39,327
edits
Peter Gabriel: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (Dai-Guard moved page Peter Gabriel (Music) to Peter Gabriel over redirect: Remove TVT Namespaces from title) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 4:
{{quote|''"Ladies and gentlemen, our first reading is from the early part of Genesis, which many scholars argue is the definitive part of Genesis, because that's when they still had Peter Gabriel."''|[[Reduced Shakespeare Company|''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)'']]}}
Born in Surrey, England, Peter Gabriel is the former frontman of the influential [[Progressive Rock]] band [[Genesis (
After leaving the band, he first gained a hit with "Solsbury Hill," which was, appropriately enough, about his breakup with them. He then went on to release four increasingly experimental solo albums from 1977-1985, [[One Steve Limit|all of which were initially named]] ''[[Self-Titled Album|Peter Gabriel]]'', but have since been re-titled based on their cover art. They were fairly successful, producing multiple hits, such as "Games Without Frontiers", "I Don't Remember", and "Shock The Monkey".
Then came 1986, and his album ''So'' along with it. It was a smash hit that gave Gabriel his greatest mainstream success, featuring some of his most famous songs (particularly [[Double Entendre|"Sledgehammer"]] and [[Say Anything|"In Your Eyes"]]). Six years later came ''Us'', followed (almost ''ten years later'') by ''Up'', with his most recent being a [[Cover Album]], ''Scratch My Back''. He has also done work for various films, most famously "Down To Earth" for ''[[
Gabriel is a pioneer in many respects: he was one of the first popular artists to start including World music (particularly African) influences into his music, and was the first to use the "gated drum" sound as well. He is one of the founders of On Demand Distribution, which has become the leading downloadable music platform in Europe, and is a big supporter of the WOMAD world music movement, in addition to work for Amnesty International and various other charities.
Line 28:
* ''New Blood''
''Scratch My Back'' was originally going to have a companion album, ''I'll Scratch Yours'', with the artists whose songs Gabriel covered covering some of his in turn, including [[Velvet Underground
{{tropelist}}
Line 34:
** And "Growing Up" from ''Up''.
* [[Award Bait Song]]: While it doesn't exactly fit the typical stereotype, "Down To Earth" was actually nominated for an Oscar.
* [[Bishonen]]: During his early years with [[Genesis (
* [[Book Ends]]: The song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOYK7sG5c2Q Big Time] starts and ends with an American voice saying 'Hi There!'
** That's [[Fake American|Gabriel's voice]].
* [[Breakup Breakout]]: Zigzagged. After leaving [[Genesis (
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Peter definitely comes across as this.
** Some PC gaming press thought he was especially crazy for his brief forays into gaming ([[Rhythm Game|Xplora1]] and [[Mind Screw|Eve]]), which were [[Concept Album|concept games]] all of their own. Especially Eve, [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/eve/images.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;header;more I mean look at the little images!]
Line 44:
** ''Up'' is concerned with birth and death (especially death).
** There is actually a series of songs that appear on different albums ("Down The Dolce Vita", "Here Comes The Flood", "On The Air", "Exposure", "Red Rain", "Big Blue Ball") that form a song cycle concerning the character Mozo, though they don't really form a story/narrative either. The [[What Could Have Been|original plan]] was to create a movie about him, but it never panned out.
* [[The Cover Changes the Meaning]]: Stephin Merritt of [[
{{quote| ''It’s a totally different interpretation. My arrangement and recording of it is emphatically skeletal and all about the insufficiency and helplessness [of love], whereas his sounds like he’s God singing to you about his creation.''}}
** ''Scratch My Back'' is all over this Trope. His cover of [[David Bowie]] takes "Heroes" from cynical to a bittersweet [[Tear Jerker]].
* [[Cross Dresser]]: During the early years of [[Genesis (
** What is this I don't even...
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: While his albums have always tended to be rather dark (with the exception of most of ''So''), ''Security'' is noticeably more so.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Determinator]]: [[
* [[Downer Ending]]: "In Your Eyes" was written to win back a woman Gabriel had lost. It didn't work.
* [[Epic Song]]: "Red Rain", "Signal To Noise", "Down The Dolce Vita". "Here Comes The Flood" was originally this, but Gabriel thought it was too over-the top and later reworked it into a piano-only acoustic version.
Line 61:
* [["God Is Love" Songs]]: "In Your Eyes" gets this a lot, and was actually covered by Christian artist Nicole Nordman [[The Cover Changes the Meaning|from that perspective]].
** According to [[Word of God]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aNrpCQG3HBE whether it is a love song or a religious song is intentionally ambiguous].
* [[Grief Song]]: [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: "Don't Give Up", a duet with Kate Bush about an unemployed man driven to the brink of suicide by depression.
** According to Gabriel's (now ex-)wife, he would sometimes get these and she would be the one reassuring him not to give up, which inspired the song.
* [[Intercourse
* [["I Want" Song]]: "Big Time"
* [[Jerkass]]: See [[Take That]] below.
Line 70:
* [[Last-Note Nightmare]]: "I Don't Remember", "Signal To Noise"
* [[Lonely Piano Piece]]: The remake of "Here Comes The Flood" and "The Drop".
* [[Viewers Are Geniuses|Listeners Are Geniuses]]: Many of Gabriel's songs are about or inspired by various psychologists and their works: "Milgram's 37" (about, [[Exactly What It Says
** His song "Mercy Street" is about/inspired by the life and works of poet [[Anne Sexton]], who wrote a book of poetry called ''45 Mercy Street.''
* [[Lyrical Dissonance]]: "Big Time"
Line 76:
* [[New Sound Album]]: ''So'' from the four albums that came before it, and ''Up'' from ''So'' and ''Us''.
* [[Obsession Song]]: According to Gabriel, "Shock The Monkey" is about jealousy and the obsessive behavior/attitudes that can result from it.
* [[Pop Star Composer]]: As noted above, composed the scores for ''Birdy'', ''Last Temptation'', and ''[[Rabbit-Proof Fence]]'', and has contributed songs to ''Philadelphia'', ''Phenomenon'' (a remixed version of "I Have The Touch"), ''Against All Odds'', ''Hard To Hold'' (interesting in that he only contributed one song; the rest of the soundtrack was mostly Rick Springfield, who also starred in it), ''[[Myst|Uru]]'', ''[[The Wild Thornberrys|The Wild Thornberrys Movie]]'', and ''[[
* [[Protest Song]]: "Biko" is a highly-regarded example.
** "Not One Of Us" can be thought of as a protest song, as it's a [[Take That]] against people who exclude others to make themselves feel good (and thus can be applied to the group of your choice).
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot|Real Life Writes the Song]]: The song "Family Snapshot" was inspired by the assassination attempt on [[wikipedia:George Wallace|George Wallace]].
* [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]: Though he came from a wealthy/upper class background and met his fellow [[Genesis (
* [[Sanity Slippage Song]]: "Out Out" could be considered this.
* [[Scatting]]: The end of "Solsbury Hill" and "Kiss That Frog", and throughout "I Don't Remember".
Line 91:
* [[Studio Chatter]]: At the beginning of "Not One Of Us".
* [[Take That]]: "The Barry Williams Show", against trashy, exploitative daytime TV-like shows (Barry Williams is basically the UK equivalent of Jerry Springer, and actually appears as himself in the music video, which was directed by Sean Penn).
** "Solsbury Hill" is about Gabriel's departure from [[Genesis (
** Gabriel refused to attend the induction of [[Genesis (
* [[Title-Only Chorus]]: "Not One Of Us", "Kiss That Frog"
* [[Uncommon Time]]: "Solsbury Hill" is in 7/4 time.
* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: "Sledgehammer" is about Gabriel's "sledgehammer", [[Lampshaded Double Entendre|If You Know What I Mean]].
* [[Up to Eleven]]: On ''[[Cover Album|Scratch My Back]]'', he manages to make [[
* [[Wasted Song]]: "Out Out" from ''[[Gremlins]]'', which appears briefly and never shows up again (it doesn't help that the soundtrack was never even put on CD and is now out of print).
| |||