1986 saw the release of So, Gabriel's most successful album, featuring such hits as Sledgehammer, Big Time and In Your Eyes and drew in a slew of Grammy nominations. Gabriel's fourth album, released in 1982, would be his first to actually have a title, but it was his fifth release that would really make his fortune.
WOMAD brings together musical elements, both modern and traditional, from around the world and assembles them into festivals that have been staged in over 70 countries. Gabriel's music has a very international flavor, and in 1982 he founded WOMAD, the World of Music, Arts and Dance. Biko, a song off of his third album about the murdered South African activist Stephen Biko, is probably the most well-known example of Gabriel's songs emphasizing human rights and peace, a common theme in his music. His next two albums were also named Peter Gabriel and earned him a number of top-40 hits both in England and the U.S. In 1977 Peter released his self-titled solo album which featured the hit single Solisbury Hill, a retelling of his split from Genesis.
They would release six albums with this lineup, but Gabriel wanted to stretch out creatively and left the band in 1975. Their elaborate stage shows and equally elaborate songs earned them a devoted cult following. Genesis became well known as one of the pioneers of Progressive Rock along with bands like King Crimson, Yes and ELP. The band picked up talented guitarist Steve Hackett and while they were at it, hired Phil Collins as their first full-time drummer. As their first single, The Silent Sun, was getting airplay Phillips reached the decision that band life was not for him and they were forced to find a replacement for him on guitar. Shortly after the band was formed, the name was changed to Genesis. Gabriel would assume the role of singer, songwriter and, occasionally, drummer. Their common musical interests prompted them to form a band which they dubbed Garden Wall. While attending Charterhouse Secondary School in Surrey, England, he met Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. His first song, written when he was 11 was about a slug. Since he was a young boy, he was always doing something more than a little out there. Peter Gabriel always stood apart from the crowd. He is one of the greatest musical visionairies of our time.
His band has recently consisted of David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on bass and Chapman stick, Manu Katche on drums, and David Bottrill on keyboards and production. He was one of the pioneers to use the Fairlight CMI on recordings. Peter's music is a beautiful melange of his progressive rock roots with African polyrhythms, Motown, and electronica mixed in. The recent Up is the culmination of nearly 10 years of work on over 150 tracks of which 10 are on this album.
#PETER GABRIEL DISCOGRAPHY REVIEW MOVIE#
PG's post-1994 material has consisted of songs on movie soundtracks like Philadelphia and Babe, numerous guest appearances on other people's albums, lots of production work at Real World Studios, putting together various WOMAD festivals, work on the Ovo project for the Millennium Dome.