I've been on a Gabriel binge during the last week, and the album that keeps staying with me as a complete piece of work is number 4.
I sometimes feel it gets overlooked, given the acclaim that album 3 got for its innovative sound, ad the runaway commercial success of So.
I thought I'd post a few blog thoughts to stimulate the discussion:
https://momentstransition.wordpress....abriel-4-1982/
My fave Album from him by far...
WordOriginally Posted by TheH
IMO, "Mask" is the last really great studio album by Peter Gabriel.
Oh and yes, it is a "quietly respected" album now.
I have both the English and the German version. A Dutch DJ (radio-presentor) did a version where he combined the English and the German version of Wallflower, which I remember fondly.
I used to have a version of Here comes the flood in German that Peter released.. Sad to say I let that go some time ago. I forget what was on side two..
I've got that on 12", I think. Did it have a white label with just a big '1' and '2' on either side? It's either got 'Shosholoza' or 'Spiel Ohne Grenzen' on the other side.
PG4 was only labelled as 'Security' in the US, AFAIK.
I've got Here Comes the Flood in German...it's the b-side of Biko 12"
As for PG4 (and yes, never heard it called "Security" back in the day)...it's kind of PG3 part 2, great songs but the sound is a bit muddy to my ears. I prefer the crisper sounding PG3 (and indeed So)
I go back to all of the four eponymous records almost equally, but this was the tour I saw him on, and it still ranks among my favorite concerts of all time, so Security will always be special to me. I do think it's the album where he finally became the solo artist he had been striving to be.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
That would be PG3, but he took things even further on PG4. Being all digital and heavily based on the Fairlight, the album sounds a bit cold to me. The only weak spot is Kiss of Life which tellingly isn't even mentioned in Valen's notes.
I also have a soft spot for the remix of I Have theTouch which appeared on the Sledgehammer single and the Shaking the Tree compilation: with extra drums by Simon Phillips, it sounds more organic and less robotic than the original.
Last edited by LeFrog; 04-03-2019 at 10:16 AM.
Not just a Genesis fanboy.
Couldn't agree more about the Simon Phillips drum overdub. Love Marotta's work, but the drums on Security are a little stiff for my taste (with the exception of the Ekome Dance Company on "Rhythm of the Heat" of course) ...
Anyway, great material, great album.
Agree with all of the above here.
Oh, I like Kiss Of Life. Every track on that album is a winner for me - I just didn't want my piece to get too bogged down in a track by track analysis. I prefer to go for something that's short and sharp, that people can enjoy in those brief moments when they're browsing.
But it's been interesting to read everyone's reactions to the album and the differing opinions. And thanks to the dude who posted the link to the documentary!
I've always liked this album a lot, and I guess it came out at a time where to me, it didn't seem overlooked. It was during my first year of college, the Shock the Monkey video got played a lot on MTV (wasn't there another one too? I Have the Touch maybe?). I saw Gabriel on this tour (great seats, great show), and also on the Plays Live tour, so I saw a lot of this material live. Your comments on the album itself, though, Valen, are all correct. Rather experimental, but also accessible.
PG4 was huge when it came out. Hardly overlooked.
The one that gets overlooked imho is 1 (Car).
BTW the album titles in order are. 1 (Car), 2 (Scratch), 3 (Melt). After that they had titles although at the time 4 had a sticker on the plastic wrap calling it Security. Because it was such a huge album the record company insisted it having a title, so PG allowed the sticker. Like I said, hardly overlooked.
Security! Only in the USA?
In sweden it had no title!
In The Netherlands it didn't have a title as well. The German version has Deutsches Album as some kind of title.
I agree that "Wet Car" is his album that is overlooked at the present day.
Great LP.
The Prog Corner
Best Gabriel solo album to my ears.
This is the PG album that caused a sonic leap in my head and heart as a then 21 year old. And it is one that has aged well.
My fave, yes, but not by that much, really
For years, I didn't really dig solo Gabe stuff, and I had WTF at a few of his early hits and didn't find much to love... And "Security" was amongst that ...
Then came So with Sledgehammer, Red Rain and Big Time, which I really dug (well lack of other pop/rock stuff to like in those years did jelp a bit)... and within weeks, I'd revisited all of his first four albums... and his fourth became my fave
Sercurity has aged rather well, though I only own nowadays Plays Live, which is not fully satisfactory as to the tracks selection (a few of my faves are missing, like Moribund, for ex)
I was thinking of buying Secret World Live to have most of the later tracks , but how does it sound (sonic-wise)?
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
It's one of the best live albums in my collection. The sound and performances are spot-on.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
My favorite as well. Listen to it loud in a dark room! Creepy.
I saw the band during the 1983-tour.
The making-of documentary from the South Bank Show should get an official release.
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