For the readers: I’m on a constant search for new ideas and sounds, regardless of genre, whether they come from A Place to Bury Strangers and Grizzly Bear or Madlib and Aphex Twin. The best music for me is when someone is able to make something that’s different and artistically viable yet still remains, at heart, a pop song. I would also kill you if Tom Waits asked me to. These are my thoughts.
Rating system
0 stars – Complete and utter garbage
1 star – Best just not to ever press play, save your ears for another day
2 stars – Not completely atrocious, but one you’ll probably forget about as soon as it’s over
3 stars – Good, but not great, likely with some excellent songs and others you’ll skip right through
4 stars – Damn good album, one you’ll definitely want to enjoy again and again
5 stars – Instant Classic
I really, really want to like this record. But I just don’t.
Listen, I’m sorry. I know Peter Gabriel is amazing. I know he deserves our love and adoration and thanks for all the awesomeness and for making “Say Anything” go from cute to cultural reference point. I know he’s got one of the best voices ever and I know he’s aged far more gracefully than most.
Let’s face it though. It’s hard watching our heroes age. It’s hard watching their creativity dwindle and their relativity disappear. We convince ourselves we’re excited when they’re going to put out something new, but deep down we know they’re not going to take any risks, and we know we’ll seldom listen to it. There’s obviously exemptions (Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash’s records with Rick Rubin, the last Nigel Godrich-produced McCartney record), and I was hoping that would be the case here.
“Scratch My Back” is a great idea. Meant to be a companion to the yet-to-be-completed “I’ll Scratch Yours”, the record has Gabriel covering a number of artists, ranging from his contemporaries (ex: Bowie, Reed), to current artists he’s a fan of (ex: The Arcade Fire, Bon Iver), while the follow-up will theoretically have the same artists covering him.
There’s something obviously satisfying about hearing Gabriel’s voice singing something like “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, but sadly there’s not much to the record beyond that. Gabriel’s choice of exclusively using orchestral arrangements of the twelve selected songs to back his iconic voice results in 54 minutes that, for the most part, all sound the same. Some lush strings, some piano, some light percussion, a bit of brass, Gabriel’s gravely lows and heart-wrenching cry outs, repeat, repeat, repeat. Sometimes you don’t even realize one song has ended and another has begun till you realize he’s gone from singing The Magnetic Fields to Randy Newman. (“The Book of Love” is particularly disappointing in its straight forward, maddingly melancholy vibe when you consider it’s one of Stephin Merrit ‘s sweetest and more hopeful songs, yet Gabriel seems to suck all the fun out of it.)
The album has its moments though. The two tracks leaked early to music blogs as a preview, Bon Iver’s “Flume” and Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is A Cage”, might just be the two standouts (“Duh, that’s why they picked them” – said the reader). “Flume” is heartfelt and beautiful, with the music focusing on a simple piano accompaniment and a restrained brass section swell that accompanies Gabriel soaring to his upper register for the chorus. “My Body Is A Cage” is one of the darker sounding tracks, and the haunting and severe string section is definitely the standout arrangement. The vocal delivery borders on sounding contrived, but it all balances out next to moments like the bloodcurdling scream at 4:05 – one of those places few artists at Gabriel’s point in their career will go with their voice, but he does beautifully.
To sum, this is one hell of a depressing record. Not just because the entire mood is melancholy, but because it could have been so much more. Gabriel still sounds great, and the song choices are excellent for his voice, yet, with the blandness and uniformity of each track’s arrangement, we’re left with the feeling that, after eight years, Gabriel came so close to producing something great and viable that it lets us down more than most. As Gabriel repeats “She’s the moon” on “Flume”, he may as well be talking about making this record relevant. So clearly visible, yet so desperately out of reach.
FINAL VERDICT:
As far as career choices go, on a scale of Mira Sorvino to Tom Hanks, Gabriel pulled a Cuba (1.5).
God loves a cheerful giver.
Everyone has their opinion, but you are insane for not loving this album. This is one of the best albums put out in the last two years. Yes, it is uniform - that's the point. Think of the disparity in the source material - and think about how he transformed them into a single opus.
Apres Moi, My Body is a Cage, Listening Wind? These songs are dark, epic, and surpass the originals. Flume, Heroes, Mirrorball? The only miss here is the Randy Newman song, which doesn't do much. The rest? Solid to great.
Every Gabriel album takes a while to sink in, and is difficult to appreciate at first review. but honestly, this is one of the most accessable of all of his stuff. I just cannot fathom this review...
honestly his best work was with Kate Bush
'nuff said
I too liked the Arcade Fire cover...now I'm bummed the rest of the record won't be as good.
And I agree with Lily. And agree with most everything Kate Bush has done.
Seems to me you are completely misunderstanding Peter Gabriel. And the reference to movie actors (ratings) is a bit strange, when Gabriel has pretty much proven himself many times over and doesn't need to anymore. At this point he can do and put out anything he'd like, which he does.....and it's still genius. Lastly, listening to stuff like A Place to Bury Strangers and Grizzly Bear or Madlib and Aphex Twin isn't really much of a broad range. Sorry.
Hm, I haven't heard the album yet, but Alfonso seems to be making some pretty rational observations about it, and the album has been getting mixed reviews all over the place so I'm not sure if the accusations of insanity are all that grounded. And iK, just because you've put out great work in the past doesn't mean you automatically get a pass.
That's true Cale. As stated, my point is that he has proven himself many times over and he really doesn't need to anymore. Calling this a bad career move baffles me. I don't see Peter Gabriel as someone who is worried about their 'career' anymore (if ever). I'm not arguing anyone's opinion (I could care less).
So, I have zero intention of ever defending an opinion on here because opinions are silly and reviews are meant to create discussion, not doctrine. However, two quick things for future reference.
1. I will always expect artists to prove they can still put out great work, regardless of what they've done in the past. If you're not trying to prove yourself, you're no longer an artist. You're Ringo Starr.
2. The career choice scale was not a relevant mathematical representation of Peter Gabriel's decision making abilities using people with varying accomplishments as reference as much as it was me wanting to make a Snow Dogs reference for kicks. I'll probably do more things like this in the future, so just a head's up.
Wow, excellent use of Ringo Starr as a succinct example of resting on one's laurels. I agree. Always be auditioning for your spot in life or get the f**k off the planet. Your just crowding it.
The Cuba point, and the scale in general, saved my sanity yesterday. Add it to the zeitgeist.
Listen to "Scratch My Back" in it's entirety on MySpace Music - http://bit.ly/bDtPar
I have been listening to this over the past couple of days, and a couple things come to mind.
There are some awesome moments on this album. I never thought you could improve on Flume or My Body is A Cage, but my God, he does. Everything else is, at a minimum, interesting. Except I agree with you on the Book of Love cover. Meh.
But then wait - you neg this album for being melancholy? Take a step back for a moment. Look at Ingmar Bergman's later work. Or Kieslowski's last three films (Colours trilogy). Was their an air of despair in each of these works? Definitely. Did they move with deliberate pace? Yes. Even slow at times. But that was the intent, and they retain their staying power. Gabriel's album strikes me much like these films. It gets better with each listen.