PETER GABRIEL 4 [AKA: MASK, AKA: SECURITY]

When I was younger, my father had introduced me to many prog style bands that would later influence my taste in music. Bands such as Pink Floyd, Yes, Kansas, and even Led Zeppelin were all among my father's Record and Cd collection. But "Peter Gabriel 4" was one of the few albums that stuck in my mind so intensly that I would ask dad to play it more than any other album he had.

The very first song I heard off of the album was "Shock The Monkey", a very exciting piece of music with a catchy tune and very industrial sounds playing alongside of Gabriel's god-like, echoing voice. It was the song that set the tone for me. Soon after, I began listening to all of the other songs on the album, "Lay Your Hands" on me being my next favorite. In my opinion, this album was nearly perfect from beggining to end, and the booming drums and atmoshoperic sounds included throughout this masterpiece makes it a five star winner for me.

"The Rhythm Of The Heat" Starts the album off on a very good tone. Deep, foreboding, and beautiful is a way to describe this song. The entire thing gives me chills everythime. I find it to be one of the album's best songs. It will dazzle you, all five minutes and eighteen seconds of it.

The second song, "San Jacinto", has a very stirring opening, and it only gets better from there. Soon there are heavy guitar chords that will send you into a spiral of listening pleasure that only few songs can do.

I have noticed that many people seem to find "I Have The Touch" coming short of their expectations, but I personally find this song a very fun, uplifting part of the album. If you are in a mellow mood, this song will probably snap you out of it better than any other song on the album. But of course that's just my opinion. The highlight of this track would have to be the precussion, as it has very stirring and unexpected parts to it, and that's a good thing.

"The Family And The Fishing Net" is a song that I usually skip, simply because of it's length. Don't get me wrong, I love 7 to 10 minute long songs just as well as the next progger, But I feel that the song could have been shorter and had a much deeper impact. Nonetheless, the Ethiopian panpipes and creepy undertones make this song stand out among the others as the most different.

Ah, "Shock The Monkey". The very first song that I heard off of the album, and I still favor it over all others. Of course the strong sence of nostalgia that I feel when listening to it could be the reason why I like it so much. It's more maistream and has a much more pop-rock sound than the others, but still worth the listen.

Now we come to the best part of the entire album. In my opinion, the magnum opus of "Security". One of those songs that just makes the entire album worthwhile. "Lay Your Hands On Me" takes so many interesting turns, and truly makes the entire album worth owning, in my opinion. It starts out with powerfull, booming drums that echo and give you a sence of awe as the song begins to unfold..... Now we hear small, moody precussion that sets up the magic to come. Eventually the song becomes bigger and louder until it finally ends the complete opposite way that it begins. Many people don't like this track as well as I do, but at least listen to it a couple of times before giving your final rating on it, because it grew on me.

Sadly, from this point on is where the album begins to loose momentum, in my opinion. From this point on, the songs don't get much better than the previous six, but of course, this is all my own opinions, and the only way to decide for yourself is to listen. In any case, this album is near the top of my list in terms of originality, and by far, this piece of work is still my favorite Gabriel album. His musical genious truly shows in "Security".

My rating: 5/5 for sure. An essential masterpiece.