Label: Virgin Records (Europe), PGCD1
Style: Art Rock, Pop, Progressive Rock
Country: Chobham, England (13 February 1950)
Time: 41:27
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 242 Mb
Charts: UK #7, AUS #25, CAN #30, GER #24, ITA #9, NLD #9, NOR #5, NZ #38, SWE #8, US #38. UK, GER, FRA & US: Gold.
--Moribund The Burgermeister
Odd
bubbling and beating sounds mark the beginning of the album, but when
the chorus begins it all turns into a solid rock song with lots of
pathos. It is the story of a disturbing case of a whole town catching St
Vitus’ dance. Not bad as a beginning, and the grotesque qualities leave
quite a lasting impression.
--Solsbury Hill
The second
song is the most enduring hit of Gabriel’s whole solo career. It begins
in an unusual but driving 7/8, almost like a folk song, before it
unleashes its power and ends in hunted vocal eruptions. Gabriel
addresses feelings of doubt, loneliness and changes in life, topics that
are quite likely to have risen in him when he left Genesis.
--Modern Love
The
song with the most bang on the album. Lots of power and a good deal of
aggression are brought to bear on lyrics rich in innuendo that talk
about love without feeling, desire and unfulfillment. Though the song
was released as a single it soon dropped from the standard repertoire.
--Excuse Me
Playful,
silly, comedic – all this makes up this weird barber shop song. The
lyrics are enigmatic rather stream-of-consciousness than narrative. The
song creates a peculiar relaxed mood that seems a bit fishy. It is,
however, a wonderfully eccentric introduction for Humdrum and its
brooding mood.
--Humdrum
The most depressed piece on the
album. Gabriel uses fantastic word imagery to describe the eponymous
monotony and torpor. It begins with piano sounds that have an unusual
stereo distortion. Other means used are Latin-American motives carefully
placed wrong, melancholy acoustic guitars and thick blankets of synth
strings. This song points ahead to how Gabriel would later combine
musical and lyrics expression.
--Slowburn
Back in the days
of vinyl this would be the first song on the second, altogether weaker
side of the record. The arrangements are just too pretentious and too
contrived. Slowburn comes with a whining lead guitar and a strong beat.
It is a bizarre love song complete with heartache. Fast changes in the
speed, rattling drum fills and glam rock borrowings are meant to
intrigue, but all they do is to kill of any interest in the words. There
is rarely any link between the content and the music.
--Waiting For The Big One
A
blues, and it is celebrated as such from the counting in and loose
piano runs to the lofty choir finale. Lots of drama, lots of big opera.
In between, with a disturbed voice, is Gabriel’s punning description of
the wait for the big one. It illustrates the futility and emptiness,
though the musical devices are used to a degree where the become almost
comical.
--Down The Dolce Vita
And here is a full Wagner
orchestra running over the listener at full speed. It retains the energy
and continues as a rock song. The lyrics express a certain enigma and
futility again, but do so with a grand gesture. Lots of gimmicks in the
arrangements (such as the general pause in the middle part) vie for the
listener’s attention. It would take Gabriel more than three decades to
be able to create suspense by these means (in his Scratch My Back
project – with Bob Ezrin again as a co-producer). Numerous musical turns
convey the mood of the lyrics less successfully than Gabriel may have
hoped for.
--Here Comes The Flood
Gabriel himself would
later call this version of the song overproduced. Unfortunately, the
studio team could not think of anything else but to turn the
eschatological visions of inner torpor into a catchy anthem by the usual
devices of bluesrock (dramatic changes in dynamism, elegiac guitar
solos and beating tambourines).
--All in all...
The album
is a first attempt for Gabriel try and build a career as a solo artist.
He has not quite found his feet yet, but the large potential is evident.
If you are keen to discover the music of Peter Gabriel you may find
this one of the more difficult entry points.
(genesis-news.com/article/peter-gabriel-i-car-cd-review/) by Thomas Schrage. English by Martin Klinkhardt
Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog.
D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The
second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the
format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).
01. Moribund The Burgermeister (04:18)
02. Solsbury Hill (04:20)
03. Modern Love (03:38)
04. Excuse Me (03:19)
05. Humdrum (03:24)
06. Slowburn (04:36)
07. Waiting For The Big One (07:13)
08. Down The Dolce Vita (04:42)
09. Here Comes The Flood (05:54)
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