Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) - Overlooked or quietly respected?

[Splicer]

The last studio album that really did it for me. "Shock the Monkey" was ubiquitous on Rock radio at the time. You couldn't escape it.

Plays Live (with studio blandishment) is a great chronicle of the first four albums with more energetic versions of most of the songs. "DIY" is especially definitive.

[Stevie B]

^That first WOMAD was- obviously- the reason for the Six Of The Best reunion. Was the crowd noticeably sparse?

It seemed like there were plenty of people there to us! The weather was great, we'd hitched down (in two lots of two) from Stirling over a couple of days to this Shepton Mallet place none of us had ever heard of...god knows how me managed to meet up in the days before mobile phones! We met up with a couple of locals who wanted to know what was going on...stocked up on scrumpy, somehow made our way to the venue which was in the middle of nowhere and had a fabulous weekend watching all sorts of weird music. Highlights (apart from Gabriel) were Simple Minds doing I Travel (they also did songs from New Gold Dream which hadn't been released yet), Drummers of Burundi, and dancing in the sun to Rico singing What You Talkin' Bout. It was no Glastonbury for sure, but it wasn't a ghost town either as far as I can remember...

We went to Six of the Best too...the weather for that was horrible - it rained literally all day! My abiding memory is of some poor girl scrabbling around in the mud trying to find a contact lens

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I agree with the above. For me this is his seminal album. Saw the 2supporting tour at the Warner Theatre in DC back in the day and it was powerful. San Jacinto is a masterpiece in my book - I never knew that sound was a sample of him blowing on a drainpipe in a dump! Thanks for posting that doc Interbellum!

I was at that show, too. It was, indeed, great!

I'd have to say that the 2nd one, "Scratch", is my favorite due to the Frippian involvement. The tryptich: Fripp's Exposure, Daryl Hall's Sacred Sounds, and PG's "Scratch" are essential listening and meant to be taken as part of a larger concept, at least in Fripp's mind. Those records do have a sort of similarity in sound.

[JKL2000]

Kind of surprising he did two shows in Utica, NY about 5 weeks apart! I'm not sure which one I was at - two different venues, the Stanley Theater and the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

[Buddhabreath]

The last studio album that really did it for me. "Shock the Monkey" was ubiquitous on Rock radio at the time. You couldn't escape it.

As a hopeless Hammilliod I must point out that I believe this is the only radio hit that has ever or ever will feature the voice of Peter Hammill (he did back vocals). Correct me if I am mistaken.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I was thinking of buying Secret World Live to have most of the later tracks , but how does it sound (sonic-wise)?

It's one of the best live albums in my collection. The sound and performances are spot-on.

[pmrviana]

As a hopeless Hammilliod I must point out that I believe this is the only radio hit that has ever or ever will feature the voice of Peter Hammill (he did back vocals). Correct me if I am mistaken.

Digging in the Dirt from US was also a radio hit and it also features Peter Hammill. So, not really the "only", but I get your point...

[pmrviana]

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.

Never heard about this documentary before, it's absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing.

[olivetti]

I think nowhere in the world those four albums had any names , and not even the numbers also associated with their chronological order ...

These names were added by the fans (and probably store owners) to designate which one of them we were speaking about

Well, as I wrote earlier Geffen wanted a name for the fourth one, so Gabriel settled for Security!
But only in USA and Canada!

As for the names, I dont recall any names for the first three before the internet.
Me and my friends just called them 1,2 and 3 :-)

[IncogNeato]

I have grown into the PG solo discography slowly over the years. I love this album now.

I was 11 when "Shock..." was all over MTV and I absolutely loved it. I had zero idea who PG was prior to that.

[gearHed289]

Love it. The first PG I purchased. Really unique sounding record. Am I correct that there are no cymbals on this album? When the tour came to Chicago, my (now) wife and I decided to take a chance and head over to the UIC Pavilion to see if there were any good tickets. Got 26th row, center. She's actually the one who hipped me to the fact that he used to be in Genesis. I really only knew Games Without Frontiers and maybe Salisbury Hill at the time.

I'm heading into a PG binge now. There's a Genesis gathering coming up in September, and I'm playing bass on (hopefully) 11 PG tunes from the first 4 albums.

[mozo-pg]

Love it. The first PG I purchased. Really unique sounding record. Am I correct that there are no cymbals on this album? When the tour came to Chicago, my (now) wife and I decided to take a chance and head over to the UIC Pavilion to see if there were any good tickets. Got 26th row, center. She's actually the one who hipped me to the fact that he used to be in Genesis. I really only knew Games Without Frontiers and maybe Salisbury Hill at the time.

I'm heading into a PG binge now. There's a Genesis gathering coming up in September, and I'm playing bass on (hopefully) 11 PG tunes from the first 4 albums.

Yes, no cymbals. Peter's idea. Good luck with the Genesis gathering.

[interbellum]

I also agree on that particular later 'I Have The Touch' mix being superior.

Didn't know that version (mainly because I don't buy compilations often), but it's a fine one - although it wouldn't have fitted on the album for me.

[Halmyre]

I was at the Apollo that night too, as well as the Edinburgh Playhouse a few days later. They really were phenomenal shows. I can't remember how (or if) he managed with the crowd-surfing section at the Apollo, what with the stage being so high! Were there ladders involved?

You've got me there. The band entered marching down the centre aisle to a drumbeat (Rhythm of the Heat?) and there *might* have been a temporary staircase to get up on stage, terrible that I can't remember!

[bill g]

PG IV was always my favorite PG album, although there are gems on the first one (Humdrum & Dolce Vita) that are still maybe my favorite PG tracks. And of course UP is very good too. But on IV (Security) even the upbeat tracks, 'I Have The Touch' and 'Shock The Monkey' blow away the upbeat tracks on So, in my opinion. But 'San Jacinto' is especially good, as is 'Wallflower'.

[chalkpie]

This album slays. Pete has such a knack for setting a mood in his tunes, even during the early days with the lads, and this one is no exception. It has an 80's thing going on, but honestly I find that pretty cool too personally. Such a great album.

[Juba]

Honorable mention.



'Birdy' is a soundtrack and it is cinematic indeed, but anyway it's a great PG's album and - overlooked then and now.

[Udi Koomran]

Just for the record this album is a analog recording

[SteveSly]

The tour for this album also afforded Gabriel a lot of opportunity for interesting stagecraft - entering with the band from the back of the theater, crowd surfing, the mirror that he held up reflecting a light into the crowd, swinging from bars like an ape. It was a pretty cool show.

The really amazing thing about the tour was how small the production was, and what Gabriel was able to do with what he had. I remember he had a very minimal lighting rig and really not much else. What he did with the lighting he had was amazing and just his charisma had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the beginning. The falling backwards into the audience bit was very cool and first time I had ever seen anything like that. The band coming in through the back of the arena was also totally cool. I still have a very vivid memory of San Jacinto when he got to the “I hold the Line” part at the end when he held up his hand in a circle and a beam of green light shown through it. It wasn’t a laser either. He had to be positioned just perfectly to make the effect work. Still one of my top 5 concerts of all time.

[mozo-pg]

The really amazing thing about the tour was how small the production was, and what Gabriel was able to do with what he had. I remember he had a very minimal lighting rig and really not much else. What he did with the lighting he had was amazing and just his charisma had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the beginning. The falling backwards into the audience bit was very cool and first time I had ever seen anything like that. The band coming in through the back of the arena was also totally cool. I still have a very vivid memory of San Jacinto when he got to the “I hold the Line” part at the end when he held up his hand in a circle and a beam of green light shown through it. It wasn’t a laser either. He had to be positioned just perfectly to make the effect work. Still one of my top 5 concerts of all time.

Was that the show the lights moved up and down on arms and coming down on Gabriel's body?

[moecurlythanu]

The band coming in from the back of the auditorium was also done on the 1980 tour.

Back in the day, IV was my second favorite Gabriel album, behind III. No longer the case, as I'd rate II ahead of it as well. My estimation of Gabriel's work (not his voice, his music) has slipped since those days. He used to be among my favorite artists, and I find I rarely listen to him these days. I almost idolized him then. Now, not so much.

[mozo-pg]

The band coming in from the back of the auditorium was also done on the 1980 tour.

Back in the day, IV was my second favorite Gabriel album, behind III. No longer the case, as I'd rate II ahead of it as well. My estimation of Gabriel's work (not his voice, his music) has slipped since those days. He used to be among my favorite artists, and I find I rarely listen to him these days. I almost idolized him then. Now, not so much.

I definitely idolized Gabriel in the past but seldom play his music now. I saw him with Sting a couple of years ago and the show, as usual, was excellent.

[SteveSly]

Was that the show the lights moved up and down on arms and coming down on Gabriel's body?

No, he had nothing that elaborate. I think you might be thinking of the "Back To Front" tour where he played "So" in it's entirety. I also saw that tour and it was great, but a much much larger production that back on the "Security" tour.

[aith01]

This album slays. Pete has such a knack for setting a mood in his tunes, even during the early days with the lads, and this one is no exception. It has an 80's thing going on, but honestly I find that pretty cool too personally. Such a great album.

Totally agreed. This was one of his best, IMO.

A track that doesn’t seem to get mentioned a lot (at least from what I’ve seen) is “Lay Your Hands On Me”. The percussion during the end of that song is just insane.

[Udi Koomran]

Un the channel 4 documentary he stated he wants to follow the path of IV
For a short while he did
his song was recorded over two days in Bath in May 1982. Peter Gabriel and Stewart Copeland would perform it live at the 1st WOMAD festival on 1982-07-18.
Personnel
Peter Gabriel: Fairlight CMI, vocals, surdu
Shankar: double neck violin
David Rhodes: vocals, guitar
Stewart Copeland: drums, percussion