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This little album was taken very well by all radio stations and retailers, but some fans, like myself, were a bit disappointed. What happened to Gabriel's old sound? His mix of progressive rock, excellent lyrics, and moving melodies? All we have here is a commercial set of songs, and very confident singing (which isn't always bad). Milgrim's 37 is very moving, and my favourite track. Mercy Street has fantastic lyrics, as well, and Red Rain has nice melodies and lyrics, but besides those three (and the bonus track), I always found this album to be very commercial, daunting, and not at all touching. Gabriel was using many electric sounds, which never appealed to me. (May God, in his infinite wisdom, burn the drum machine!) However, after many listens, I've come to love this memorable album. So produced some of Gabriel most known radio hits (Red Rain, Sledgehammer). Though I am not overly fond of the 80s, this album is very good.
Studio Album, released in 1986
Track Listings
1. Red Rain (5:39)
2. Sledgehammer (5:16)
3. Don't Give Up (6:33)
4. That Voice Again (4:53)
5. In Your Eyes (5:30)
6. Mercy Street (for Anne Sexton) (6:21)
7. Big Time (suc cess) (4:29)
8. We Do What We're Told (milgram's 37) (3:22)
Bonus track on CD and K7
9. This Is The Picture (excellent birds) (4:18)
Total Time: 46:23
Line-up/Musicians
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocal, piano, keys, synths, percussion etc... (All)
- Jerry Marotta / drums (1), Drumstick bass (7)
- Chris Hughes / Linn programming (1)
- Stewart Copeland / Hi-hat (1), drums (7)
- Tony Levin / bass (1-5), Drumstick bass (7)
- David Rhodes / guitar (1-5, 7-8), background vocals (1, 5)
- Daniel Lanois / guitar (1-2, 4), tambourine (2), Surf guitar (7), 12-string guitar (9)
- Manu Katché / drums (2-5), percussion (3-5), talking drums (5, 9)
- Wayne Jackson / trumpet (2, 7), cornet (7)
- Mark Rivera / saxophone (2)
- Don Mikkelsen / trombone (2, 7)
- P.P. Arnold, Coral Gordon, Dee Lewis / background vocals (2, 7)
- Richard Tee / piano (3, 5-6)
- Simon Clark / Chorus CS80 (3), Hammond, CMI, bass (7)
- Kate Bush / guest vocal (3)
- L. Shankar / violin (4, 8)
- Jerry Marotta / additional drums (5), drums (8)
- Larry Klein / bass (5-6)
- Youssou N'Dour / guest vocal (5)
- Michael Been, Jim Kerr / background vocals (5)
- Ronnie Bright / bass vocals (5)
- Djalma Correa / Surdu, congas, triangle (6)
- Mark Rivera / Processed sax (6), Alto, Tenor and Baritone saxs (7)
- Jimmy Bralower / Linn kick (7)
- Laurie Anderson: Voice (9)
- Bill Laswell: Bass (9)
- Nile Rodgers: Guitar (9)
The third Gabriel album appeared during New Wave era, and it was really an influential effort to the legions of post-punk/alternative rock bands. It was also an avant-garde work drawing more connection to the groundbreaking works of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, plus the instrumental rhythm section (Jerry Marotta-cymballess drum kit/Tony Levin-bass and stick) created a blueprint of ethno-tribal percussive beats that along with Gabriel himself, was to be copied in the decade to come.
The crimsonesque, dark metallic opener "Intruder" and the closing World Music/Afro beat of "Biko" encapsulate an excellent album, which also launched Steve Lillywhite as the one of the best producers of the 1980s (U2, Simple Minds, Talking Heads, the Pogues...). Amidst the entire electronic and ambient picture lies an unexpected hit single "Games Without Frontiers", a song that was the first Gabriel song that I heard, so I cherish pleasant memories on this. Kate Bush sings backing "jeux sans frontieres" during the chorus, which is French translation of the title. But, it also happens to be the name of a competition TV show, which was quite popular even in SFR Yugoslavia in the late 1970s/early 1980s. There were dozen or so national teams, mainly from continental West Europe, while Yugoslavia also took part in several annual occasions, "playing silly games" in historic locations (fortresses, seaside resorts) across these countries. It was some sort of teenage mini-Olympiad or something... English name of the game was "It's a Knock Out", which Gabriel sings just before the chorus. So, obviously, Adolf, Enrique, Sasha, Hans, Jane and Andre were very inspirational to Peter.
"Family Snapshot", "And Through the Wire" and "Not One of Us" are for me sub-standard songs and in retrospect they sound quite boring too. Overall, "Peter Gabriel III" is very good album and surely ranks among the best works of 1980. Highly recommended to prog fans especially those in favour of art/experimental pop music.
Studio Album, released in 1980
Track Listings
1. Intruder (4:53)
2. No Self Control (3:56)
3. Start (1:21)
4. I Don't Remember (4:42)
5. Family Snapshot (4:29)
6. And Through The Wire (4:58)
7. Games Without Frontiers (4:07)
8. Not One Of Us (5:21)
9. Lead A Normal Life (4:15)
10. Biko (7:27)
Total Time: 45:31
Line-up/Musicians
- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, percussion, bass synth, synth, piano
- Jerry Marotta / drums, percussion
- Phil Collins / drums
- Morris Pert / percussion
- John Giblin / bass
- Larry Fast / bass synth, synth
- Tony Levin / stick
- David Rhodes / guitar, background vocals
- Paul Weller, Robert Fripp, Dave Gregory / guitars
- Dick Morrissey / sax
- Kate Bush / background vocals
This little album was taken very well by all radio stations and retailers, but some fans, like myself, were a bit disappointed. What happened to Gabriel's old sound? His mix of progressive rock, excellent lyrics, and moving melodies? All we have here is a commercial set of songs, and very confident singing (which isn't always bad). Milgrim's 37 is very moving, and my favourite track. Mercy Street has fantastic lyrics, as well, and Red Rain has nice melodies and lyrics, but besides those three (and the bonus track), I always found this album to be very commercial, daunting, and not at all touching. Gabriel was using many electric sounds, which never appealed to me. (May God, in his infinite wisdom, burn the drum machine!) However, after many listens, I've come to love this memorable album. So produced some of Gabriel most known radio hits (Red Rain, Sledgehammer). Though I am not overly fond of the 80s, this album is very good.
