progressive… stuff
Look, I’ll be honest; there’s a lot of pretty weird stuff on this album, and I am aware that Peter Gabriel could be described as massively up themselves. However, when I first came across this album (and Security, I was an impressionable, slightly obsessive youth with a head full of magic and sci-fi. This was fuel. This fed that whirlwind. At the time, I didn’t know just how much heroin Gabriel was doing. Seems quite obvious now…
The backing tracks and effects on this album date from the dawn of synth technology, and also the beginning of some techniques like Phil Collins’ noise-gate clipped drum tracks. No cymbals were allowed during the recordimg, according to the wiki, on the basis that an “artist given complete freedom dies a horrible death,” so restrictions forming part of the creative process - a rebellion of sorts.
There’s a ridiculous roll-call of musicians on the album, including Tony Levin, Kate Bush, the aforementioned Phil Collins, Paul Weller and Robert Fripp, it’s no wonder that there are some good sounds going on. I’ve always loved Tony Levin’s bass techniques; they’re just so out there.
Highlights
- Intruder - for its gated drums and creepy atmos.
- I Don’t Remember - I’m totally in love with the bass guitar sound on this.
- Not One Of Us - The intro and break are just beautiful.
Trivia
The version I first heard was my brother’s cassette copy of the vinyl record which had skips in places which made me think some friend of his, whacked into God-mode on acid, had put it together in a fit of genius, or it was an authentic home-run of a happy accident:
Peak-time viewing born in a flash
as I burn into your memory- skip
I burn into your memory- skip
I burn into your memory- click
-cells
