Your favorite tracks on ... "III" (Melt)

Now this was tough. To the point where I voted and instantly regretted not voting for No Self Control!

In album order,

Intruder

Family Snapshot

Biko

Intruder because it is PG at his creepy, unconventional best, whilst sounding magnificent. Holy cow, those drums.

Family Snapshot - great narrative (we can still argue about what it means), different sections, wonderful ending. Perhaps a bit of a forgotten gem

Biko - because you have to. I know it has been heard and played a million times at this point but I can still remember the first time I ever heard it. It would be a shame to let the over familiarity obscure the fact that it is magnificent, daring, fairly groundbreaking at the time, important, anthemic. You name it.

Quote from Mozo

Family Snapshot - great narrative (we can still argue about what it means)

Has there ever been any argument over its meaning? I thought PG was always pretty clear about it. I do like the song but I've never been that keen on the sax. Then again, I rarely like saxes.

A great album that makes it very difficult to choose. I went for

Family Snapshot

Biko

Games Without Frontiers

Games Without Frontiers

Biko

No Self Control

again, my choice is the most voted. i love no self control, it has a dark atmosphere, lyrics open to interpretation, and great drums by phil. too bad there was no music video for this song.

Quote from Backdrifter

Has there ever been any argument over its meaning? I thought PG was always pretty clear about it. I do like the song but I've never been that keen on the sax. Then again, I rarely like saxes.

I’m curious about what he’s been “clear” about in terms of the meaning of Family Snapshot. I watched A Clockwork Orange for the first time over the weekend. Watching it reminded me that Arthur Bremer, who shot US presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972, liked that film. I googled Bremer and the movie and one of the articles claimed as an aside that Bremer was the inspiration for the song Family Snapshot. I’d always assumed it was about Lee Harvey Oswald, though having read Bremer’s diary last night and this morning (I found a free PDF copy online; on Amazon it’s close to $150 dollars) I can see some definite similarities between Bremer and the character in Family Snapshot.

Quote from MoonlitKnight

I’m curious about what he’s been “clear” about in terms of the meaning of Family Snapshot. I watched A Clockwork Orange for the first time over the weekend. Watching it reminded me that Arthur Bremer, who shot US presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972, liked that film. I googled Bremer and the movie and one of the articles claimed as an aside that Bremer was the inspiration for the song Family Snapshot. I’d always assumed it was about Lee Harvey Oswald, though having read Bremer’s diary last night and this morning (I found a free PDF copy online; on Amazon it’s close to $150 dollars) I can see some definite similarities between Bremer and the character in Family Snapshot.

I meant that I recall PG saying he based it on that kind of figure and psyche, and the idea of such actions rooted in childhood experiences; I don't recall him saying it was based on a specific assassin but that might simply be my memory lapse.

A curiosity about Game Without Frontiers!?

There is no video of PG in a TV Show at Venice Festival Gondola d'oro 1980.

It's strange, because there is a video of Genesis Abacab in the same Festival in 1981!

It was a particolar performance, because PG sings behind a glass!

Quote from Backdrifter

I meant that I recall PG saying he based it on that kind of figure and psyche, and the idea of such actions rooted in childhood experiences; I don't recall him saying it was based on a specific assassin but that might simply be my memory lapse.

When I saw him perform in 2012, he introduced the song by saying it was inspired by a book entitled "An Assassin's Diary." He didn't mention any names but if you Google the title, it is a book co-authored by Arthur Bremer.

I took it as common knowledge at the time. I had previously heard or read interviews where he cited that book as the source of his inspiration, but I don't have any links to old interviews where he shared that bit of info.

Quote from Witchwood

When I saw him perform in 2012, he introduced the song by saying it was inspired by a book entitled "An Assassin's Diary." He didn't mention any names but if you Google the title, it is a book co-authored by Arthur Bremer.

I took it as common knowledge at the time. I had previously heard or read interviews where he cited that book as the source of his inspiration, but I don't have any links to old interviews where he shared that bit of info.

As I mentioned a few days ago, after watching the film “A Clockwork Orange” last weekend I read “An Assassin’s Diary.” If you google the title and scroll the results you can find a free pdf copy from Hood College, a small school in Maryland. The whole thing takes maybe 3 hours to read. Bremer mentions in his diary at one point that he enjoyed that film. Honestly though what I gleaned most from reading it was how pathetic and bumbling he was. While stalking Richard Nixon (his first target before he changed his mind and stalked Wallace) he: a) accidentally fired his gun in his hotel room; b) hid a gun so deeply under the hood of his car before crossing the Canadian border that he was unable to retrieve it after crossing the border; and c) left his gun on a plane after exiting. He was in the airport bathroom when he heard his name called over the airport PA system. When he reported back to the gate where he deplaned the pilot, never having opened the bag to see what was inside, was waiting to hand him the bag containing the gun. All in all he was an angry, maladjusted loner who was obsessed with becoming famous. He seemed particularly obsessed with becoming as famous as Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Robert Kennedy. In short, he was a lonely, insecure young man who had grown up in a broken home.

Intruder, No Self Control and Biko.

Intruder (one of my favourite openers of any album by anyone), No Self Control, Not One Of Us. But on a different day it could've been Intruder + a different two.

Quote from Backdrifter

Intruder (one of my favourite openers of any album by anyone), No Self Control, Not One Of Us. But on a different day it could've been Intruder + a different two.

Snap!

I'm glad to see Normal Life has had a shout. I wavered over it but didn't end up voting for it. On one of those different days I mentioned I probably would've.

This is a huge album for me. It's one of my music 'milestones', a handful of times in my music listening when I felt the landscape shifting. It still stands as a remarkable achievement. For me it's one of the best things in the entire Genesis and related canon.

Not sure I could pick 3 favourites. Mostly on the same level to me, though it wouldn't include Family Snapshot or Lead a Normal Life.

Family Snapshot, Biko, and No Self Control for me. But this is such a strong album for me that several others could easily vie for the 3rd spot.

Maybe these are odd choices, but my 3 favorite tracks are:

Lead a normal life

And through the wire

Not one of us

All tracks on "Melt" are more or less on the same level. The only other Gabriel album like that is "i/o", in my opinion.

Quote from Nanunami

Maybe these are odd choices, but my 3 favorite tracks are:

Lead a normal life

And through the wire

Not one of us

All tracks on "Melt" are more or less on the same level. The only other Gabriel album like that is "i/o", in my opinion.

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Not odd at all. As you rightly said, it's a very 'even' album, a rare one where all the tracks are strong. Even if that weren't the case, you like what you like so who's to say your choices are odd. I like seeing less "obvious" tracks getting some love.

I’m really struggling to pick three. I have ruled out Biko and Start, even though they are excellent and I could have any three of the others. Need to think about this a bit more. But that says a lot about the quality of this album