Peter Gabriel-II (Scratch)- An overlooked gem!?

[KELLY WELSH]

When it comes to Gabriel albums,PG II or the "scratch" album is not one that immediately springs to mind when one thinks of classic PG albums.PG3 ( "melt"),maybe or So come to mind,but I've been listening to PG II quite a few times lately,and it really does hit the mark.Tracks like D.I.Y.,Mother of Violence,White Shadow,Exposure (co-written with Bob Fripp),and Home Sweet Home are all stand-out solid Gabriel songs,and a perfect sequel to debut 77 album PG I ("car").
I think this is one of Gabriel's quiet successes,and is up there with some of his best recordings! Any other fans of this record?

[mozo-pg]

I enjoy it quite a bit. It's a lot weaker than I, III, and IV though. Mother of Violence is one of my all time favourite Gabriel tunes. I like Robert Fripp's version of Exposure better than Gabriel's version.

[RapidRefresh]

When it comes to Gabriel albums,PG II or the "scratch" album is not one that immediately springs to mind when one thinks of classic PG albums.PG3 ( "melt"),maybe or So come to mind,but I've been listening to PG II quite a few times lately,and it really does hit the mark.Tracks like D.I.Y.,Mother of Violence,White Shadow,Exposure (co-written with Bob Fripp),and Home Sweet Home are all stand-out solid Gabriel songs,and a perfect sequel to debut 77 album PG I ("car").
I think this is one of Gabriel's quiet successes,and is up there with some of his best recordings! Any other fans of this record?

One of those questions about an essential album that doesn't come immediately to mind. Someone was playing the Up album on PA forum a little while ago. It's not the first PG album that ever comes to my mind, but like "scratch", I'm really happy that I have a copy of it!

[mx20]

I've always felt that "White Shadow" is what Genesis would have sounding like had Gabriel not walked; suitably stark for the era, dramatic, but still kinda boring. PGii is a bit better than his first LP, IMO, but not by much. The supposed trilogy of Exposure/Sacred Songs/PGii doesn't hold up for me, either; I find Fripp's Exposure to be a much more engaging album.

PGiii & PGiv (Security) are my favorite Gabriel albums by far.

[perpetual strange]

My favorites are IV and Up, which I suppose are his 2 proggiest, although I'm not sure why they're my favorites. "Ovo" could possibly be my 3rd, it's a bit all over the place, but has some cool stuff on it. As to the 2nd, I think it is pretty good, but nothing on it strikes me as much as "Humdrum" and "Down The Dolce Vita" from his first. I do like "Flotsam and Jetsam", and "Mother of Violence", and yes "White Shadow", while the rest falls in the B- to C+ range for me personally.

[Rand Kelly]

Not overlooked but underwhelmed me. I think that most of side 2 is just boring. White Shadow,On The Air and Mother Of Violence are the best for me.

[moecurlythanu]

Yeah, I like this one. Probably second to III. The dry production and understated nature of the compositions give it a charm that works for me.

[Flightwave]

"Have a Wonderful Day..." and "Flotsam & Jetsam" are both gems in my book. I love the entire album but hearing recordings of that tour the songs are extremely rough live.

[soundsweird]

Just like all of his albums, it has stuff I like and stuff I don't.

[proggy_jazzer]

Not overlooked by me "On The Air" was my first exposure to the god-like Tony Levin sound I would come to know and love so much. And I really like the Rockpalast show from the '78 tour; for me the Scratch material works really well. I think it's a strong album that fits the bill perfectly in the transition from Car to Melt.

[dfan]

At the time, this was my favorite of his early albums (pre-So), and I was astonished when I finally found that it wasn't universally well regarded.

[strawberrybrick]

Has some gems on it...

[Rand Kelly]

Indigo and Flotsam and Jetsam I do like. A wonderful Day In A One Way World. I don't like mainly because I don't enjoy Reggae. If you play this and Matching Mole's Little Red Record you may come to the conclusion that the awesome guitar player we all know and love just can't produce records for other people. I hate that RAW sound some of you find charming. This album also sounds like Mono in places. Dull and sharp simultaneously.

[Kcrimso]

I like this much better than bombastic debut album. White Shadow and Mother Of Violence are brilliant songs.

[JJ88]

One of those occasions where what looks good on paper- Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp, what could go wrong?- doesn't necessarily work out that way. I don't much care for Fripp's production here, it's too cramped and dense- a valuable lesson was learned here as subsequent Gabriel albums had much more 'space'.

But worse than that, some of the material is below par IMHO- 'Perspective', 'Animal Magic' and 'A Wonderful Day...' in particular I find amongst the weakest songs Gabriel has released.

Some of the initial promise is still there in a few songs- 'On The Air', 'DIY', 'Mother Of Violence', 'White Shadow' and 'Exposure'. But alas, it's not one I listen to very often.

[martiprog]

One of those occasions where what looks good on paper- Peter Gabriel and Robert Fripp, what could go wrong?- doesn't necessarily work out that way. I don't much care for Fripp's production here, it's too cramped and dense- a valuable lesson was learned here as subsequent Gabriel albums had much more 'space'.

But worse than that, some of the material is below par IMHO- 'Perspective', 'Animal Magic' and 'A Wonderful Day...' in particular I find amongst the weakest songs Gabriel has released

Some of the initial promise is still there in a few songs- 'On The Air', 'DIY', 'Mother Of Violence', 'White Shadow' and 'Exposure'. But alas, it's not one I listen to very often.

Exactly my own opinion. My least played Gabriel album (excluding soundtracks)

[arturs]

IMHO Gabriel didn't really figure out what his solo career was all about until #3. The first two definitely have their moments but there's no coherence. So, for me, listening to them as albums is underwhelming, a "less than the sum of the parts" experience.

[viukkis]

White Shadow is easily one of my favourite Gabriel tracks of all time, but I don't really care for the rest of the album.

[Tangram]

I listen to II much more than the heralded First album. Even PG has had some negative comments about it. Rating the first 4 albums would look like this: IV, II, III, I.

[JJ88]

The debut had that bombastic sound that Bob Ezrin also brought to Kiss and Alice Cooper albums, so Gabriel went from one extreme to the other on PGII! There's some things on there I have never warmed to as well ('Excuse Me' and 'Down The Dolce Vita') but I also think that its stand-outs like 'Solsbury Hill' and 'Here Comes The Flood' are better than anything on this second album.

[miamiscot]

I am a huge fan of Car, Melt and Security but Scratch never did it for me.

[Stevie B]

One of those albums that back in the day only one side ever got played - the first side in this case...

[señormoment]

I like PG II a lot. To my ears it bears the distinction of hitting the ground runnin', but I haven't listened in years. In my case, an album that's taken for granted, but deserves appreciation.

[Father Tiresias]

My favorite PG album by far! Desert island stuff.

[Rufus]

Have to admit being disappointed with this after the excellent debut but the change in style was indicative of his future direction.The best was certainly yet to come!