For all those who experienced the 80s with all the rock albums that became cult, 'So' is certainly part of this very long list of these melodies which will remain forever engraved in the memory and, for the anecdote, 'Don't Give Up', beyond the fact that it is an admirable title with the famous vocal duo 'Peter Gabriel'/'Kate Bush', served me well to adjust my hand-built acoustic speakers, the recording being particularly remarkable for the time. And then, the years passed and other cult albums were added. It must be admitted that after 'So', 'Peter Gabriel' was not as prolific since the only albums until now have been 'Us' in 1992 and 'Up' in 2002, the last two 'Scratch My Back' from 2009 and 'New Blood' in 2011 are not strictly speaking original albums, the first being made up of covers and the second also of covers but with a symphony orchestra. Furthermore, 'Us' and 'Up', which were very good albums, did not, for my part, have the same impact as the previous opuses.
So, having in your hands a new offering from the British is like setting out again to conquer the grail, always imagining the best of what you will discover. I must add that I have not followed the media staging of the releases over time of the different compositions since January 2023 and that is so much the better because I have always preferred to discover an album in its entirety, this period that we live in immediacy where we consume without realizing that waiting is also part of the pleasure, being very strange for me. And here, I must say that the first listening of the 12 compositions directly made me relive the same emotions that I had during the numerous listenings of 'So' with this little extra of beneficial nostalgia which makes you automatically sketch this blissful smile , these emotions that I certainly would not have had while listening to each title when they were released. Consequently, I will not launch into title by title (you have the choice on the internet of multiple chronicles which dissect them one by one) but I would like to share with you everything that went through my head during these intense listening.
First of all, the first feeling that emerges is that 'Peter Gabriel' still has this same voice, warm and comforting which feels good and, this, from the first title 'Panopticom' which, accompanied by the bass very deep of 'Tony Levin' is a pure moment of happiness, 'Manu Katche' doing the job on the drums with his surgical playing bringing this always well-balanced rhythm. Then, each composition develops melodic lines which are directly grafted into the head showing all the talent of the British melodist with these multiple effects which will never leave you again like this phrase 'And the court will rise, while the pillars all fall' in 'The Court' with this break without a rhythm section. Another observation, the whole is of a beautiful variety and we find all the atmospheres that we knew in 'Peter Gabriel', the rhythmic compositions and others much more relaxed: in this last style, I will highlight the two jewels which are 'Playing For Time' and 'So Much', the first which is of remarkable sensitivity, very refined in the first part of the title and whose final rise of the strings gives you goosebumps, the second which is of extraordinary emotional force and which is quite in the same atmosphere that the skinned alive 'Roger Waters' can convey. Finally, the icing on the cake (but we already knew that from the previous recordings), the production is impeccable and if you are lucky enough to have a good audio system, you should undoubtedly be transported by so many details, precision and realism in each compartment, helping to magnify this alchemy between singing, choirs and all the instruments. The only downside that I could express and which is my opinion alone, is that I did not hear a major difference between the two mixes of this extraordinary album, the 'Bright-Side Mix', produced by 'Mark Stent', and the 'Dark-Side Mix', produced by 'Tchad Blake', especially since on this point, I do not necessarily agree with the artist who favors the process over the product because I am convinced that any good sound engineer could only do a good job when you have this material to mix.
In summary, even if it's a little early to say it, I shouldn't be too wrong in saying that 'i/o' will take a good place in the list of cult albums that I spoke to you about in the introduction because 'Peter Gabriel' has once again done everything possible to offer us compositions which should undoubtedly stand the test of time and sweep away all successive fashions to become a sort of standard of universal music... | |
