Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gabriel, Peter
Label: Real World
Released: 2011
Length: 78:32
Rating: 3.5/5
»New Blood« is the ninth studio album (not counting film soundtracks) from legendary singer and prog-rock icon Peter Gabriel, and the stylistic successor to its symphonic predecessor »Scratch My Back (2010). This time around, the brilliant artist, who has been chronically short on fresh songwriting ideas in recent years, followed the rather pointless »Scratch My Back« experiment, where he arranged and sang other artists’ songs for orchestra, by deciding to dress up some classics from his long and colorful solo career in orchestral arrangements. He teamed up again with the renowned arranger John Metcalfe on the orchestral arrangements, while the London-based New Blood orchestra, under the baton of Ben Foster, helped him perform these symphonically tinted evergreens. His daughter Melanie and Norwegian singer Ane Brun stepped in as guest backing vocalists. »New Blood« is a complete stylistic continuation of the »Scratch My Back« project, except that Mr. Gabriel was dealing with much more ‘familiar turf’ this time. The idea of orchestrally reworking his longtime classics first came to him during the second leg of the New Blood tour in 2010.
Most of Gabriel’s long-standing standards come off surprisingly well in their orchestral threads, nearly matching the originals in atmosphere, while a handful of evergreens in symphonic disguise go down in flames. Topping the list of the latter is the dismal version of »Don’t Give Up«, the biggest disappointment on the whole album, since Ane Brun is at best a pale shadow of Kate Bush, and the orchestral arrangements fall short of expectations too, which is all the more baffling for such an unforgettable classic that’s already marked by orchestration in the original. The whole thing is a complete miss and at times even soul-crushingly dull. Another reworked classic that doesn’t live up to the original’s intense atmosphere is »Digging In The Dirt«. »Solsbury Hill« in its symphonic guise, somewhat surprisingly, doesn’t come off all that convincingly either, since the restrained arrangements lack the mighty atmosphere of the original, though Gabriel’s vocal interpretation is excellent throughout and has only ripened in emotional intensity with his mature (by now venerable) years.
Overall, it’s Peter’s voice that’s remarkably well preserved, despite the legendary fella being 62 years old, and it’s the centerpiece of the ‘action’, next to which the orchestral arrangements sometimes seem almost superfluous. The theatrical and emotional power of Gabriel’s voice is still so great that »New Blood« would sound decent even if he’d decided to record it in a bathtub. Among the best orchestral takes on Gabriel’s classics is without a doubt »Rhytm Of The Heat«, which, with its dark, intense atmosphere, feels tailor-made for dramatic orchestral accompaniment. The same goes for »Intruder« and »Darkness«, where the dark, tense atmosphere of the originals only grows in intensity through the orchestral arrangements.
Perhaps the best of all the »New Blood« symphonic experiments is the excellent version of »Red Rain«, where the mighty orchestration, alongside Peter’s phenomenal vocal interpretation, only adds more spice to the dramatic nature of the original. Among the evergreens where Peter is joined by a female voice, the best is the »OVO« (2000) standard »Downside Up« with vocal assistance from his daughter Melanie Gabriel. True to form, Gabriel has ‘forgotten’ to include quite a few of his big hits on »New Blood«, such as »Sledgehammer«, »Biko«, »Shock The Monkey«, »Games Without Frontiers« and »Steam«, which he probably realized pretty quickly couldn’t come anywhere close to matching the original atmosphere in orchestral versions.
The special edition of »New Blood« also includes a bonus disc with instrumental versions of the orchestrally reworked Gabriel evergreens, plus a bonus track, an orchestral rework of »Blood Of Eden« with Peter on vocals and piano and a female backing vocal. These instrumental versions are interesting for one, two, three listens at most, but they get boring pretty fast, since they suffer from one big flaw – the absence of Peter’s voice.
»New Blood« is a far more inspired and sensible experiment than its dull predecessor »Scratch My Back«, since most of the orchestrally reworked versions of Gabriel’s chosen classics come off remarkably well and in some cases even match the originals for ambient intensity. As a whole, the album is practically ideal for listening to while driving through a sleepy landscape in the pouring rain. Even though this is a thoroughly decent release that will please plenty of longtime fans, it has to be said that Mr. Gabriel has spent recent years taking on a string of not exactly innovative experiments, while the long-promised and constantly postponed potential new studio album »I/O« remains unfinished. The legendary prog-rock patriarch recently announced that he has twelve new songs written, but the big question remains when they’ll see the light of day in their final form.
Line-up
Peter Gabriel – vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
The New Blood Orchestra, conductor Ben Foster
John Metcalfe – arrangements
Melanie Gabriel – backing vocals
Ane Brun – backing vocals
Production
Peter Gabriel
Track list
1. The Rhythm of the Heat (5:41)
2. Downside Up (ft. Melanie Gabriel) (3:51)
3. San Jacinto (6:58)
4. Intruder (5:07)
5. Wallflower (6:25)
6. In Your Eyes (7:12)
7. Mercy Street (5:59)
8. Red Rain (5:15)
9. Darkness (6:10)
10. Don’t Give Up (ft. Ane Brun) (6:40)
11. Digging in the Dirt (4:57)
12. The Nest that Sailed the Sky (3:54)
13. A Quiet Moment (4:48)
14. Solsbury Hill (bonus track) (4:35)
