“I have so much left to give…” Peter Gabriel, “So Much”

It’s hard to believe that Peter Gabriel, erstwhile lead singer of Genesis, waited 21 years to release his follow up to 2002’s Us. I was going to joke that this was his Hackney Diamonds and ask who does this guy think he is, a member of the Stones? But then I read somewhere that Rolling Stone magazine was calling Gabriel’s new LP, entitled i/o, the Chinese Democracy of Peter Gabriel albums and that was just so much funnier. Of course Gabriel hasn’t been idle since 2002. In 2010, like the Stones (in 2016), he released an album comprised completely of covers (and we do so love our cover albums here), entitled Scratch My Back. On that project he was to cover a song from an artist who would return the favor and record one of his. I know Paul Simon did “Biko” but I’m not sure anybody else jumped in. And a year after that he released an orchestral re working of songs from his storied catalog, New Blood. How very Sting of him… Regardless, when an artist like Peter Gabriel releases an album, especially after working on it for 21 years, it’s a big deal.

I’m like most folks in the Midwest when it comes to Gabriel. I didn’t hear his music on the radio, ever. I’ve mentioned in these pages before, when I was in middle school (aka junior high school) and just discovering music and bands I thought Black Sabbath’s only lead singer was the then current Ronnie James Dio. I was unaware that the crazy solo artist Ozzy Osbourne had once been their lead singer. I’m not sure I figured that out until a few years later. It’s hard to discover the truth about music when you don’t have an older sibling. I could tell the same story about Gabriel and his original band Genesis. I knew the Phil Collins era of Genesis and was unaware that Gabriel had been the original lead singer until, well, college. “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” didn’t get a lot of air time on my local radio.

Since songs like “Games Without Frontiers” and “Solsbury Hill” weren’t on the radio where I lived, it wasn’t until college and gads, MTV that I first discovered Gabriel. They played the video for “Shock The Monkey” on high rotation down there at MTV and I remember thinking, who is this guy? What the Hell is going on in this video? I actually liked the song but the video kinda kept me away. Then I discovered he’d been in Genesis, and would dress as a flower on stage and shave his head in a reverse Mohawk. I remember thinking he was like some acid-less Syd Barrett doing art rock that I’d likely never be interested in a big way… not realizing how long life is and how everything can change.

It was 1986 when Gabriel dropped the landmark album So. Up to that point Gabriel hadn’t really been doing himself any favors as he named every album he’d done up to that point, Peter Gabriel, as he felt every album in his catalog was a different chapter in the same book. Some people are just too smart for their own good. Or maybe I’m just not smart enough? I remember the first time I heard “Sledgehammer,” and yes, it was on MTV. They actually played music videos back then. To this day my body starts contorting when I hear that song, as if there’s a dancer trapped within me, but it turns out looking more like someone has hit me with a cattle prod. What an epic song. It was to be the first of 5 singles he released from that album, including “Red Rain,” “In Your Eyes,” “Don’t Give Up,” and “Big Time.” My college girl friend loved “Big Time.” Like the entire world, I was on the bandwagon.

He followed up six years later – which was lifetime back then – with Us. I thought it was pretty similar to So but not quite as strong. Although, there were some great songs on that album. “Steam” immediately popped out at me, although not as powerfully as “Sledgehammer.” “Kiss That Frog” is the funniest song ever written about oral sex and yes, I’m juvenile, I love that song. “Digging In The Dirt” was another great track. I have to admit, after that I was more of a greatest hits fan of Gabriel’s. He takes so long between albums I didn’t even know about Up until it’d been out for a long time. Sadly, that record left me cold.

For his new album, i/o, Gabriel started releasing it, a song at a time, starting last January. He released a song every month on the full moon until the entire thing was out. To complicate things further, he couldn’t choose which producer’s mix he liked best so he released 2 versions of each song, a “Bright-Side Mix” produced by Mark Stent and a “Dark-Side Mix” produced by Tchad Blake. Again, I’m not smart enough to sort through all of that so I just waited until the entire album was out to comment. I did check out the first song, “Panopticom” and I was like, what is that? He’s making up words now? Too complicated… Although I later found out it was a play on “Panopticon,” which is a word used to describe old prisons that were fashioned after the Embassy Suites, with the rooms on the outer wall around a courtyard. No word on if there’s a free happy hour from 5 to 7pm or free breakfast.

I have to say, I don’t think there’s a huge difference between the Bright-Side and Dark-Side mixes. If I had to choose, I’d probably lean toward the Dark-Side, but hey, that might be psychological. Never underestimate the power of the Dark Side. Anyway, the Dark-Side mixes are slightly murkier and again it might be just me but the acoustic guitars and pianos shine a little more on the Dark-Side to my ears. Gabriel is still in fine voice but I do detect a little more gravel in  his voice than in the old days.

Make no mistake, this is a great album. But it’s not going to be one of those albums you put on at a party. There’ll be no, “Honey, the Andersons are coming over for drinks tonight, let’s crank that new Peter Gabriel.” This is a very mature, grown up rock n roll album. It’s an album that is going to require a few listens before it clicks. It’s one of those late night, tumbler full of dark, murky fluid kinda albums. Even the upbeat tracks start off mellow and build. Gabriel writes and produces music with a cinematic scope and he manages to build a lot of dramatic tension in the songs. The surface may seem grim but once you dig into the lyrics you get a sense of pugnacious joy. A resolve to, against all odds, be happy. There is a lot of ruminations about mortality here, much like Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind or McCartney’s Memory Almost Full, but it’s not a drag.

There are a number of great songs that start off slow and build. The first track, “Panopticom,” that I dismissed upon first listen has become an ear-worm that has burrowed into my head. It’s been the song in my head when I wake up the last few days. “Panopticom” is all percussion and synth that just builds and builds. “Playing For Time” a lovely ballad about mortality takes me back to “Here Comes The Flood.” “You and I, still playing for time.” The title track is a wonderfully upbeat track about finding rebirth in the interconnected-ness of all things. “I’m just a part of everything,” indeed. The emotional center of the album is the brilliant “Four Kinds Of Horses,” that just blew me away. It seems to be a meditation on our current situation, “This is how you travel, if you live to see the world explode.” “Road To Joy” with it’s huge chorus just makes me smile. One might say it makes me joyful. “Olive Tree,” like “Road To Joy” has a huge chorus, and when he sings, “I’ve got the sunlight bright on my back” I can almost feel the warm glow. “So Much,” quoted above is another gorgeous ballad on the resolve to continue to contribute.

The album does mellow out on the second half. It ends with a series of ballads. “Love Can Heal” comes across like a mantra. It’s a “no matter what happens, love will heal you” kinda song. I love that message. “This Is Home” is another beautiful song to a lover. Wherever I am, the Rock Chick is my home so I dig that one too. “And Still” seems to be a sweet requiem for a mother who has passed. “Live And Let Live” ends the album on a midtempo track…”lay your burden down.”

This is an album that will reward any listener who takes the time to listen to it a few times. I had to drive out into the rural part of Missouri yesterday and I had this album on in the car. As I drove through the grey fields and the landscape rushed passed by me, I couldn’t help but think this is a perfect soundtrack on this winter day. It was like a bit of filtered sun on a cloudy day. I hope you’ll take some time and put this one on!

And while it’s true, “We’ve lost the line between the good and the bad, we’ve lost the line between the sane and the mad,” I hope you’re all doing ok. Take care of each other out there. As we look toward 2024, it could very well be a dark ride. We need to choose the road to joy, folks.

Cheers!