show, the audio would keep going out, which then after one song they stopped the show to fix the difficulties, which Peter called "A F*ck up".
I was surprised at the energy Peter has, for even himself says that he is a bit out of shape. When he was running around, riding a bike or even enclosed in a large plastic bubble he never seemed out of breath.
The only drawback about the show is the amount of changing of the stage that is done in between songs. It kind of slows down the flow of the show, but the stage show itself was fun to watch. And also the girl next to me who looked about 20 and was probably dragged to the concert by her boyfriend, she was absolutely bored by the show and every time people in front of her stood up she was gesture with her hands and grunt with disgust that she had to stand also. I was tempted to ask her if they don't still stand at Britney Spears shows??
The music is great, Peter sounds wonderful and with the show in the round, it just adds to the atmosphere. If your a Gabriel fan, you should go.
Also FYI, no Genesis and no "Shock the Monkey or "Big Time". I was really looking forward to "Shock the Monkey"!! And no one smoking pot, this is like the first concert i've been to that i have not smelled the aroma of pot after the lights went down.
Paul

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

hey Paul! I was at the Minneapolis show too.. I'll do a full write up later to share my impressions. Anyone else at that show?

 

[John Geelan]

And no one smoking pot, this is like the first concert i've been to that i have not smelled the aroma of pot after the lights went down.

Thats funny, at the recent Yes show I attended, there was aguy sitting next to me smoking doobies while trying to hide from the ushers. Since the place was small (NJPAC) he got caught once but they let him sit back down. I don't smoke but he was having such a good time I did not stop him for going for the tokes.

I'm going to see PG on Thursday night at MSG in NYC. I'll give a full report afterwards.

I've been listening to the new albums getting ready for the show and its growing on me. Like all PG albums, the more you listen, the more you hear his genius.

I wonder if the SACD will sound better than the cd. I wish the SACD was gonna be Multi-Channel, then I would buy it in an instant.

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

Peter Gabriels “Up” show in Minnapolis. Many spoilers ahead…
Comments:
This was my first concert @ the Target Center, and while the venue itself was less than impressive, the downtown Minneapolis Skywalk was hella cool. (and color coded, so foolish Iowans won’t get lost, a nice touch.)
Arrival at the venue @7:00 and there are two dark harbingers: #1 Arena staff are hanging up signs that say “the show will begin promptly at 8:30 PM” (show was scheduled for 8) I’ve been to concerts with early warning like this before, but I remain optimistic. #2 I overhear staff say something to the effect of “they’re still building the stage” OK No problem. Around @ 7:30 they let us in to he upper areas to buy concessions and souvenirs. There is some grumbling about the price of T-shirts, which sounded like whining to me: the prices were in line with what ive seen at several other shows, and PG had a lot more shirt designs, cds, and various swag to choose from. I snatch the “extra coolio” long sleeve design and make my way down to the floor level entrance…
And wait some more. Hey no problem. I’m just happy to be here. The people around me were making jokes about slipping roofies into people drinks (??) when I see a rigger walk by. Good lord , they’re still hanging points? They will never let us in. I recognize what sounds like the bass line from Me’Shell Ndegeocello’s “Leviticus:Faggot” being played at the sound check. (cool)
Eventually they let us in. One of lifes supreme pleasures is making your way past the riff raff at a concert, to good seats on the floor (7th row!) However, for this show the riff raff had the last laugh as it appears that the side seats seem to have a better overall view of the proceedings.
I can’t complain though as PG’s synth is facing my direction, Tony levin plays very close to where I am almost the whole show, and Ged Lynch’s drum kit is so close I think I can tell what religion he is.
Holy cow this stage is huge. The concert is in the round and the lighting trusses extend out in four directions
Random observation: the lighting riggers look vaguely like unemployed british steel workers.
The lights come down and the Blind Boys of Alabama play a half hour set. They were good in a kind of showtime at the Apollo, how long can I hold this note kind of way, but everyone else seems to be into them so its an interesting way start to the show. I am confused as to why they are trying to get us to wave our hands in the air. They’re blind...
At this point the next to me is still empty and I’m on the aisle. I’m thinking Kick Ass. I’ve got a buffer seat, I can dance around without getting too friendly with my fellow concert goers. Alas no luck. Near the end of the Blind Boys set a large man reeking of pot smoke is seated next to me. Oh well. He would periodically leave for long stretches during the show (??) The first time he leaves, the girl on the other side of him and I exchange a knowing “that guy reeked of pot smoke” glance.
Two african musicians come on, with long sleveless green and yellow robes, and tall feathered hats. Cool. They play a short set and as they are leaving I notice that one of they actually has Giraffes on his robe. Don’t see that everyday.
The house lights drop and the band comes on. The whole crew is dressed in black, PG has a vest and a flowing 19th century shirt on, they rest of the players vaguely resemble The Strangers from Dark City. (of course the fact the several of them are shaved bald only reinforces this )
PG plays “Here comes the flood”
Strobe lights kick in and they play “Darkness”
Peter mentions that they will be playing a mix of “old and new” tonight, which of course gets a big response from the crowd.
At this point i'm thinking, hmm, the sound mix isn’t very good. Too much mid range and peter can be hard to hear when just talking.
“Red Rain”, with red lights
“Secret World”
PG Brings the Blind Boys back for “Sky Blue” and the problems begin. Midway though the song the PA goes out and we can't hear anything. The Blind Boys are singing their ass off and we can barely hear them. Big bummer. They get the PA back on at the end of the song.
PG introduces “Downside Up” mentioning something about the Millenium dome, but we can’t understand what he says. Melanie G. (the female singer) is very hard to hear during this song (and would remain so the rest of the night)
Random Observation #2: Target Center has crazy security. Occasionally people have been sneaking up the aisle next to me and each time a bald security guard catches them and makes them go back.
A round second stage drops from the ceiling for “The Barry Williams Show” with PG circling the innner stage with a video camera, pointing the camera at the band, himself, and the audience. The camera image is projected on to the central dropcloth. Unfortunately the PA cuts out again, a couple of times.
After the song ends PG wins the heart of the crowd by annoucing “I think the technical term for that is Fuck Up.” He then says they are to kill the PA for a moment to try and fix the problem. The house lights come up and the crowd spontaneously begins to clap. Ged drums along with the audience and PG runs over to jam with the drummer. Evetually the other musicians jam along as they fix the PA. It was a good moment which partially made up for the problems earlier.
The central stage rises up and the lights kick into frenzied mode for “More Than This” This song is better in concert than it is on the album. The lights dim again and the band members sit on the edge of the stage. PG explains the that “Mercy Street” was written after… a book.. and…a boat … ( I cant understand anything he says. The sound engineers need to be docked a days pay for this.) The stage rotates…
Somewhere in here PG introduces the band. After introducing Melanie as “Someone I’ve known for a long time” a guy in audience yells out “I love you Melanie!” and PG quickly replies “Careful. Her father is in the building”
“Digging in the Dirt” Good crowd participation
“Growing Up” PG climbs into a giant plastic hamster ball and rolls around the stage, pausing to jump in the ball several time times. Many in the audience jump along with him.
Random Observation 3: I’m impressed with the crowd! The arena was no where near full, but the prople who are here are into it.
“Animal Nation” the African Musicians come back out and play along. This song is cool, although I can see why it wasn’t included on Up (Its too happy!)
PG says the next song is so old, when it was recorded Tony Levin “Still had hair”
“Solisbury Hill” PG rides around the stage on a bicycle. Fun to watch, and matches the tone of the song as it is played.
The next song is the stalwart “Sledgehammer” with PG wearing a jacket with lightbulbs screwed into it! Cool. The PA Cuts out during the second verse and the audience fills in, singing the words acappella en masse with the drums until the PA returns. Way to go Minneapolis!
“Signal to Noise” ends the main set, but falls victim to the crappy sound mix. (it works better on the album anyway)
Random observation 4: During “Signal to Noise” there’s a woman in an orange shirt dancing very sexually in the aisle and hugging random people. This is disturbing on several levels.
“In Your Eyes” is the 1st encore.
“Come Talk to Me” follows and PG is smiling a lot. Possibly with relief that PA hasn’t dropped out again.
Quick note: people thought that they would not bother to send people sneaking up in the aisles back during the encore. They thought wrong! The bald security guard is the Terminator.
Finally, PG ends the show with an very emotinal and well played “Father, Son” which sounds the best of anything we heard on all night, and the audience is quiet and respectful during the song. Extra cool.
This was a good show despite the problems. I don’t know if it was worth the expensive ticket cost, but I’m satisified. A good crowd really made the difference here. I daresay it was more memorable because of the problems: it got the band out of their strict setlist and forced them to improvise. Some people grumbled about not hearing more old stuff, but that’s their problem. Sure, I would have liked to have heard “Biko” as an encore but, its hard to complain with the song selection that we got.
If you’ve read all this you must be a fan. Thanks.

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

L. Anton,

I'm glad you enjoyed the show, but just so you know, concerts at the Target center have been notorious for bad audio. It not just technical side, its just that the arena itself is bad for sound. The bass there just carries too much flooding out the other frequencies in the building. My first concert there was Bryan Adams and The Storm, and when The Storm took the stage it sounded like there was another band somewhere in the building playing. It was pretty bad.

I would suggest if you get a chance sometime, check out a show at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul. Even though it holds about 20,000, the concerts sound like your in a small theater. The sounds are crisp and clear and enjoyable to listen too. The Target Center needs some major improvements!!

I enjoyed the song selection PG put out, still would of liked to hear Shock the Monkey !!

The seats we had were on the side of the arena directly across from the stage about 25 rows up and luckily PG was facing us the whole nite.

During “Signal to Noise” there’s a woman in an orange shirt dancing very sexually in the aisle and hugging random people. This is disturbing on several levels

Was the woman wearing a loud Orange sequence shirt on? I remember seeing somebody over on that side of the stage with a bright orange shirt on and I thought it was a guy LOL

Paul

 

[John Knowles]

I was also at the Target Center the other night and although the tickets were really expensive, my wife and I thought it was well worth it (it helps that we're both fans). We'd never seen PG live before and figure this might be our only chance. It was cool enough that I was inspired to order the 200g vinyl version of UP...my reward for resisting the T-shirts...
Oh, and I really LOVED the giant ball he rolled around on...they could sell tickets to people just wanting to roll around...

 

[Stacie]

Was also at the Mpls show -- had mid-price tickets (still $100 a pop), which turned out to be excellent seats (last row of the lower balcony, directly above the stage, PG facing us most of the time). I think the crowd on the floor was more into the show, but I think we could see better. As a visual/multimedia experience, it was fantastic from our vantage point -- we were far enough away to get the full effect, but still close enough to see details.

The PA problems were frustrating, but the band handled it well and the crowd was good-natured. I'd also have loved to hear Big Time and/or Shock the Monkey, but I can't really complain about the songs that were in the show.

Overall, it was a fantastic show -- and a must for fans. If you don't already have tix, and he's coming to your city, GO!

 

[Ted Lee]

l. anton - that was a great review!

 

[John Geelan]

3 days til PG at MSG!

 

[John Geelan]

Saw Peter Gabriel last night at MSG and he was fantastic.

The new album sounded great live. The highlight of the night was the song "Growing Up" where Peter goes inside a large clear ball and rolls around the stage. When he started bouncing the ball, the crowd went nuts!

This is one of the best stage shows I have ever seen.

Do yourself a favor and see PG when he comes to your city!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I love I Grieve from the new album. I don't think I've heard a song before that so perfectly pinpoints the feelings of loss when someone close to you dies. Wonderful.