PETER GABRIEL 1 [AKA: CAR]

Gabriel started his solo carreer with a great album, to compare his solo work with Genesis material is not really fair to Gabriel, since that's another time another story and another direction.

the album distigueshes itself by good melodies, and a huge variety in styles, ranging from the Queen styled vaudeville (Excuse me) to some David Bowie type of glam (Modern Love), though that is more based on the Fripp guitar than on the title which of course reminds you of Bowie, but it's of course another song. Some Genesis style also pasts, mostly because of his typical voice, but the music also draws back on some of the music of The lamb (Humdrum, Here comes The Flood and Slowburn).

down the Dolce Vita somewhat reminds me of the Bee Gees, but with symphonic orchestration and a very good vocal line, without a doubt my favourite song of Gabriel together with the also present Sollsbury Hill with it's fabulous acoustic guitar intro.

The only disappointing song is Waiting For The Big One, which has a more jazzy approach, the rest is certainly enteraining and on occasion very good. Gabriel left Genesis, and also departed from the style Genesis used to play, with this album he became in control of his music, which was more pop oriented, but with some special quality that sets him apart as a brand of his own.

Not a masterpiece, but surely a very good debut and it belongs to his better albums for sure.