PETER GABRIEL - Olive Tree - Track discussion

Really enjoying this one, probably the most of all of them so far. It sounds like classic PG to me, with some nice textures and dynamic changes

Quote from Christian

There is also a 3:51 radio edit of the track available. Perhaps you will hear this on the radio somewhere, sometime

This might actually be more my cup of tea. I DO enjoy the song, and I do agree it actually kind of sounds like something we might have heard on his Us album. However there are two main issues I have with it:

1. Peter's vocals literally fill out the WHOLE song, and just are kind of...there. There are no parts where his energy changes in what he's singing (like in songs such as The Court, i/o, or Playing For Time). The different sections all kind of blend together. It's like he had a ton of lyrical ideas and he really wanted to get them ALL in. This is kind of what Battle of Epping Forest goes thru too-there's just...a lot of words if you know what I mean.

2. The song draws on a bit. I have said since I first heard it, the song could greatly benefit from being like a minute shorter. I don't mind long songs-and it would be fine if it had moments where the energy noticeably changed, but it all kind of remains constant throughout, at least in terms of the vocals.

So an edited version might be great! Still being able to enjoy the flavor of the song, without feeling like it's drawing on.

A la réécoute, je trouve même (mais peut-être est-ce un peu exagéré) que le refrain sonne un peu funky/soul à la manière Quincy Jones/Jackson

Ai No Corrida- Quincy Jones !?

That’s a funny, funky trick probably the big Brother of Road to Joy. And I like this one as well but I have to say I had the same problems like many others at first it needs some time to grow.

Quote from Zaar

Thanks,. Probably this track, from all new ones he played live, is the most demanding for me. This will need a bit time until I can make my personal judgement ...

Seems like I was not alone (having problems with this track in the beginning). It certainly has grown. It’s more complex than you think when you first hear it. Still, I think there are better tracks on i/o, but “Olive Tree” is a nice track for the up-tempo section.

Olive tree - Dark side mix

Man the Dark Side mix is SO much better IMO! It has more of a groove to it, that really keeps my head bobbing. Also, with the different take on the instrumentation featured, IMO this version does a much better job of letting each section of the song (verse, refrains, bridges etc.) distinguish themselves from each other better-the opposite of which was an issue I had with the Bright-side mix.

This version sounds great, much more energetic, and moves the song up a ranking or two for me.

Yeah I would say that now that we have eight songs, I prefer the dark side mix of most of them. The only songs I prefer the bright side mix for is:

Panopticom

i/o

The Court

I honestly can't remember the difference between the dark and bright side mixes of the court, maybe I need to go back and listen.

Regarding Road to Joy, I really like both of them equally! One sounds more full and rich, the other sounds more reminiscient of PG's earlier experimental style. I guess the same can be said with Olive tree as well!

...This all made me think; if he releases a "Dark" and "Light" separate versions of his album on vinyl or CD (which I strongly suspect he may do, as other artists have done that before) I think I'll definitely be getting a vinyl copy of "Dark..."

Pour Olive tree, une nouvelle, fois, je préfère le bright-side mix de mark Stent.

Certes, Tchad Blake met davantage l'accent sur les cuivres du refrain qui est un des points forts et central du morceau. Et les claquements de mains renforcent le côté soul/funky. Mais pour le reste je trouve que son mix dilue un peu tout (le son de caisse claire du jeu de M. Katché sur le pont 'Waters fall on me' fait un peu cheap), y compris l'énergie du morceau (le beat de la grosse caisse est un peu mis en retrait lors du 1er couplet). J'ai le sentiment que le bright-side mix a plus d'idées, met plus en valeur les idées musicales, comme la partie de guitare dans la seconde partie du 1er refrain (la contrepartie étant peut-être un son que certains trouveront plus/trop 'propre').

Contrairement à BillysNumber, du coup, pour moi, le dark-side mix est meilleur sur les trois premiers morceaux seulement (Panopticom; The Court; Playing for time).

D'ailleurs, la question est: lors de la présentation de l'album au Womad, c'est le Atmos-mix Hans-Martin Buff qui a été diffusé mais est-ce un mix totalement à part entière ou qui reprend plutôt celui de T. Blake ou celui de Mark Stent?

Quote from ecirb73

D'ailleurs, la question est: lors de la présentation de l'album au Womad, c'est le Atmos-mix Hans-Martin Buff qui a été diffusé mais est-ce un mix totalement à part entière ou qui reprend plutôt celui de T. Blake ou celui de Mark Stent?

C'est un mix à part entière. Tous ces mix Atmos sont dispo sur Amazon ou Apple Music

I like the band session version. I wonder why Pete didn't use this to extend the live verison a bit. That can be a great band moment live.

Quote from Christian

Peter has shared this video on Facebook, so kind of Gabriel approved then

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no, not for me.

I'd rather have an original Gabriel music video.