PETER GABRIEL 2 [AKA: SCRATCH]

On his second solo album, Gabriel goes all punk. The year was 1978 and the first generation of punk bands had already stormed over the country. Gabriel had his ears open to what was happening around him. Assisted by that other genius, Fripp, he went in a vastly more rough and harsh directions then on the debut.

While the move to left is surely worth some praise, the result leaves much to be desired. Clearly this wasn't the kind of stuff he felt really comfortably with, there are a number of pleasant songs such as On The Air and DIY but they don't measure up to the more adventurous and angry stuff Peter Hammill released in the same year. Mother of Violence is like a lost song from Nursery Crime. It fits awkwardly after the vehemence that preceded but it's a nice tender song.

It's quite hard to make out what the purpose was behind of the remainder of the tracks, most of them sound like weak filler tracks and leftovers. Only the more experimental tracks like White Shadow and Exposure (which also features on Fripp's solo album of that title) are interesting but hardly a compelling listen.

I can not imagine how this album was received back in '78. Maybe the only purpose was to release something that was as remote from prog as possible, something that nobody would have minded had it been good. But really, it's hard to see this as more then a collection of uninspired song writing. 2.5 stars