Tuesday 7th July

Peter Gabriel left Genesis in the early Seventies, not sure exactly when.  He was the lead singer and the chief lyricist; soon afterwards Steve Hackett, guitarist extraordinaire, also left; Phil Collins took over and took the band in a more commercial but equally brilliant direction.  Apparently the splits were all amicable, and they are all still friends.  Peter released four albums in quick succession and all were brilliant; it was as if a dam had burst and this gush of creativity was released.  Brilliant songs tumbled out, one after the other, and his clear and expressive voice was given free rein above the instrumentation.

I bought each record as they came out, and these first four were all called simply Peter Gabriel, but it was the third one which really blew me away.  It is truly sinister.  It starts with a sharp drum beat, a grating noise and Peter’s voice almost whispering the words of “Intruder” – ‘I know something about opening windows and doors.’ Every song is about losing control or some sort of mental aberration.  “Family Snapshot” is about assassination, presumably of Kennedy.  But the words are matched by the brilliant new band he had, sharp brutal drums and equally harsh guitars softened by deep bass and soft keyboards. The whole thing smacks of paranoia and fear and anger.  It was almost a riposte to the punks who had declared that bands like Genesis were dinosaurs.  And then the album also has the anti-war song “Games Without Frontiers” with it’s jaunty melody and the haunting “Biko” which brings the album to a wonderful close.

Peter was really flying, and though he would go on to even more fame and fortune I think that this is undoubtedly his masterpiece.  Even if it is sinister, you can lose yourself in all that panic and ‘almost screaming at times’ vocals, and it still blows me away after forty years – nothing has ever sounded anything like it.