Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. Album Description
 |  | most unaffected release from mr. pg |  |
As a nineties kid with eighties music tastes, pg was one of my faves. Now, scratch is the only album I still want to hear. Why? For me its the album with the least "epic" sound and the most approachable melodies, instrumentation, and lyrics. For me it has the fewest signs of the future predictably sentimental, politically correct and knee-jerk modernist/postmodernist aloof pop star that he has become. For me Genesis was his boyhood, pg#1 was trying a little too hard to put his foot down successfully as a solo artist. scratch has a raw, honest melancholy not masked either by attempts to over-spiritualize things (san jacinto, red rain, etc), or to intentionally muddy the waters with inscrutability (moribund the burgermeister, games without frontiers). It also has "uppers" that keep their feet on the ground (D.I.Y., Perspective, Animal Magic). And I'm sorry, I love the strange, muffly, and kind of "bad" production from mr. fripp. However intentional it was, I think it works perfectly here as a conterpoint to mr gabriel's tendency towards the over dramatic. Scratch is peter gabriel stripped down...almost pg unplugged or something. The instrumentation is very acoustic based with a little straight up rock guitar thrown in. Its almost rootsy. I think it's his best, and still love listening to it. Its interesting to me that I read somewhere that he was unhappy with it at the time, for most of the same reasons for which it is usually criticized. No idea if he ever changed his mind. If not, he should. I would recommend it esp for anyone who found pg's music tempting, but a little too put-on for their tastes. For me this one trims the excesses and reveals him in his best light as a first rank visionary freak and ruthlessly tender, courageous artist who can combine intelligence and heart successfully.
July 31, 2008 | | Remastered version sounds worse to me! | |
As a true Gabriel fan, I LOVE this underrated album, but I was doing a side-by-side comparrison of the songs to the original CD (which I bought as an Import several years before it was available in the US), and I don't understand at all this remastered version! It sounds sooo "limited". True the bass is more present, but things like the guitar riff at the beginning of DIY just sounds burried and all of Pete's rock 'n' roll vocals are squashed away. Same for "Animal Magic". I use a program that levels-out volumes so I get a true comparison. My original version is even at 128 kbps at the new one at 192 kbps. I wish I had not sold that import version back when I needed the cash. "Perspective" is an exception. It sounds better now, and I do believe all the other remastered discs are absolutely excellent (especially Security!) But I might try & find an old copy of Vol. 2 for "On The Air" "DIY" and "Animal Magic".
July 16, 2008 | | Who needs perspective with this album? | |
Luis Mejia (son) - Peter Gabriel's follow up to one of his delightful masterpieces, Peter Gabriel 1: Car, showed up with the artist's same desire of experimental rock music with some recognizable tunes and structures that really caught the minds of many listeners in the era, and its still impressive by this times. The album is another one of his greatest, it inclines more onto acquireable rock features, more simple but still evocative melodies, and a more literate/poetical feeling than his later albums, the album is closely explorative as his previous, experimenting into traditional and recognizable music, those aspects as in Peter Gabriel 1: Car, like emotional adult contempo style songs, experimental music but less dark, and certain soft and recognizable structures, but the only thing missing is the exponential brutality expected from his career, and, while it keeps a fantastic quirky sense of humor, I noticed that "Animal Magic", "Perspective" and "Home Sweet Home" are fine songs, but they really sound as Elton John pieces, but I guess this defines a little bit better his later pop career. "D.I.Y." went as a famous hit, although not too much of a song, "On The Air" is maybe the most friendly song in the album; "Indigo" has the dramatic, piano-based structure seen pretty much alike the later "Family Snapshot", while "A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World", "White Shadow" and "Indigo" are the best pieces in the album, each capture an specific emotion with general darker and brutal sensations. The album was produced by King Crimson's legendary Robert Fripp, and later King Crimson Tony Levin plays bass and stick. This remastered version has a fabulous sound quality, lyrics and some additional artworks, in conclussion, this is pure experimental rock that captures such an unique emotion with an effect very similar to psychedelia in the '60s.
December 14, 2007| | | Peter Gabriel - Not As Good As Either The Previous Or Next Albums | |
Gabriel released his second album only a year after his first. The first 3 solo albums act as a trilogy of sorts with each one coming in fairly quick succession after the last one. After the first 3 albums Gabriel would lapse into extremely long passages of time between albums which is still the case today. Of the first three, this the second one is by far my least favorite. The album was produced by Robert Fripp and also features fellow King Crimson member Tony Levin on bass and stick. One would think that the combination of Fripp and Gabriel would be a match made in heaven, but to my ears it did not really turn out to be the case. The music on the disc moves away for Gabriel's prog rock roots. Every song is relatively short and to the point. I find much of the disc to be a rather dull affair. Not that it is a bad album, but the material just does not seem to be up to Gabriel's usual standards. The album was pretty much ignored by radio although it does contain the long time concert favorites "On The Air" and "D.I.Y.". Gabriel has had a roller coaster solo career putting out both brilliant material as well as merely competent stuff. Unfortunately the 2nd album fits more in the latter category for me. The album is still worth owning, but I would pick up his first or 3rd album over this one.
April 5, 2007This album is the second in Peter's catalogue. This is the last album he made with more traditionnal sounds, before he released album number III and changed his musical style and sound.
There is some good tracks in this one, my favorites are "White shadow", "Indigo" and the wonderful "Home sweet Home
It is a good album with but not as memorable as others that follows.
March 17, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
