UP

This release caught me by surprise: I thought the days of new PETER GABRIEL albums were over. I'm delighted to be wrong.

This album (plus the track 'Burn me Up, Burn me Down', which was included on pre-release versions of the record) is a summation of GABRIEL's solo career. 'Darkness', for example, could have sat nicely on PG III, and similar places could be found in GABRIEL'S back catalogue for many of the other tracks.

Two real highlights for me. 'The Barry Williams Show' is an excellent jab just where it is needed: take that, Jerry and you rubbish bin merchants! And 'Signal to Noise' is about as good a piece of drama as GABRIEL has ever been party to, including his GENESIS days. No weak tracks, and plenty of strengths. But it's not a masterpiece. It looks back rather than looking forward.

I wonder if we'll get another one from the fabulous PG? And if we do, what will it be like?