PETER GABRIEL 2 [AKA: SCRATCH]

To me, as to most listeners, this is clearly the worst of PG studio albums. Some say it's underrated and I sort of sympathise that opinion, because at least it is not overproduced like the debut (quite the opposite!), it's very honest in its crankiness, and it does have some fine moments, and like each eponymous peter gabriel album, it has a character different from the other three. But the fact remains, it sounds poor and boring - if not annoying - for the most part, and like Seyo says, PG's vocals have never been worse. Did he have a flu during the recording sessions or what?? 'On the Air' and 'DIY' are quite OK mediocre rockers in PLAYS LIVE but Peter's vocals especially in these opener tracks sound terribly bad. 'Animal Magic' and 'Perspective' are real throwaways - why he ever brought them into a studio album? 'A Wonderful Day' is kinda cute but soon it gets helplessly annoying chorus-repeating little silly song. 'Home Sweet Home' is a sentimental and syrupy slow-tempo closer.

Now the good sides. I like the acoustic and modest songs like 'Mother of Violence', 'Indigo' and 'Flotsam & Jetsam'. Seen the b/w back cover, the miserable figure (PG) head down on a dirty snowy asphalt yard? That reflects well this album - in good and bad. Gabriel deals with poor people & misery and comes up with some touching frankness in his music and words. But he didn't go in that direction deep enough: the album lacks conceptual coherence that I see in his great #3. The ambientish 'Exposure' written with the producer Robert Fripp is an interesting different number (the sound reminds me of Brian Eno with whom Fripp has collaborated as we know) and 'White Shadow' is maybe the best track. These better moments are worth modest two stars. Gabriel himself seems to ignore this album more than any other (I refer to live and compilation albums), perhaps too much, because there are some really potential stuff behind the poor production after all.