PETER GABRIEL 1 [AKA: CAR]

A highly impressive start to a highly impressive solo career. All of Peter Gabriel's albums live in their own sound world, some more accessable than others, and the first one has one of the less accessable sounds to it, but like all, is a sound that can be warmed up to. There is much warmth in the production, actually, along with plenty of icyness, creating a dense yet smooth, foggy atmosphere that in places sounds like it was made just for 8 track. That production works great on some songs, like the opening, very original "Moribund the Burgermeister", where Peter Gabriel is still very much in theatrical mode, the truly rocking power-pop of "Modern Love", and the very progressive "Humdrum" and "Slowburn," not so much on "Waiting For the Big One" and "Here Comes the Flood," which are both otherwise very good songs. Actually, the songs are all great on this album, and it is clear that Peter Gabriel's songwriting not only further blossomed after his departure from Genesis, but had also benefited from the direction possibilities of taking a few years off in between. It's probably the most eclectic debut I've heard, and the songs are places in a very thoughtful order, lending a thrilling sense of adventure to the album. I really like "Solsbury Hill" a lot, and it remains one of his best hit singles. Very catchy acoustic guitar riff in 7/8, off-kilter panning, all with crashing guitar chords and layers of Gabriel's guttteral vocal effects at the end. There's some surperior singing throughout, namely in "Humdrum" and "Here Comes the Flood." (His voice is still very close to what it was on "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.") There is also stellar playing from a talented host of session musicians, including Tony Levin and Robert Fripp, as well as some of the members who would become Peter's full time band later on. It's a great album, and if you can let yourself soak into the unique production, you may even consider it a prog classic.