PETER GABRIEL 1 [AKA: CAR]

Robert Fripp and Tony Levin join Peter Gabriel on his first solo album. What's missing here is other songwriters--while there are some excellent songs here, the song quality doesn't match most of his work with Genesis. It does match the weirdness--if not the quality--of his last album with Genesis, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." There are some nice orchestral bits here that add a lot of depth to the album. This isn't a bad album, but overall it's not amazing either.

There are some skippable songs, but there are some real gems too. "Solsbury Hill" is the highlight, one of the best songs from Gabriel's solo career. "Down the Dolce Vita" and "Here Comes the Flood" are also excellent songs. "Humdrum," "Slowburn," and "Waiting for the Big One" are good. So, three great songs, three good ones, three fillers. Overall, 3.5 stars.