CD1
01 Intruder
02 Wallflower
03 The Boy In The Bubble
04 Apres Moi
05 The Drop
06 Washing Of The Water
07 The Book Of Love
08 Darkness
09 The Power Of The Heart
10 Biko
11 San Jacinto

CD2
01 Digging In The Dirt
02 Signal To Noise
03 Downside Up
04 Mercy Street
05 The Rhythm Of The Heat
06 Blood Of Eden
07 Red Rain
08 Solsbury Hill
09 In Your Eyes
10 Don t Give Up
11 The Nest That Sailed The Sky

Personnel: 
Tom Cawley (vocals, piano); 
Deborah Widdup, Charles Mutter, Roland Roberts, Alison Dods, Louisa Fuller, Martin Burgess, 
Clare Hayes, Kathy Shave, Odile Ollagnon, Ian Belton, Natalia Bonner, Ian Humphries, 
Rita Manning, Cathy Thompson, Jeremy Morris, Emma Parker (violin);
 Jon Thorne, Reiad Chibah, Fiona Bonds, Ian Rathbone, Paul Cassidy, Helen Kamminga (viola); 
Ian Burdge, Will Schofield, Nick Roberts, Caroline Dale, Jacqueline Thomas , Chris Worsey (cello); 
Eliza Marshall (flute, alto flute, piccolo); 
Jon Carnac (clarinet, bass clarinet); 
Alun Darbyshire (oboe); 
Sarah Burnett (bassoon); 
Dan Newell, Andy Crowley (trumpet, piccolo trumpet); 
Phil Woods, Nigel Black (French horn); 
Dan Jenkins, Tracy Holloway (tenor trombone); 
Mark Frost (bass trombone); 
David Powell (tuba); 
John Metcalfe (brass, celesta, percussion); 
Steve Rossell, Ben Russell, Chris Laurence, Richard Pryce (double bass);
Joby Burgess, Rob Farrer (percussion).

Dispensing with the usual rock armory of guitars and drums, Peter Gabriel and the 46-piece New Blood Orchestra re-imagine some of Peter’s best known songs with breathtaking orchestral arrangements that include ”In Your Eyes” “Red Rain” “Rhythm of The Heat” and “Biko” – written in honor of anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko (1946-1977). In addition, there are interpretations of Paul Simon’s “The Boy in the Bubble” and Lou Reed’s “The Power of the Heart”.

Gabriel is a renowned live performer whose onstage charisma and instantly recognizable voice combine brilliantly with the orchestral sound palette to breathe a new sense of wonder into familiar songs.

A distinguished singer, musician, and songwriter, Gabriel rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis, before embarking on a successful solo career. Recently, he has focused on producing and promoting world music as well as pioneering digital distribution methods for music. In 2007, he was honored as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his “influence on generations of music makers.” Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009, and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010. ---Staff, guitarinternational.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto

back

01. Heroes
02. The Boy In The Bubble
03. Mirrorball
04. Flume
05. Listening Wind
06. The Power Of The Heart
07. My Body Is A Cage
08. The Book Of Love
09. I Think It's Going To Rain Today
10. Apres Moi
11. Philadelphia
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)


Personnel:
    Peter Gabriel – vocals, piano on "Flume"
    The London Scratch Orchestra – violins, violas, cellos, double basses, flute,
                     bassoon, trumpets,  horns, trombones, bass trombones, piano
    Melanie Gabriel – vocals on "The Book of Love"
    Jason Rebello – piano on "The Power of the Heart"
    The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – choir on "My Body Is a Cage"
    Eli Hibit – Backing Rhythm Guitar on "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"

Considering the slow trickle of completed albums he has released since becoming a superstar in 1986 -- just two albums of songs with vocals, paired with two albums of soundtracks and two live records -- deliberate is expected from Peter Gabriel, so the slow, hushed crawl of Scratch My Back is no shock. What may be a shock is that Gabriel chose to follow 2002's Up with a covers album but, like all of his work, this 2010 record is highly conceptual no matter how minimal the end result may be. Designed as the first half of a two-part project where Gabriel would cover 12 different artists who would then return the favor by recording their own versions of Gabriel's compositions -- the counterpart album naturally bearing the title I'll Scratch Yours -- Scratch My Back divides neatly between six songs from his peers (Bowie, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Neil Young, Lou Reed, David Byrne) and six songs from younger artists (Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Stephin Merritt, Bon Iver, Elbow, Regina Spektor). Gabriel doesn't dodge familiar tunes, choosing to sing "Heroes" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," but he twists each tune to his own needs, arranging everything with nothing more than piano and strings, a change that's almost jarring on Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble," yet it stays true to the undercurrent of melancholy in the melody. Indeed, all of Scratch My Back is stark, sober, and spare, delving ever deeper inward, a triumph of intellect over emotion -- a noted contrast to almost all cover albums that celebrate the visceral, not the cerebral. Immediate it may not be but fascinating it is, and after hearing Gabriel turn all 12 of these songs into something unmistakably his own, the appetite is surely whetted for its companion piece. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @VBR kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back

1. Red Rain
2. Sledgehammer
3. Don't Give Up
4. That Voice Again
5. Mercy Street
6. Big Time
7. We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)
8. This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
9. In Your Eses

Bass – Tony Levin 
Drums – Manu Katché 
Guitar – David Rhodes 
Producer, Arranger [Horns], Piano, Programmer [CMI] – Peter Gabriel 
Synthesizer [Prophet] – Peter Gabriel 
+
Backing Vocals [Backing Vox] – Coral Gordon, Dee Lewis, P.P. Arnold
Guitar, Tambourine – Daniel Lanois
Saxophone – Mark Rivera
Trombone – Don Mikkelsen
Trumpet – Wayne Jackson
Drums – Jerry Marotta 
Guitar – Daniel Lanois
Hihat – Stewart Copeland
Piano – Richard Tee
Synthesizer [Chorus CS80] – Simon Clark
Vocals [Guest Vox] – Kate Bush, Youssou N'Dour
Vocals [Voices] – Coral Gordon, Dee Lewis, P.P. Arnold
Violin – L Shankar
Bass – Larry Klein
Bass [Bass Vox] – Ronnie Bright
Drums [Additional] – Jerry Marotta
Piano – Richard Tee
Organ [Hammond], Programmed By [CMI], Bass – Simon Clark
Surdo [Surdu], Congas, Triangle – Djalma Correa

Peter Gabriel introduced his fifth studio album, So, with "Sledgehammer," an Otis Redding-inspired soul-pop raver that was easily his catchiest, happiest single to date. Needless to say, it was also his most accessible, and, in that sense it was a good introduction to So, the catchiest, happiest record he ever cut. "Sledgehammer" propelled the record toward blockbuster status, and Gabriel had enough songs with single potential to keep it there. There was "Big Time," another colorful dance number; "Don't Give Up," a moving duet with Kate Bush; "Red Rain," a stately anthem popular on album rock radio; and "In Your Eyes," Gabriel's greatest love song, which achieved genuine classic status after being featured in Cameron Crowe's classic Say Anything. These all illustrated the strengths of the album: Gabriel's increased melodicism and ability to blend African music, jangly pop, and soul into his moody art rock. Apart from these singles, plus the urgent "That Voice Again," the rest of the record is as quiet as the album tracks of Security. The difference is, the singles on that record were part of the overall fabric; here, the singles are the fabric, which can make the album seem top-heavy (a fault of many blockbuster albums, particularly those of the mid-'80s). Even so, those songs are so strong, finding Gabriel in a newfound confidence and accessibility, that it's hard not to be won over by them, even if So doesn't develop the unity of its two predecessors. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

Gdy słucha się dziewięciu kompozycji zamieszczonych na tej wyjątkowej płycie, czuję się, że absolut jest na wyciągnięcie ręki. Peter przekroczył na "So" granicę z napisem "pop", ale zrobił to na swój własny sposób. Przestał zamazywać swój wizerunek na okładce, prezentując twarz przystojnego faceta przed czterdziestką, a na krążku zaprezentował 46 minut wyjątkowej muzyki, po raz pierwszy tak jednoznacznie (w jego przypadku) stawiającej na dobre melodie, ale nie zapominającej o rodowodzie artysty. To nie są banalne piosenki o strukturze zwrotka-refren-zwrotka-refren, tylko małe progresywne formy, przybrane jedynie w przystępne ciuszki.

Bo przecież takie "Don't Give Up", chyba najpiękniejszą pocieszankę w historii muzyki rozrywkowej, znają wszyscy, niezależnie od upodobań muzycznych. Piękny tekst, znakomita aranżacja i jeszcze ta niebiańska partia Kate Bush! A kojące "Red Rain" ujmujące wspaniałą muzyczną przestrzenią i bogatym brzmieniem? A soulowo-funkujące "Sledgehammer"? Już pierwsze trzy kawałki udowadniają, że mamy do czynienia z wyjątkową płytą. Inną, niż dokonania wokalisty z Genesis, różną od poprzednich czterech solowych dokonań Petera, ale nadal znakomitą, wynoszącą go do poziomu gwiazdy popkultury.

Gabriel pewnie sam dałby sobie radę, ale dzięki obecności znakomitych artystów i współpracowników w studiu: Daniela Lanoisa za konsoletą, Tony'ego Levina na basie, Davida Rhodesa ma gitarze czy Manu Katche na perkusji, wspólnie stworzyli znakomite dzieło, które właśnie doczekało się słusznego remasteru, choć już w oryginale brzmiało przecież świetnie.

Ja dzierżę w rękach wersję podstawową jubileuszowej edycji, zawierającą odświeżone brzmieniowo piosenki z dysku "So", ułożone w nieco zmienionej kolejności ("In Your Eyes" powędrowało na koniec tracklisty) w stosunku do oryginału. Warto zaopatrzyć się w poszerzone wersje najnowszego wydania piątej płyty Gabriela, zawierającego dodatkowe krążki m.in. z zarejestrowanym koncertem z Aten czy filmem z cyklu "Classic Albums", traktującym o powstawaniu albumu.

Pisanie, że "So" to album wybitny byłoby truizmem, więc ograniczę się do krótkiego: tej płyty nie można nie znać, a reedycję warto mieć. ---Jurek Gibadło, magazyngitarzysta.pl

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back

1. "Whole Thing (Original Mix)" (featuring Francis Bebey, Alex Faku, Tim Finn,
	 Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger, Andy White)
2. "Habibe" (featuring Natacha Atlas, Hossam Ramzy, Neil Sparkes)
3. "Shadow" (featuring Juan Canizares, Papa Wemba)
4. "Altus silva" (featuring Joseph Arthur, Ronan Browne, Deep Forest, 
	James McNally, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Vernon Reid)
5. "Exit Through You" (featuring Joseph Arthur, Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger)
6. "Everything Comes From You" (featuring Richard Evans, Joji Hirota, 
	Sevara Nazarkhan, Sinead O’Connor, Guo Yue)
7. "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" (featuring Billy Cobham, Peter Gabriel, 
	The Holmes Brothers, Wendy Melvoin, Arona N’diaye, Jah Wobble)
8. "Forest" (featuring Levon Minassian, Arona N’Diaye, Vernon Reid, Hukwe Zawose)
9. "Rivers" (featuring Vernon Reid, Marta Sebestyen, Karl Wallinger)
10. "Jijy" (featuring Arona N’Diaye, Rossy, Jah Wobble)
11. "Big Blue Ball" (featuring Peter Gabriel, Manu Katché, Karl Wallinger)

Wael Abu Bakr 	Strings
Justin Adams 	Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Paul Allen 	Guitar
Reddy Amisi 	Vocals (Background)
Joseph Arthur 	Guitar, Vocals
Natacha Atlas 	Vocals
Francis Bebey 	Flute
Tchad Blake 	Bass, Bells, Drums, Guitar (Synthesizer), Harmonium, Hi Hat,
 Keyboards, Organ, Shaker, Tambourine, Tom-Tom
Ronan Browne 	Uillean Pipes
Laurent Coatalen 	Bongos
Billy Cobham 	Drums
Popsy Dixon 	Vocals (Background)
Noël Ekwabi 	Bass
Adel Eskander 	Strings
Richard Evans 	Guitar, Mandolin
Alexis Faku 	Bass
Tim Finn 	Vocals (Background)
Peter Gabriel 	Bass, Drones, Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Soloist, Vocals
Stephen Hague 	Accordion, Keyboards
Rupert Hine 	Keyboards
Joji Hirota 	Chinese Drums, Drums, Percussion
The Holmes Brothers 
Sherman Holmes 	Vocals (Background)
Wendell Holmes 	Vocals (Background)
Manu Katché 	Drums
Ged Lynch 	Drums
James McNally 	Low Whistle, Whistle (Human)
Wendy Melvoin 	Bass
Lévon Minassian 	Doudouk
Eric Mouquet 	Keyboards, Original Recording Producer, Piano
Arona N'diaye 	Djembe, Percussion, Sabar
Sevara Nazarkhan 	Vocals (Background)
Chuck Norman 	Drones, Programming
Sinéad O'Connor 	Vocals
Angie Pollock 	Piano
Hossam Ramzy 	Drums, Percussion
Hossam Ramzy & His Egyptian Ensemble 	Strings
Vernon Reid 	Guitar, Guitar (Synthesizer)
David Rhodes 	Guitar
Michel Sanchez 	Keyboards, Piano
Márta Sebestyén 	Flute, Vocals
Jules Shear 	Vocals (Background)
Neil Sparkes 	Drums, Percussion
Momtaz Talaat 	Strings
Karl Wallinger 	Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Papa Wemba 	Vocals
Papa Wemba Band 	Congas, Percussion
Timothy Whelan 	Saz
Andy Lee White 	Vocals (Background)
Jah Wobble 	Bass
Guo Yue 	Flute
Hukwe Zawose 	Vocals 

Big Blue Ball is more of a collective than a band, with the final project being completed well over a decade after the majority of the sessions. Back in the '90s (1991, 1992, and 1995 to be exact), Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger invited friends and musicians from around the world to participate in weeklong collaborative writing and recording sessions at Real World Studios. The results were then crafted into this album. Overall, the album crosses the globe-trotting multiculturalism of Music and Rhythm (the first WOMAD compilation) with the slick production of Gabriel's Us (released about the same time these sessions took place). Couple the fact that Gabriel's solo work has been increasingly infused with world music beginning with Security and the fact that he's got one of the more recognizable voices in music, and Big Blue Ball almost plays like a lost Peter Gabriel album. This is not meant to diminish the strong contributions of others. Hossam Ramzy and Natacha Atlas take the lead on "Habibe" and Márta Sebestyén, Sinéad O'Connor, Rossy, and Papa Wemba all turn in great vocal performances. Joseph Arthur and Iarla Ó Lionáird's "Altus Silva" actually sounds a bit like Gabriel, and when Arthur joins Gabriel on "Exit Through You," the result could easily be a So outtake. The sound changes a bit at the end of the album, moving from the Peter Gabriel '90s sound to something a bit more 21st century with the Malagasy rap of "Jijy" and the sampled horns of the title track. It's a bit odd that Big Blue Ball was so long in coming, but Peter Gabriel fans will find it was worth the wait. ---Sean Westergaard, AllMusic Review

To nie jest płyta, którą można postawić w jednym szeregu z pierwszymi czterema, “cyferkowymi” albumami Petera Gabriela. Nie przypomina ona także kolejnych, tych bardziej skomercjalizowanych, wydawnictw tego artysty („So”, „Us”, „Up”). Co więcej, „Big Blue Ball” różni się także od pamiętnego dzieła “Ovo”, które upamiętniało otwarcie Millenium Dome w Londynie przed 8 laty. Z tym ostatnim niniejszy krążek ma jednak sporo wspólnego. Chociaż Peter Gabriel osobiście firmuje to wydawnictwo, to nie występuje on we wszystkich 11 utworach zamieszczonych na płycie. W kilku śpiewa, w kilku innych tylko gra na syntezatorach, a w jeszcze innych w ogóle go nie słychać.

Płyta powstała na początku lat 90. w Real World Studio, a jej produkcja trwała 18 lat. „Big Blue Ball” zawiera utwory nagrane przez przyjaciół Petera Gabriela należących do artystów z kręgu tzw. World Music. Uczestniczyli oni w roboczych sesjach nagraniowych w wiosce Box w hrabstwie Wiltshire w 1991, 1992 i 1995 roku. Ich celem było wspólne komponowanie, muzykowanie, łączenie kultur muzycznych, próba wzajemnego przenikania stylów i osiągniecie swoistego muzycznego efektu synergii. Jak się okazało, wynik wspólnego muzykowania przeszedł najśmielsze oczekiwania. Mnogość materiału zarejestrowanego w trakcie tych sesji sprawiła jednak, że projekt porzucono na dłuższy czas, bo w nagraniach zapanował spory bałagan. W końcu wezwano na pomoc producenta Stephena Hague’a, który zebrał całość do kupy, nadał jej odpowiedniego szlifu i doprowadził długą epopeję, związaną z realizacją tej płyty, do szczęśliwego końca. Sam pomysłodawca całości z premedytacją ustawił się trochę z boku całego przedsięwzięcia, widząc się raczej w roli koordynatora sesji niż głównego ich uczestnika. I tak, z rzeczy mających wydźwięk najbliższy tradycyjnemu brzmieniu muzyki Gabriela właściwie tylko trzy utwory, „Whole Thing”, „Exit Through You” i „Burn You Up Burn You Down”, przypominają to, co można usłyszeć na jego wcześniejszych solowych płytach.

Peter otoczył się takimi muzykami jak Francis Bebey, Karl Wallinger (World Party, ex-The Waterboys), Alex Faku, Tim Finn, Andy White, Billy Cobham, Joseph Arthur, Wendy Melvoin, Arona N’iaye i Jah Wobble. Prawda, że większość z tych nazwisk niewiele mówi nawet słuchaczom dokładnie śledzącym solową karierę byłego lidera Genesis? W pozostałych utworach jest jeszcze bardziej anonimowo, chociaż na płycie „Big Blue Ball” nie zabrakło kilku gwiazd, i to całkiem sporego formatu. W mającym nieco bałkański wydźwięk utworze „Habibe” śpiewa Natacha Atlas, w moim zdaniem najciekawszym na płycie nagraniu „Altus Silva” słyszymy m.in. grupę Deep Forest, w „Everything Comes From You” wokalnie udziela się Sinead O’Connor, a w utworze tytułowym na perkusji gra Manu Katche.

Bardzo zróżnicowana to płyta. Jak już wspomniałem, idealnie pasuje ona na półkę z napisem „World Music”, sporo na niej naleciałości bliskowschodnich i bałkańskich („Habibe”), andaluzyjskich („Shadow”), afrykańskich („Forest”, „River”), a nawet disco („Jijy”). Lecz jak dla mnie, na najwyższą notę zasługuje wymieniony przeze mnie utwór „Altus Silva”, który mógłby śmiało zmieścić się w kategorii „dobry pop rock”. Aha, ortodoksyjni miłośnicy twórczości Gabriela nie będą z pewnością zawiedzeni trzema utworami, w których głos tego artysty występuje na pierwszym planie (choć w „Exit Through You” zaledwie „równolegle” z Josephem Arthurem).Wiadomo, że ten słynny muzyk, wokalista i producent nie rozpieszcza sympatyków swojej twórczości zbyt często wydawanymi płytami. Niechaj zatem te trzy nagrania będą pewną osłodą już prawie sześcioletniego okresu jego artystycznego milczenia, który trwa od premiery albumu „Up”. ---Artur Chachlowski, mlwz.pl

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back

CD 1:
01. Heroes (David Bowie cover) (4:22)
02. The Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon cover) (4:31)
03. Mirrorball (Elbow cover) (5:02)
04. Flume (Bon Iver cover) (3:05)
05. Listening Wind (Talking Heads cover) (4:36)
06. The Power Of The Heart (Lou Reed cover) (6:00)
07. My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire cover) (6:29)
08. The Book Of Love (The Magnetic Fields cover) (3:49)
09. I Think It’s Going To Rain Today (Randy Newman cover) (2:47)
10. Après Moi (Regina Spektor cover) (5:26)
11. Philadelphia (Neil Young cover) (3:53)
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out) (Radiohead cover) (5:11)
13. Band Introduction (2:03)

CD 2:
01. San Jacinto (7:47)
02. Digging In The Dirt (5:06)
03. Downside Up (7:05)
04. Signal To Noise (6:47)
05. Mercy Street (6:09)
06. The Rhythm Of The Heat (6:40)
07. The Drop (3:53)
08. Darkness (6:33)
09. Solsbury Hill (7:32)
10. In Your Eyes (7:22)
11. Band Introduction (2:53)
12. Don’t Give Up (8:05)
13. The Nest That Sailed The Sky (4:07)

Another week, another capital: After the Studio 104 concert in Paris on 20/3 and the Berlin shows in the middle of the week the tour now arrived at London's The O2. It was a double return for Peter Gabriel: the premiere of the new shows in his own country and also the return to the Millennium Dome where the OVO show used to be performed ten years ago. VIP ticket holder had to be there by 2pm, and a laminated soundcheck pass and the soundcheck t-shirt were given out. An hour later the fans were guided into the venue. The New Blood Orchestra had already tuned their instruments and rehearsed several brief parts with the conductor when Peter Gabriel scuffled onto the stage – in felt slippers, casual attire, a tea mug in his hand and perfectly relaxed. At one point he turned to the 400 VIP guests and greeted them with a good-humoured „Welcome to the soundcheck“. The fans then could watch the musicians rehearse for some 90 minutes while the sound technicians were working audibly on getting a grip on the resonances in the venue. When Peter Gabriel missed his cue at the end of San Jacinto the musicians discussed inserting a couple of extra bars to make it easier for Gabriel. This idea was successfully rehearsed. Later the soundcheck audience were asked to decide between three songs, only one of which would be played that night. Gabriel called Wallflower (big applause), Blood Of Eden (moderate applause) and Mercy Street (enthusiastic applause). After the vote they rehearsed Mercy Street in full.

The show itself began a few minutes past eight with Ane Brun. She played three songs, one of them her peculiar interpretation of Big In Japan. She stood right in front of the 10ft high LED screen that stretched all across the stage; behind it the orchestra had already taken their seats. Peter Gabriel gave a brief welcome speech in which is explained about the Scratch My Back project and also announced that the new album would be played in full.

Gabriel and the orchestra remained invisible for the first part of „Heroes“; only later did the LED screen rise some 15ft and revealed the musicians and the other three vertical LED walls that shows animations to illustrate the songs – and give the audience in the back rows the opportunity to see the artists in a close-up. Two additional back projection screens to the left and the right of the stage served the same purpose. Events onstage were captured by several cameras; a camera ball was lowered from the ceiling for the finale; Gabriel enjoyed playing around with it a lot – so much so that he almost wrecked a spotlight with it.

There was a lot to see and watch, as usual with Gabriel: sparse, but clever effects provided surprising moments. The LED wall was used in many different positions: at the top, at medium height or lowered to the stage like a curtain. For Listening Wind the horizontal LED screen picked upt the images from the three rear screens and showed them as if it were scanning the bodies. The stickmen for The Book Of Love drew some laughter. Some of them wore Peter Gabriel's heads, which did not only look funny, but gave the story another sense. It was interesting to realize that these illustrations blended the – rather varied – Scratch songs into one big whole, as if that was needed to make the whole concept work.

The visual aspect was the biggest difference from the radio performance the week before. Despite the different orchestra it was musically very much the same – if anything, the New Blood Orchestra were a tad more at home with the material. The sound in the 14,000-seater was, of course, not as good as in Radio France's studio 104, but on the VIP seats near the stage one could still hear the un-amplified sound from the orchestra. It blended unobtrusively with the sound coming from the speakers mounted high up under the ceiling and the noticeable, but acceptable echo in the arena. The dynamic range was not nearly as large as in the radio concert, but the forte passages were all the more impressive; together with the bright light from the LED screens it seemed bombastic at points, but not over the top. One could not help but notice the mild weakness, that is the order of the Scratch My Back songs: the album becomes less exciting after The Book Of Love and a certain ennuie spread. There was no real highlight anymore so it might have been more interesting to finish the first part of the show with, say, The Power Of The Heart.

The show continued after the break with a much-applauded San Jacinto, and it seemed that the musicians enjoyed the second half of the set better. Unfortunately one could hardly the see orchestra from the VIP seats. The wind instruments, double basses and the percussionist were hidden from sight by the musicians in front of them, and the screens seldom showed the musicians. It might have been a good idea to place the musicians in the rear on some kind of platform. Anyway, this did not take anything from the experience. Washing Of The Water and Blood Of Eden were not missed very much and the excellent Mercy Street got loud applause. The Drop was announced as „the song they had not messed up the last time and would therefore play again“; nobody really seemed to know what to do with the song, though, and Wallflower might have been the better choice. Solsbury Hill was a great finale to the main set; the musicians seemed a bit confused about the Beethoven bit that had been spliced in, as if all the „flame celestial“ had made them miss a beat. The encores were unspectacular just like the week before. Ane Brun noticable held her horses for In Your Eyes, and Gabriel once again played the piano on The Nest That Sailed The Sky – almost unnoticed by the audience because he left stage left after Don't Give Up and came back stage right.

All in all it was a flawless concert with almost perfect sound and fascinating visuals in front of 14,000 people. Gabriel seemed to feel better at home on stage, particularly this stage, than in the Radio France studios. His calmness may have also come from the three other shows he played in Paris and Berlin. He did not tire to introduce some of the musicians by name, also mentioning the sound crew and the road crew. Arranger John Metcalfe, who conducted In Your Eyes, was also called back from and seemed very pleased with the well-deserved applause. ---Tom Morgenstern,genesis-news.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto

back

1. The Story Of OVO
2. Low Light
3. The Time Of The Turning
4. The Man Who Loved The Earth/The Hand That Sold Shadows
5. The Time Of The Turning (Reprise)/The Weaver’s Reel
6. Father, Son
7. The Tower That Ate People
8. Revenge        play
9. White Ashes    play
10. Downside-Up
11. The Nest That Sailed The Sky
12. Make Tomorrow

Brass – The Black Dyke Band (tracks: 5, 6, 10, 11)
Conductor [Brass] – James Watson (2) (tracks: 5, 6, 10, 11)
Dhol [Dhol Drums] – The Dhol Foundation (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 8, 10)
Drums [Master Drummer] – Johnny Kalsi (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 8, 10)
Guitar – David Rhodes (tracks: 4, 7, 10, 12)
Strings – Electra Strings (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 10 to 12)
Bass – Jim Barr
Bodhrán – James McNally
Didgeridoo – Ganga Giri
Drum Programming, Performer [Treatments] – Richard Chappell
Finger Cymbals, Percussion [Dufs] – Hossam Ramzy
Rap – Neneh Cherry, Rasco
Synthesizer – Richard Evans
Vocals – Omi, Iarla Ó Lionáird
Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Peter Gabriel
Guitar [Loops], Performer [Treatments], Mandolin [Mandola], Flute, Dulcimer [Hammer] – Richard Evans
Keyboards, Piano [Loops], Tambura, Dulcimer [Hammer Treatments], Crotales, Percussion, Vocals – Peter Gabriel
Hurdy Gurdy – Nigel Eaton
Bodhrán, Whistle, Accordion [Piano] – James McNally
Dulcimer [Hammer] – Jim Couza
Drums – Adzido
Shaker, Congas – Carol Steel Talking Drum – Assane Thiam
Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Bass – Richard Chappell
Vocals – Elizabeth Fraser, Paul Buchanan

In 1997, Peter Gabriel was asked to pilot a visual project for London's Millennium Dome. OVO is a work based on the intersecting problems of race relations, environmental concerns, family issues, and fairy tales as allegories, violence, and more. And keep in mind that this was to be a visual piece. Gabriel, to meet the challenge for CD, added a ton of multimedia to the musical soundtrack: there is a drawn storybook, The Story of OVO, a view of the installation itself from every angle, and many stopgap notes, drawings, and the like. For the soundtrack, he enlisted the help of collaborators such as Elizabeth Fraser, Neneh Cherry (whatever happened to her third record, the one she did with Tricky?), Richie Havens, the Black Dyke Mills Band, the Electra Strings, Paul Buchanan (of Blue Nile), Adzido, the Dhol Foundation drummers, and Iarla Ó Lionáird from the Afro-Celt Sound System. Needless to say, the music is all over the map, from a rap version of the "Story of Ovo" to an Irish jig to Gabriel's percussive culture plundering soundscapes and new songs (including a truly dull rework of "Digging in the Dirt") to Eno-like ambiences to folk songs and new songs with Havens and Ó Lionáird singing like the opposite ends of a heavenly choir and Liz Fraser soaring over the Dhol Foundation drummers. It sounds awesome doesn't it? It should be. But it's not. OVO sounds labored, choppy, and pasted together, like it is the soundtrack to a visual installation, and feels incomplete without it. This is not a project like Passion was or even Birdy; it's a pastiche that attempts to be as ambitious as the installation project. And it is ambitious. Unfortunately, musically it isn't consistent enough to sustain the listener's interest for the entire length of the recording. It is a curious project with moments, but is most likely for hardcore fans only. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

Dzieło Mistrza jak widać w końcu dotarło i do nas. Kolejny raz Mistrz Gabriel udowodnił że jego dzieła są ponad czasowe oraz ponadkulturowe. Tym razem jest to Ovo - wspaniały koncept-album opowiadający wzruszającą historię która dzieje się gdzieś w nieznanym czasie oraz przestrzeni, mającej jednak swoje korzenie w naszych uczuciach. Ta przepiękna ilsutrowana bogatą muzyką historia opowiada o naszych skrytych uczuciach - tych pozytywnych jak i tych które nas stawiają w sytuacjach problemowych powstałych nie bez naszej przyczyny. Czymże jest Ovo muzycznie?

Album jest zlepkiem różnych brzmień kulturowych obrazujących opowiadaną historię w jeszcze bardziej przejmujący sposób. Utwór otwierający - The story of Ovo to czyściutka postać czarnego Rapu w którym to w refrenie słychać głos Mistrza. Są przepiękne muzyczne ilustracje w wykonaniu E. Fraser, jest muzyka celtycka - The Man Who Loved The Earth/The Hand That Sold Shadows czy współczesne brzmienia sugerujące ponadczasowość oraz ponadkulturowość historii o istocie imieniem Ovo

Srebrny krążek zawierający ów opowieść dodatkowo można włożyć do komputera aby przeczytać to opowiadanie, odpowiednio zilustrowane graficznie. Nie wiem czy jest ktokolwiek komu ten album nie przypadłby do gustu. Tym, którzy jeszcze nie słyszeli gorąco polecam. Nie mnie jednak oceniać ten album ... ---Naczelny, artrock.pl

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back

1. The Feeling Begins
2. Gethsemane
3. Of These, Hope
4. Lazarus Raised
5. Of These, Hope (Reprise)
6. In Doubt
7. Different Drum
8. Zaar
9. Troubled
10. Open
11. Before Night Falls
12. With This Love
13. Sandstorm
14. Stigmata
15. Passion
16. With This Love (Choir)
17. Wall of Breath
18. The Promise of Shadows
19. Disturbed
20. It Is Accomplished
21. Bread and Wine

Said Mohammad Aly 	Percussion, Percussion Programming
Antranik Askarian 	Doudouk, Duduk
Mustafa Abdel Aziz 	Arghoul, Drones, Percussion Programming
David Bottrill 	Drones, Mixing, Slide Guitar, Tambourine
Robin Canter 	Cor Anglais, Oboe
Billy Cobham 	Drums, Percussion, Tambourine
Djalma Corrêa 	Percussion
Massamba Diop 	Talking Drum
Massamba Dlop 	Drums
Nathan East 	Bass
Manny Elias 	Drums, Octoban, Surdo
Kudsi Erguner 	Flute, Ney Flute, Turkish Flute
Richard Evans 	Tin Whistle
Fatala 	African Percussion, Percussion, Percussion Programming
Peter Gabriel 	Bass, Doholla, Double Bass, Drums, Emulator, Fairlight, Flute, Flute Sample, Keyboards,
 Percussion, Piano, Prophet 5, Roland D50, Sampling, Shaker, Surdo, Synthesizer, Vocals, Voices, Whistle
Jon Hassell 	Trumpet
Vatche Housepian 	Doudouk, Duduk
Manu Katché 	Percussion
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 	 Qawwal
Baaba Maal 	Vocals
Youssou N'Dour 	Vocals, Voices
Hossam Ramzy 	Cymbals, Finger Cymbals, Mazhar, Surdo, Tabla, Tambourine, Triangle
David Rhodes 	E-Bow, Guitar
Doudou N'Diaye Rose 	Percussion, Percussion Programming
David Sancious 	Arranger, Organ (Hammond), Sampling, Synthesizer, Vocals (Background)
Shankar 	Double Violin, Vocals
Lakshminarayana Shankar 	Violin
Julian Wilkins 	Choir/Chorus, Choir Boy, Vocals
Tabrizi Mahmoud Zadeh 	Kemence 

Passion is in actuality Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ, retitled as a result of legal barriers; regardless of its name, however, there's no mistaking the record's stirring power. Like much of Gabriel's solo work, the album is a product of his continuing fascination with world music, which he employs here to create an exceptionally beautiful and atmospheric tapestry of sound perfectly evocative of the film's resonant spiritual drama; inspired by field recordings collected in areas as diverse as Turkey, Senegal, and Egypt, Passion achieves a cumulative effect clearly Middle Eastern in origin, yet its brilliant fusion of ancient and modern musics ultimately transcends both geography and time. Remarkably dramatic, even visual, it is not only Gabriel's best film work but deserving of serious consideration as his finest music of any kind; equally worthwhile is Passion -- Sources, which assembles the original native recordings which served as his creative launching pad. ---Jason Ankeny, AllMusic Review

Peter Gabriel – niezwykle utalentowany, kreatywny artysta, bardzo otwarty na wszelkie style muzyczne i najróżniejsze kultury. Zaczynał od rocka progresywnego w Genesis, później z podobną muzyką zaczął nagrywać swoje solowe albumy – nie bez powodu jego muzykę czasem określano mianem „inteligentnego rocka” – czasem absurdalne, dziwne teksty, oryginalność, ciągła gonitwa za nowinkami technicznymi sprawiają, że jego nazwisko jest, a przynajmniej powinno być, znane każdemu miłośnikowi ambitnej muzyki. Nic więc dziwnego, że jeden z największych reżyserów światowej klasy Martin Scorsese (znany chociażby z takich rarytasów jak Taxi Driver) właśnie Gabriela poprosił o nagranie ścieżki dźwiękowej do jego kontrowersyjnego filmu Ostatnie kuszenie Chrystusa.

Niestety w Polsce tylko szczęśliwi posiadacze odtwarzaczy DVD mogą poznać ten "zakazany", a jednak genialny film. Mnie się to udało. I cóż mogę powiedzieć – nie wyobrażam sobie tego obrazu bez tak wspaniałej muzyki. Wiele osób twierdzi, iż płyta Passion (bo soundtrack jest jednocześnie "osobnym" albumem Petera) ich przeraża. Nie da się ukryć, że nie znajdziemy na niej skocznych melodyjek w tonacji durowej, ale jakże klimatyczne są te utwory! Przede wszystkim jest to po prostu muzyka Petera Gabriela – a więc bardzo eklektyczna. Znajdziemy na niej wiele brzmień charakterystycznych dla wschodniej, żydowskiej kultury, ale nie tylko. Użycie instrumentów afrykańskich, czy europejskich wypełnia brzmieniowo każdy utwór tak, że słuchając ich nie jestem wstanie nie myśleć o tej płycie, jak o prawdziwym geniuszu muzycznym. I gdyby jeszcze tego było mało, mamy do dyspozycji całą galerię wokali – Yossou N’Dour, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan czy sam Gabriel. To wszystko składa się na 21 wyjątkowych utworów – szybszych, nostalgicznych, melancholijnych, słowem: zróżnicowanych, nie pozwalających ani na moment monotonii. Jest tu bowiem przesycony energią Different Drum (zgodnie z tytułem wyróżniający się przede wszystkim uderzeniami w bębny), chóralny With This Love (Choir), spokojny i tajemniczy Zaar (do którego z resztą został nakręcony interesujący klip), elektronyczny In doubt... wymieniać tak można aż do numeru 21. gdyż jak pisałam już wcześniej każdy z tych utworów jest inny, na swój sposób genialny.

Chociaż płyta ma już prawie 20 lat, wciąż może konkurować z najnowszymi wydawnictwami muzycznymi. Mój egzemplarz albumu został przesłuchany już tyle razy, że zastanawiam się jak to możliwe, iż krążek w ogóle jeszcze kręci się w odtwarzaczu, a ciągle poznaje go od nowa, wciąż jest to dla mnie nie odkryty teren. Niezaprzeczalnie jest to muzyka, obok której nie można przejść obojętnie. Więcej – to muzyka, którą trzeba znać. ---Katarzyna Paluch, soundtracks.pl

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire uloz.to gett

back

1. "Darkness" – 6:51 
2. "Growing Up" – 7:33 
3. "Sky Blue" – 6:37 
4. "No Way Out" – 7:53 
5. "I Grieve" – 7:25 
6. "The Barry Williams Show" – 7:16 
7. "My Head Sounds Like That" – 6:29 
8. "More Than This" – 6:02 
9. "Signal to Noise" – 7:36 
10. "The Drop" – 3:04

Arranged By [String] – Peter Gabriel, Will Gregory
Bass – Tony Levin
Cello [The London Session Orchestra] – Anthony Pleeth, Ben Chappell, David Daniels, Martin Loveday
Double Bass [The London Session Orchestra] – Chris Lawrence, Mary Scully
Drums – Dave Power, Manu Katche, Ged Lynch, Dominic Greensmith, Steve Gadd
Guitar – David Rhodes,  Daniel Lanois, Peter Green
Orchestrated By – Nick Ingham
Percussion – Mahut Dominique, Ged Lynch, Richard Chappell
Piano [Bosendorfer], Electronics [Mutator], Keyboards, Sampler, Organ – Peter Gabriel
Strings – The London Session Orchestra
Viola [The London Session Orchestra] – Robert Smissen, Donald McVay, Peter Lale, Roger Chase
Violin – Antonia Fuchs, Boguslaw Kostecki, Cathy Thompson, Chris Tombling, Gavin Wright, Jackie Shave,
 Jon Evans-Jones, Julian Leaper, Mark Berrow, Patrick Kiernan, Peter Hanson, Rebecca Hirsh
Violin [Double, Improvised] – Shankar
Backing Vocals – AD Chivers, David Rhodes
Vocals [Additional] – The Blind Boys Of Alabama
Organ [Hammond] – David Sancious
Tabla – Hossam Ramzy
Trumpet – Christian Le Chevretel
Percussion – Assane Thiam, Mahut Dominique, Ged Lynch, Hossam Ramzy
Mandolin, Keyboards [Chamberlain] – John Brion

There's a scene in Grosse Point Blank where John Cusack as Martin Blank meets an old school friend in his home town following a lengthy period of disappearance (spent working as an assassin) and all his buddy can say is, ''Ten years! TEN YEARS MAN!?! Where have you been?'' Even the most patient of Gabriel's followers will be muttering something similar, especially as what is contained on the long-awaited follow-up to Us is, on first spec, pretty much a direct continuation of what he was doing a decade ago. Or is it?

Firstly any sonic similarity to previous work is easily explained by the fact that many of the songs on offer here were actually started during the sessions for Us. In the intervening period Gabriel has produced music for the Millenium Dome (OVO) and film The Rabit-Proof Fence, written stuff with apes (no Monkees or Gorillaz jokes, please), kept his Real World label going, worked with Greenpeace, WOMAD and the Witness programme for human rights and married and become a father again, so get off his case -he's no idle wheel-spinner. Likewise this album is no coasting exercise. Like every great work it takes a little living with to tease out the depth and intricacies that lie at its heart but eventually reveals itself as both mature and full of wonders.

Initial listens will leave one with a sense of aching sadness yet (PG says), like its title, this is an album of positive life-affirmation. By this he refers to the central themes of death and renewal. No shirking the big issues then, eh? The title track deals with the process of grieving, as (unsurprisingly) does ''I Grieve'', whereas ''Growing Up'' is a description of just that a soul's journey on this mortal coil. ''Don't Leave'' is a description of someone critically wounded, yet focuses on the pull of loved ones, urging the victim back to the land of the living.

If this all sounds ponderously deep, it's not. Gabriel's correct that what's on offer here is an ability to face up to and deal with our mortality and frailty without seeing it as a bleak Beckettian journey into a void. ''More Than This actually'' goes as far as to say, again and again, that there is something beyond mere existence and ''Darkness', while discordant and brooding on the nature of fear, has a chorus of ''I cry until I laugh'' seems to hint at therapy that heals. There is humour here too, albeit of a scathingly black kind on the Jerry Springer-baiting funkathon, ''The Barry Williams Show''.

Musically the textures are unbelievably rich with subtle beats and washes of sound provided by the usual team of David Rhodes (guitars) and Richard Chappell (programming), mixed to perfection; all underpinned by Tony Levin's fabulous bass and aided by luminaries as diverse as Daniel Lanois, Danny Thompson, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Black Dyke brass band. True, the structures havent moved far away from So and Us but as Mike Love once said to Brian Wilson, "why f**k with the formula?" Gabriel remains a songsmith who speaks from the heart and never fails to move. Ten years suddenly seems like minutes and all is forgiven... ---Chris Jones, BBC Review

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto gett

back