No, neither is top notch, I've been wondering whether my assessment is the result of too long a wait or pent-up expectations but after several listens I simply believe they are average songs.
Panopticom was nice but not really outstanding. This one works better for me. It’s quite unusual even for Gabriel and it grows, which is a good sign!
I hope he's doing a "Joshua Tree" in reverse. (The track order on JT was famously done by Kirsty McColl, who put the tracks in order of preference, favourite first, and I have to say I agree with her, after track 4, it's dead in the water) Hopefully, we're building up to something good, cos the 2 we've had aren't it. This sounds a bit like an outtake from PG3 or 4!
Unfortunately, PG's creative peak was a long time ago. I wouldn't listen to this again. The creative arts are a younger person's game, any success this has will be due to name recognition rather than artistic merit.
The creative arts are a younger person's game
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Unfortunately, PG's creative peak was a long time ago. I wouldn't listen to this again. The creative arts are a younger person's game, any success this has will be due to name recognition rather than artistic merit.
Sad......but true.
If I had been sent this as an anonymous track, I wouldn't have thought much of it. The problem today is that anyone with a laptop can create music and distribute it at no cost. I could do this and it probably wouldn't be the worst music out there. It's no secret that most music earnings are from legacy acts of decades ago, and this crowds out new talent. When was the last time any great new music was created by septuagenarians.
It's a strange feeling, I'm obviously a big fan and there's a strong sense of anticipation when he releases anything. I WANT to like what he does but objectively, after a few listens, I find very few redeeming qualities in something like Panopticom. He still sounds great and to his credit he seems to be tackling uneasy topics with his lyrics but even the arrangement, an area in which Peter always excelled, sounds unoriginal and trite.
The problem today is that anyone with a laptop can create music and distribute it at no cost.
How is this a "problem"? (Hint: it's not, at all, not even a teensy little bit is it any kind of problem to anyone).
When was the last time any great new music was created by septuagenarians.
This is a hateful, ageist, bullshit comment with zero intellectual integrity or merit.
I like them both so far. No they're not Intruder, San Jacinto or Signal To Noise, but no tracks are, other than those tracks. I look forward to the album and am keenly anticipating the two shows I'll hopefully be seeing.
I sense a mix of desperation and drama behind the disappointment being expressed. Genesis are gone, obviously long since in terms of recording, and now retired as a live band. Collins now seemingly retired, Banks showing no signs of doing anything else, Rutherford touring his band who aren't exactly everyone's favourite, me included. Hackett, aside from his ongoing re-heating of Genesis stuff live, has given us at least 12 years of insipid rock bilge.
So it's hardly surpising people are edge-of-seatly anticipating a two-decades-long-awaited new PG album and this is inflating people's expectations and pitching them very high. It's not going to be peak PG but that doesn't mean it won't be worth hearing.
If I had been sent this as an anonymous track, I wouldn't have thought much of it. The problem today is that anyone with a laptop can create music and distribute it at no cost. I could do this and it probably wouldn't be the worst music out there. It's no secret that most music earnings are from legacy acts of decades ago, and this crowds out new talent. When was the last time any great new music was created by septuagenarians.
Mark Knopfler & Paul McCartney (who is actually an octogenarian). I don't want to derail this thread but your original statement was extremely harsh.
The problem today is that anyone with a laptop can create music and distribute it at no cost.
Given the current state of the music industry, that's actually a blessing, in the current paradoxical scenario, young artists gets no venues for gigs, while aging artists, given the collapsing revenues from their albums are literally forced to tour, you can be in Vegas and see Yes and Toto on the same night and at the same venue and I don't know whether to be elated or saddened by it. Having a way and medium to create and distribute their own music, away from records companies, it's actually vital for upcoming artists, if then you are implying that music created in this way is worthless, I would have to disagree, artists like Plini or Polyphia built their careers on Instagram and Youtube, recording at home and boy, can they play. In Peter's case, I don't think age per se is the problem, he probably simply lost interest, when it takes you decades to release an album, that's quite the clear symptom. To me his last, truly great album was US and that was when, mid--90s? After that he got probably distracted by other things.
... When was the last time any great new music was created by septuagenarians.
Depends on what you like listening to and what you define as great.
John Lee Hooker was 73 when he released The Healer. That album was universally acclaimed, it was a commercial hit, and as a Hooker fan, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Carlos Santana subsequently cited it as his inspiration when he recorded Supernatural, which followed the same blueprint (to less effect IMO, though judges for the Grammys would likely disagree with me).
It's a good, interesting song. You can see it differently. However, I can't understand that his new songs are now being compared to the absolute classics of his work. Nobody can expect his new album to contain eleven songs in the style of "San Jacinto" or "Secret World". Also his great albums had a good mix of songs, which were also different in quality (or better: in the perception of the fans).
Let's be glad that he releases new songs again and form a (more or less) final judgment later. A few days after the release this is certainly not possible - especially, if you compare the song with his greatest classics, which have been around for 40+ years.
Nobody can expect his new album to contain eleven songs in the style of "San Jacinto" or "Secret World".
Why not though? I'm ambivalent about it, I know you make a valid point but on the other hand Peter always said he had a large number of songs he has been sitting on for years. I can assure you I wasn't expecting to be bowled over like it happened with PG3 for instance and it doesn't have to do entirely with his music, I'm much older to begin with but frankly I was expecting a bit more. I know that the fire in your belly subsides with age and success if you are a rock artist, but Peter's music has always been quite cerebral, it still is from what I can hear, this much hasn't changed but these two songs are a bit of a letdown as far as I'm concerned. I can see The Court growing on me in time but Panoticom is rather forgettable IMO.
I can assure you I wasn't expecting to be bowled over like it happened with PG3 for instance and it doesn't have to do entirely with his music, I'm much older to begin with
This is a great point I think a lot of fans miss, or gloss over in their own mind. I think older fans half expect to experience the same thrill or vitality when an older artist releases new music, as they did when they heard the artist's earlier releases in their youth. When they don't experience that, they feel let down and call the music bad. I think a lot of this happens subconsciously. The music may very well be subpar, but it can feel more so due to expectations being misaligned.
To be clearer, I've noticed this more with early-middle age fans than older fans. Maybe 40s/early 50s is close enough to youth that that entitlement to being bowled over is still there. If I want to get even more into sophomore psychology, I wonder on some level if there's an unconscious distancing from die hard fans against artists releasing new music, as it makes their past releases seem more in the past, if that makes sense. It's a clear sign that time is moving on and we are getting older. It's an uncomfortable, complicated feeling. I'm probably talking shite but I muse on these things from time to time, particularly as I age and the bands I love continue to be quite active, with fascinating responses from fans online. Like this thread!
Agree also that the Court is more interesting than panopticom and more likely, to my ears, to have staying power.
This is a great point I think a lot of fans miss, or gloss over in their own mind. I think older fans half expect to experience the same thrill or vitality when an older artist releases new music, as they did when they heard the artist's earlier releases in their youth. When they don't experience that, they feel let down and call the music bad. I think a lot of this happens subconsciously. The music may very well be subpar, but it can feel more so due to expectations being misaligned.
To be clearer, I've noticed this more with early-middle age fans than older fans. Maybe 40s/early 50s is close enough to youth that that entitlement to being bowled over is still there. If I want to get even more into sophomore psychology, I wonder on some level if there's an unconscious distancing from die hard fans against artists releasing new music, as it makes their past releases seem more in the past, if that makes sense. It's a clear sign that time is moving on and we are getting older. It's an uncomfortable, complicated feeling. I'm probably talking shite but I muse on these things from time to time, particularly as I age and the bands I love continue to be quite active, with fascinating responses from fans online. Like this thread!
Agree also that the Court is more interesting than panopticom and more likely, to my ears, to have staying power.
It doesn't help when the artist themselves appear to disown what they have just released. When the Eagles put out Long Road Out Of Eden, their first studio album since 1979, I was totally over the moon. I told everyone who would listen how great it was. I couldn't wait to see them perform some of the songs. I was going to multiple performances and three of the songs were dropped after one night. They didn't give them a chance. but I suppose neither did the audience.
I don't know if some fans are taken out of their comfort zone when they watch a song being played they don't know well. But if you still like the artist wouldn't you give their new music a chance? So I'm very happy to have Peter back. I'm just being cautious at first in my response.
The quality of Peter Gabriel's songs is variable.
There are two periods (IMOO): the inventivity of the first fourth LP's. Then, the rest...
In each subsequent album there are always one or two indigent songs:
- So: That voice again
- Us: Kiss that Forg
- Up: The Barry...
- Scratch my Back: The Power of My Love
The pearl of bad taste returns to number 4 with Kiss of Life.
On the contrary, I find that the two titles offered from I/O are very good if not completely innovative.
To be continued !
Display MoreThe quality of Peter Gabriel's songs is variable.
There are two periods (IMOO): the inventivity of the first fourth LP's. Then, the rest...
In each subsequent album there are always one or two indigent songs:
- So: That voice again
- Us: Kiss that Forg
- Up: The Barry...
- Scratch my Back: The Power of My Love
The pearl of bad taste returns to number 4 with Kiss of Life.
On the contrary, I find that the two titles offered from I/O are very good if not completely innovative.
To be continued !
that’s voice again is a great track, so is Kiss That Frog. I like both a lot. Barry Williams show is okay,
On scratch my back there is no such song. I think you mean „The Power Of The Heart“, which is one of Peter‘s findest on that record, also Lou Reed‘s original is stunning
you see: taste has nothing to do with quality.
(IMOO)
Haha. I'm imagining using the verb "to moo" as equivalent to venturing forth an opinion. As in "Abacab was an important album for Genesis" Kevin mooed. "Yes", Alicia mooed in return, "it broke the mold in some ways".
that’s voice again is a great track, so is Kiss That Frog. I like both a lot. Barry Williams show is okay,
On scratch my back there is no such song. I think you mean „The Power Of The Heart“, which is one of Peter‘s findest on that record, also Lou Reed‘s original is stunning
you see: taste has nothing to do with quality.
Yes, The Power Of The Heart…
