Peter Gabriel UP 20 years later

[Drake]

Listened to this one a while ago and realise that I find it pretty ... weak.

Darkness and Signal to Noise are decent attempts to recreate the style from Security. But the songs are really going nowhere. Barry Williams is awful. No Way Out - not his best songwriting moment either. That riff does not thrill me and that chorus chorus sequence is rather worn-out.

Growing Up used to be cool but there is not much of a song beneath the beats.

Drop, My Head - we could live without them, right?

Sky Blue?

I guess I Grieve could be considered the highlight.


And don’t get me started on the two singles from a few years ago. That Snowden lyric is pretty cringeworthy ...

[JJ88]

Listened to this one a while ago and realise that I find it pretty ... weak.

Darkness and Signal to Noise

These two and 'Sky Blue' are about it for me. The rest ranges from dreary to dreadful. I think the overall sound was becoming more important than the songs themselves...a trend which has continued on things like that Snowden theme you mentioned.

Have always been surprised by the esteem this one is held in...obviously I'm missing something.

[mozo-pg]

I think Up is a return to form, best release since IV. I love all the tunes, my favourite being Signal The Noise. I saw the tour at a warm up gig in Paris and the full tour in Montreal. I thought the music was even powerful live.

[rcarlberg]

Sometime after Security Peter decided he wanted to be a Motown singer rather than a progressive rock artist. That's all I'm gonna say.

[Top Cat]

Sometime after Security Peter decided he wanted to be a Motown singer rather than a progressive rock artist. That's all I'm gonna say.

I thought that was Phil.

[Silantyev]

I think it's a very strong album. "Signal to noise" being by far the strongest song IMO, there are plenty of other pearls as well. The only one that I really don't like is "Barry Williams show".

[Progatron]

I still really like Darkness, Growing Up, I Grieve, More Than This, Barry Williams and Signal To Noise.... My Head Sounds Like That and The Drop are okay tracks. Not a fan of Sky Blue or No Way Out.

Saw the tour twice, first in late 2002 at the Air Canada Centre which was fantastic, even if I had to endure the Blind Boys Of Alabama's opening set (the most exciting moment of which was when PG himself came on to introduce them). PG walking upside down, jumping in the giant ball, etc... it was a terrific show. Second show was the following summer at Molson Amphitheatre, which was also excellent, and the highlight there was them walking through the audience during Solsbury Hill. People were freaking out that PG was walking right by us, and I was like "OMG TONY LEVIN!" Haha...

Saw him again years later which was still great, but those two shows for Up are still among the best I've ever seen.

[rcarlberg]

I thought that was Phil.

JEALOUSY of Phil perhaps.

[JKL2000]

I was never a big of UP. I it struck me as the weakest of his albums at the point it came out. It never grabbed my ears like all the others had. I think SO and US were far superior. That said, I should give it another listen as it's been a long time since the last. The best thing about the whole deal is seeing Barry Williams (AKA Greg Brady) in the video for The Barry Williams show!

[aith01]

Wow, I could not disagree more with the OP.

UP was the first CD I ever bought. I was 18 when it came out, and had just unexpectedly lost my Grandmother who I was really close to. Songs like "Sky Blue" and "No Way Out" were of genuine comfort to me during that time. I listened to it constantly, and got some catharsis out of it I think. There is some raw emotion in these songs.

Really the only track that I don't care much for is "The Barry Williams Show", but even that one is not without it's charm I suppose.

Most of this disc is just beautiful. It might be the only album to have truly changed my life. Sky Blue still haunts me.

[markowitz]

I dig More than This quite a bit. The highlight for me.

[JKL2000]

I like Barry Williams show, but it seems like an unused track from US (and would have been more timely then).

[aith01]

I dig More than This quite a bit. The highlight for me.

Yeah, that's a good one.

[Top Cat]

I like just about everything if not all on the UP album, and I think the songs really come alive when performed live. Admittedly, I haven't listened to it in a very long time.
I have Security on vinyl and that usually gets a spin. I think that's one of his best post Genesis albums.

I think his weakest album was his first solo release(car cover). Of course there are a few standouts like Solisbary Hill, but for the most part it seems he was caught in a vortex of trying to not sound like anything Genesis related and was inspired by Bowie and the Punk movement. If you've ever seen the video of the concert from those days(I can't remember the DVD) he goes TOTAL PUNK when singing the Lamb Lies Down and it is really hard to watch as a longtime Peter Gabriel fan.
Add to the fact I think Ezrin ruined the album with his production.

My wife and attended a concert in Detroit for his first tour at the Masonic Auditorium where I'd seen him with Genesis do the Lamb. What a difference, but it was a special experience supporting him after leaving Genesis and I'll always remember that show.

[GuitarGeek]

Sometime after Security Peter decided he wanted to be a Motown singer rather than a progressive rock artist. That's all I'm gonna say.

Well, I suspect he didn't like being pigeonholed as "progressive rock" right from get go (I think most musicians and artists in general don't like being pigeonholed, whether it's "rock n roll" or "fusion" or "noise" or whatever), and probably was trying to get away from that right from the start of his solo career.

Apart from that, he's done a lot of other more esoteric projects, doing film soundtracks, as well as his work with WOMAD and other such projects.

[Vic333]

I really like most of the songs on the alum.
Signal to Noise being my favorite. And I find myself singing The Drop in the shower quit often.

Barry Williams and My Head are the weakest tracks, and I could do without those. But, with the album being mostly somber, there does need to be some peppier music on the album to lighten the mood, so I understand them being on there.

Sequencing seems to be the biggest issue with UP. I've played around with rearranging the tracks in different orders, throwing in some outtakes and things from OVO for variation. I've never really found a great sequence, but it was a fun exercise.

[Halmyre]

The Barry Williams Show popped up on my iPod around the time of the Jeremy Kyle scandal (note to US audiences - Kyle is what I imagine Jerry Springer is like). Appropriate timing.

[maslin]

After So, I lost any interest for his work.

[aith01]

After So, I lost any interest for his work.

Well that's a shame. I think So was his best.

[maslin]

Well that's a shame. I think So was his best.

IMO, "Wet Car" is his best, and every further album lost something of that magic before he finally became "a Motown singer" as someone already said very wisely.

[Progatron]

Well that's a shame. I think So was his best.

I don't think the album is his best, but it does have two of my favourite tracks he ever did: Red Rain and Mercy Street. I also think That Voice Again is a very underrated track.

[mozo-pg]

Here's How I'd Rank PG's Albums

III (by a wide margin)
IV
Up
I
So
II
Us

[mozo-pg]

Passion is also brilliant but in a separate category.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

While there is no Gabriel album I don't like*, UP is the one that took me longest to love. (I haven't picked up "Rated PG" yet, though.) Having listened to it enough times I did; and now I don't think there's a weak track on it. Sequencing is indeed a part of the problem: I like listening to it on shuffle. "Darkness" is far and away the best, one of my favorite Gabriel tracks. (Passion remains my favorite thing he's done though...)

[aith01]

IMO, "Wet Car" is his best, and every further album lost something of that magic before he finally became "a Motown singer" as someone already said very wisely.

Broad generalizations are not what I would call wise, but YMMV.

Gabriel never became a "Motown singer", but he has always been influenced by Motown vocalists even back in the Genesis days, FYI. Yes, even back then when he was "doing the prawg".

I don't think he hit his stride in his solo career until PG3 (Melt). His first two records were uneven at best, IMO.

I don't think the album is his best, but it does have two of my favourite tracks he ever did: Red Rain and Mercy Street. I also think That Voice Again is a very underrated track.

Those are three of my favorite songs he has ever done actually. There's something magical about them in their expansive, prog-pop sound.