1001 Albums Summary

The production is so rich and singular and the orchestration/arrangement is pretty great. The musicality on display is ambitious and not too proggy, given Peter Gabriels past band Yes. I hear strains of it in Tame Impala and more recently exploding artists like Mgkee. Then the man opens his mouth and out tumbles the corniest and most contrived shit. The lyrics attempt to flatten the human condition into that "get together and rise up kind" of 80's optimism, although I don't know if they're given that effect from Peter's wheedling voice or saccharine melodies. The anachronistic songwriting and vocal performance is what places this otherwise perfectly produced sonic world firmly in the camp of the 80's (no pun intended). So many moments on here would work as stellar samples and I almost wish it was an instrumental album, or sung by someone who doesn't sound like an middled aged establishment democrat who's really into model trains and star wars. But pls give me more of those beautiful synth pads, sample stabs, and deep chorused basses. What an atmosphere!

This is a really good album. Its got some moments which feel self indulgent and tedious(most notably the hammy jammy section of the opening track and whatever was happening at the end of Moonchild), but the powerful moments make up for it IMO. Especially I Talk To The Wind (one of the best songs ever maybe) and the closing track's epic washes of mellotron and vocals. I'm pretty averse to prog but I think this album does a good job not fully succumbing to the genre's penchant for melodrama and nerdy wankery. Lyrically it can get a bit bardy at some sections but it's still relatable and poetic. The vocals are good. Good album

really good functional music for torture

Pretty good album, sometimes it shows its age in some of the sound selections but not bad by any measure. Some moments are richly layered and I enjoy the the mixture of introspective and sweet melodies with the synth pop backdrop. At times I wish the production had more punch and wasn't so polite. But overall pretty good