My review of Peter Gabriel, Back to Front: Live in London, today at All About Jazz.
Peter Gabriel has, for most of his career, been an artist who has never looked back. Still, the past few years have seen him reevaluating his large repertoire, between orchestral interpretations documented on New Blood: Live in London (Real World/Eagle Entertainment, 2012) and the Back to Front tour that has, since that time, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of So (Charisma, 1986)—the album that turned him from cult hero to (now) pop culture elder statesman. So turned out to be the best-selling record of the singer/songwriter's career, going three times platinum in the UK, five times platinum in the US, with hit songs like "Sledgehammer," whose groundbreaking video with Ardman Animations won the ex-Genesis front man MTV's 1987 Top Music Video Award and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards.
Back to Front: Live in London documents Gabriel's globe-trotting tour that reunited the group that was documented in both the So: 25th Anniversary Immersion Box (Real World, 2012) and, later, Live in Athens 1987: The Full Concert (Real World/Eagle Eye Media, 2013): longstanding guitarist David Rhodes and bassist Tony Levin; drummer Manu Katche, who last toured with Gabriel for the tour in support of [i]So's follow-up, Us (Real World, 1992), and the recently reissued as Secret World Live (Real World/Eagle Entertainment, 2012); and keyboardist/guitarist David Sancious. For the Back to Front tour, Gabriel fleshed out the band with two of the best singers that have graced his stage: Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olson, who also adds cello to one of two new songs, "Show Yourself."
Back to Front: Live in London comes in four versions: single-disc DVD and Blu-Ray releases; and Deluxe Limited DVD and Blu-Ray editions which include, in addition to the full concert of the single-disc versions (and a bonus interview feature on the tour's stunning visuals), a second video disc of the same format with the theatrical release (as well as two bonus videos: a "DNA Mashup" of "In Your Eyes" and "FanCam recording of "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)," omitted from the theatrical program), plus two CDs containing the full concert.
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