I/O

Having been a PG fan for decades, I have to say this album infuriates me. Not because of the music, which is excellent, but because of the formatting. Many people have criticized progressive rock as being pretentious - the songs are too long or too complicated. That has never been a problem with me. I prefer my music intelligent. On i/o, PG has achieved a new level of pretention in giving us two different mixes plus a Blue Ray Audio file that will not play on older systems such as mine. Having two different mixes signifies either that the artist is not sure what he wants his album to sound like or that he is trying to cover all bases for commercial reasons. The artistic reasons given I declare spurious. PG has always included visuals with his music, first with his costuming and performances in early Genesis and beyond, then creating interesting videos. His live shows remain legendary. The Blue Ray included in this package is his way of including visual artists with his music production. All good and fine, no problem. But to put it on a such a format that is incompatible with older systems is too much for me. I understand this format sounds better than older formats, which should be expected. If only I could experience it without buying a new system. Innovation is a good thing, but not in itself, which is what is going on here. Having listened to both mixes I can honestly say I prefer the Dark Side mix to the Bright Side mix and would have preferred the artist had the integrity to release an album worthy of his legacy, a single album. I now have three versions of the same album, an absurdity in itself, one I prefer over the other, and a third I cannot listen to. This nonsense I do not need. Even if I could play the Blue Ray, I would probably only do it once. If I want to watch music I will watch a live performance because, you know, music. I have long disliked having multiple mixes of the same song on a single CD, or even worse, a live version of a song I had just listened to. No, not happy with this album. I repeat that the music is excellent even if it constantly reminds me of music he has released in the past. The album is a culmination of all he has done before. But I won't recommend it because of the pretentions involved. I realize I am likely in the minority on this issue, but that has never bothered me. I will maintain my position even if I am the only one to do so. I hope that Mr. Gabriel will put out another album soon, and not makes us wait twenty years for new music, one that is an album, and not an exercise in pretention.