A melting face and World music vibe (Peter Gabriel - 3rd Lp - Peter Gabriel)

Member Name: JonnyM79

Product:	Peter Gabriel - 3rd Lp - Peter Gabriel
Date:	01/03/02 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jarring lyrics, Superb musical themes, Mood sustained throughout

Disadvantages: May unhinge minds

This album, released in 1980 was Peter Gabriel's third solo outing after having left Genesis in 1975, and continued with his habit of leaving his albums untitled. His first two efforts were solid efforts and featured some excellent moments, bt this album (selling twice as many as its predecessor) was to establish him as a major artist in his own right. It showcased the beginnings the strong world music influences that continue to this day, and innovative technology used here for the first time would set the percussion sound for much of the music produced in the '80s. This album was also notable for the guest apearances by such names as Robert Fripp, Paul Weller and Phil Collins.

The album opens with Intruder, a strong and disturbing song about a lurking stalker. This is most notable for Phil Collins drumming and the "Gated Reverb" technique that Gabriel and Collins invented between them. This gives drums a very sharp sound as the end where the sound is dying away is chopped off. It was used by almost every artist in the early '80s and is most famous in Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight."

No Self Control is next and after an introduction on marimbas sees Gabriel singing edgily about addiction of some kind with lines like "I don't know when to stop" repeated again and again. This is followed by Start, a brief and pleasant, but on the whole unmemorable musical interlude. I Don't Remember is, as the title suggests, a song about someone who has lost their memory; another fascinating lyrical theme, with some excellent musical backup featuring rasping guitar riffs.

The fifth track, Family Snapshot, is one of the standouts on the album. It tells of a disturbed mind and how it is driven to assassinate a famous politician who is driving past in a cavalcade of cars. Although actually based on a different assassination it is hauntingly similar to the murder of Kennedy, and the
music becomes more and more frantic as the killing approaches until finally dissolving away into a flashback to the killer's childhood accompanied only by piano.

Next is And Through The Wire, another tale if isolation and possible mental instability, where Gabriel gets his voice to snarl almost like Noddy Holder. After this comes Games Without Frontiers, inspired by Jeux Sans Frontieres, a french version of It's a Knockout. Gabriel takes this daft starting point and turns it into a song about how ludicrous overblown nationalism can be, combined with some delightfully oddball music.

Not One of Us follows and is, in Gabriel's own words "a song about groups of people whoreject other groups of people to make themselves feel stronger," continuing the themes of isolation running throughout the album. As if this wasn't worrying enough, this is immediately followed by Lead a Normal Life, a chilling description of a medicated existence inside a mental institution (this did absolutely nothing to quell the rumours that Gabriel in the 70's had actually spent some time inside a mental hospital).

The final track, Biko, stands apart and is Gabriel's tribute to the murdered black South African activist Steven Biko, set over an african drum rhythmn. Although this is the kind of subject that must have had record company executives slashing their wrists, it is extremely poignant, and became a favourite in Gabriel's live sets for years to come.

This album was an awesome return to form for Gabriel after the overexperimentation in Peter Gabriel 2 had submerged some of the quality. The recurring themes of isolation and mental instability can make it a truly frightening listen, and proved that Gabriel as a solo artist was just as capable of sustaining a theme throughout an album as he was in Genesis. The increasing world music influence paved the way for his next release, Peter Gabriel 4, a sem
i-conceptual masterpiece about the acceptence of world influences into his life and music. As long as you think your mental state can stand it Peter Gabriel 3 is a musically inspiring album that you certainly won't forget in a hurry.

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