Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gabriel, Peter
Label: Virgin Records
Release: 2010
Rating: 2/5
There was a time when every new studio release from the legendary singer, songwriter, producer and world-famous humanitarian Peter Gabriel was met with a hefty dose of excitement from every fan of art rock. Gabriel’s solo career was always defined by his obsession with sonic perfection, his inventive tinkering with new instrumental and recording technologies, and his collaborations with an army of musicians from all over the world. The logical consequence of his packed schedule and his jetting from one end of the globe to the other, both as a musician and as a champion of countless humanitarian causes, was that every new studio release took him more and more years. Fans took it in stride, since nearly every following project was at least as dazzling as the last, if not better. But after the phenomenal album “Up” (2002) and the fairly interesting international project “Big Blue Ball” (2008), released under a various-artists banner, that trend is irrevocably over with the arrival of “Scratch My Back”.
His latest studio project, which is basically a collection of covers of other artists, is a big letdown for everyone who fell in love with Gabriel as a passionate musical innovator, since it’s the first sign of a newly acquired, chronic shortage of creative ideas. One can only guess what good old Uncle Gabe had up his sleeve this time. He probably expected his latest project to be at least as revolutionary as the previous one, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite.
It was already known before release that “Scratch My Back” would not be a new studio album in the true sense of the word, but rather a special project in which Gabriel would, for the first time ever, cover a range of more or less popular artists from the world of popular music, with names like David Bowie, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Talking Heads, Neil Young, Radiohead and others standing out. All of it relying solely on his vocal cords, a piano and a symphony orchestra backing, which means this is his first project without a band of assorted instrumentalists; in other words, no electric guitars, no drums, none of the usual rock gear.
The whole thing might even have turned out interesting if he had played this collection of twelve covers in a fresh and creative way, seeing as he’d already ditched the help of accompanying instrumentalists. As so many times before in his career, he tried something new, something he’d never done. But it all ended up as a collection of utterly sleepy, practically sterile ballads, the kind that, if nothing else, let grandmas calmly sip their noon tea and knit a little sweater for the grandkid while watching the latest Latin soap opera. Sadly, you could say that’s becoming Peter’s main target audience these days.
His suffering vocal does keep that recognizable tone that earned him a reputation as one of the most unique and theatrical singers around, but in expressive terms it gives, more than ever, the impression of a sad, tired, elderly gent whose spine bends ever lower under the weight of life’s many disappointments. That kind of thing, wallowing in emotional letdowns, you’d sooner expect from Peter’s former Genesis comrade Phil Collins, who at least in recent years proved wiser and wrapped up his solo career in time, as far as his role as an active studio and live musician goes. Most of the lyrics are good at heart, since they were originally written by nearly all masters of the well-turned lyrical phrase, but Gabriel’s interpretation is on the whole a complete miss, unless you happen to like gray, rainy afternoons.
The bad impression starts right away with the opening cover of Bowie’s classic “Heroes”, which is practically unrecognizable apart from the lyrics. He managed to turn an optimistic, bouncy, uplifting song into an agonizing dirge, which is no small feat, at least in the negative sense. The remaining covers, led by “The Book Of Love” (originally by The Magnetic Fields), which was picked as the album’s first single, are played in a similar way, at an almost identical tempo, without any stylistic departures. With rare exceptions, Peter stays in the same vocal register. Only a few times does he unexpectedly raise his voice and deliver a handful of rare, at least conditionally speaking, dramatic moments where you can feel all of his melancholic pathos.
And the embarrassment doesn’t end there, because in the coming months we can expect the sequel to this project with the fitting title “I’ll Scratch Yours”, which will feature a collection of covers of selected Gabriel works by all the musicians Peter bowed to on “Scratch My Back”. So Bowie and the rest of the gang are now up to bat, left to answer Peter’s “genius” idea, in which he struck a special deal: he’d cover twelve different artists if they’d cover twelve of his works in return. So this album didn’t come about just because of Peter’s great admiration for these artists; the admiration goes both ways. His choice of some names of dubious standing from the world of contemporary pop is a chapter in itself, especially when it would have made more sense to pick covers of the artists who shaped his own musical development (it would have been nice, say, to hear his version of the Procol Harum classic “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”, with a band, of course).
“Scratch My Back” falls below the standard of Gabriel’s body of work so far, painting a sad picture (let’s hope a temporary one) of a creatively and emotionally drained musician who has opted for a bizarre studio move just as he’s hit the big six-oh. The album is, in a word, boring from start to finish, and at best serves only as extra promotion for mostly long-popular artists. On top of that, this bundle of ballad-leaning covers has seriously dented Peter’s long-standing reputation as a serious musician and great sonic innovator who offers something fresh and challenging with every new project.
Everyone who sighed helplessly when Peter last turned down the chance of a Genesis reunion because of his solo-career commitments can only shake their heads harder now. And here’s another less-than-thrilling detail: “Scratch My Back” will go down in history as Gabriel’s first “studio” album without the legendary bassist/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin (King Crimson), not counting his absence from Peter’s last three film-score ventures. There’s still hope that this isn’t the first sign of the end of a magnificent career, since a musical artist of this caliber certainly can’t be written off yet, but it’s better to quit at the right time than when it’s already too late and the esteemed musician becomes nothing more than a caricature of himself.
Line-up
Peter Gabriel – vocals and piano
Orchestral instruments, no drums or guitars
Production
Bob Ezrin
Tracklist
1 “Heroes” (David Bowie)
2 “The Boy in the Bubble” (Paul Simon)
3 “Mirrorball” (Elbow)
4 “Flume” (Bon Iver)
5 “Listening Wind” (Talking Heads)
6 “The Power of the Heart” (Lou Reed)
7 “My Body is a Cage” (Arcade Fire)
8 “The Book of Love” (The Magnetic Fields)
9 “I Think it’s Going to Rain Today” (Randy Newman)
10 “Apres Moi” (Regina Spektor)
11 “Philadelphia” (Neil Young)
12 “Street Spirit” (Radiohead)
