15/2/10
Peter Gabriel - ‘Scratch My Back’
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Genesis legend and general music innovator releases his eighth solo effort.
Peter Gabriel has been synonymous with music’s character ever since his early Genesis days when his costume-changes were a
thing of legend. These days he’s as much a statesman as Bono and ‘Scratch My Back’ is a stripped-down covers album. The other side of this will be ‘I’ll Scratch Yours’ when we’re promised the covered artists will try their hand at Gabriel’s back-catalogue.
Opener and iconic Bowie anthem, ‘Heroes’ is a particularly powerful start. Using just the orchestra throughout the
album, it’s not surprising how much their power lends to the song. Paul Simon’s ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ utilizes a prominent heavy piano with supporting strings. It’s tragic, it’s dramatic, but it would probably work better on a film score. Elbow’s ‘Mirrorball’ certainly has more life to it than the original and the force of the classical
support is truly delightful.
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Info
Released - 15/2/10
Label - Virgin
8th solo studio album, 14th overall
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Canadian atmospheric-rockers, Arcade Fire’s sombre, ‘My Body is a Cage’ is a somewhat dark choice of cover and so it turns out. There’s a lot of musical prowess and distinctive sections, but it’s all too stage show. First single, The Magnetic Fields’ ‘The Book of Love’ is another obscure selection on both levels. It’s by no means the cream of the crop here and perhaps exemplified by its “long and boring” lyric.
‘I Think It’s Going to Rain Today’ by Randy Newman is rather suited to Gabriel’s style and pretty much stays true to the original, rather than take any risks.
Regina Spektor’s ‘Après Moi’ is very energetic and mysterious – somewhat homage to the artist. Still it doesn’t register particularly well.
Neil Young’s distinctive ‘Philadelphia’ is attempted next. In covering something which Simon Cowell’s show-mates might describe as “untouchable” Gabriel has certainly been bold. In terms of comparison to the original, this
might be more at home on the soundtrack to Titanic. Finally, much-covered
Radiohead anthem, ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ acts as the climax. Still it proves to be more of an anti-climax, essentially
stripping the key elements of the song to a brutal death.
Key Tracks:
- ‘Heroes’
- ‘Mirrorball’
Worst Tracks:
- ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’
‘Philadelphia’
‘My Body is a Cage’
‘The Book of Love’
I was certainly expecting better as a fan of classical music and Gabriel. Still
something in this equation just doesn’t add up and the arrangement choices may be the reason for this. In such an
accomplished musician, it’s hard to see where this one went wrong but go wrong it most certainly did. 3/10 CM
Verdict
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Dreamy Synth Coming Your Way
Recent UK chart-topper Adam Young or Owl City (as he’s more popularly known) returns with album #2.
Owl City has been around a lot longer than most would credit. Since 2007, Young
is yet another bedroom superstar who ascended via MySpace. Now with their
breakthrough record and a UK #1, it’s time to go all lullaby-rock.
Opener ‘Cave In’ is soft dance of the synth kind. Young’s vocal style is reminiscent of the Blink-182 era, though here we find
intelligently-concocted lyrics amongst smooth electro in a strong start. ‘The Bird and the Worm’ goes all The Thrills, though somewhat lacking the country guitars. There’re more signs of lullaby-pop as a warm melody engulfs the tune. It’s just a bit too happy for my liking.
This being the re-release deluxe edition (following on from the single success), ‘Hello Seattle’ appears as both a dreamy-synth affair early on and also as a euphoric dance mix
as a bonus. In a very odd state of affairs, the remix is probably the strongest
track here. Still that is no poor reflection on the original. ‘Umbrella Beach’ was probably composed with party-land Ibiza in mind and so it sounds. Auto-Tuned
vocals slide in and out of a mighty soft dance beat and somehow emerges
credible on the other side.
The ultimate story of the awkward love-story unfolds in ‘The Saltwater Room’. You probably didn’t expect the love-interest to have a voice, but she soon voices it in
cringe-worthy fashion. Disenchantment with dental practice is a more peculiar
inspiration on ‘Dental Care’ as we cross into a dangerous Panic at the Disco monologue-style. We won’t dwell on how that particular experiment fares.
Shortest effort, ‘Meteor Shower’ could have appeared on a Blink or certainly Angels & Airwaves record and acts as a much needed adrenalin rush to a seemingly-dying
patient. ‘On the Wing’ is best-described as dream-trance and as this album tends to, eventually wins
your ears over with a flurry of pleasing vibes.
Smash hit single, ‘Fireflies’ combines robotic synths with a scatter gun of production tricks as it
discreetly builds itself into a catchy tune. Young’s female accomplice returns on ‘The Tip of the Iceberg’ to create a particularly pleasing bridge. Yet again, it’s about warm and fuzzy love conquering all, but it’s hard to find holes in such a mastered craft.
Second release, ‘Vanilla Twilight’ has a beautiful name, original and organ-led vibes but it’s not really until the end when this one peaks. ‘Tidal Wave’ sounds like it was probably written underwater. A pacey and smooth beat
interchanges with self-aware musings. Second bonus track, ‘If My Heart was a House’ is a disappointing slush-fest.
Key Tracks:
- ‘Hello Seattle (both)’
- ‘Meteor Shower’
- ‘Fireflies’
- ‘Vanilla Twilight’
- ‘Cave In’
Worst Tracks:
- ‘Dental Care’
- ‘The Saltwater Room’
Mixing folk and teen-pop vocals with dreamy synths sounds a good idea in theory,
though in practice it can be a bit samey. Still listening to this record is
almost like aromatherapy and that’s a feat in itself. 7.5/10 CM
Verdict
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