PETER GABRIEL: i/o released! Did you order/buy it?

What a special feeling to finally see it come together as a whole. I’ve listened to the album nonstop from start to finish the whole day whenever I’ve had the chance, and it's a privilege to be able to do so from now. In my books it’s going to go down as one of his best work. Varied but cohesive. Each song is so impeccably written, performed, produced, engineered, etc. it boggles the mind, but also speaks of the care PG still puts into his music.

While I have listened to the songs on a playlist as if the album were out, now that the whole thing is finally finished, it’s easier to see how each song fits so well in their place. The flow is amazing. I’ve loved ”Panopticom” from the start, and now hearing it and ”The Court” opening the album, knowing it’ll end with the triumph of ”Live and Let Live”, adds to those songs, too. The slower songs fit so well in their place, too. ”So Much” is an example of a song that benefits so much from being sandwiched between ”Road to Joy” and ”Olive Tree”. It’s remarkable how different the song feels now, instead of when I listened to it it isolation: the energy of ”Road to Joy” still lingers, and when one finally settles into the contemplative mood of ”So Much”, we get to ”Olive Tree”.

And yeah, ”Live and Let Live” is just perfection. In the In-Side mixes there'a a nice moment when the bird song we first hear in "i/o" gets repeated at the very end of "Live and Let Live".

I’ve been subscribing to Bandcamp, so got the digital copy from there, and I’m an Apple Music subscriber, too, so that’s how I’ve been listening to it so far this year. I don’t have a turntable, so I did order the CD+Blu-ray combo mainly because I just wanted to, having bought the previous albums as well in a physical format. And it’s a nice bonus to have the Atmos tracks on a physical disc.

Happy listening, everyone!

Box set ordered, but bought the CDs and have the Bandcamp, but it's on Spotify anyway. Needed something to hold in my hands!

I ordered the CD & Blu Ray and unlike many here I have not listened to the tracks. I can't get to know them in a random way.

No, I didn't buy it, but that wasn't a result of disinterest.

I am actually very interested in getting the 2 CD set and I fully expect to find it wrapped under the tree on Christmas morning.

It was the top item on my Christmas wish list.

I purchased the 2 CD/1 Blu-ray package. I downloaded it to my MacBook but wasn't entirely happy with the process. First, I am confused as to why the songs don't have any artwork attached to the music file, not the original artist's work for each individual track, nor the PG portrait cover. Am I missing something here?

Another issue is when I downloaded the Dark-Side disk, it shows up in my Apple Music as the Inside mix, which is obviously impossible.

I love i/o, as I've made clear in my earlier post today, but I'm somewhat bothered that I have to put in this extra effort to rename tracks and attach the artwork. (Yes, "I learn like a baby, I learn like a seed ..." )

Bandcamper here - plus the Atmos Mix, so the 2CD/Blu-ray package.

I stopped buying vinyl. This all get's way too expensive!!

I'm a mark, so I have it in a ton of places:

Bandcamp subscription

2CD/Blu-ray

Dark-Side vinyl

Bright-Side vinyl

The three physical copies are still wending their way to me through the Royal Mail and the USPS...but I have my digital version to listen to until then.

I am also a Bandcamper and bought the 3 Disc Set with the Blu-ray (to play the Atmos mixes, I don't buy a lot physical copies these days ...)

I ordered the 2CD/BluRay edition. It’s just so wonderful to have a new PG album after a 21-year wait!

Also, if you were wanting the lyrics, they are on his website, but they weren’t the easiest to find. Here’s the link:

https://petergabriel.com/focus/i-o-album-lyrics/

Yes, lyrics on vinyl edition only.

Are the reviews being collated somewhere? Any of the ones I've come across have been very, very positive. All 4* or 5*. Best reviewed Genesis related product I ever remember seeing.

The BluRay disc is excellent in that you can switch between the 3 different mixes whilst listening to a single track - really good to compare one with another.

(Just thought I'd come back with a positive after my general grumpiness about the prolonged release schedule )

Both vinyls and the set with the blu-ray

And the Bandcamp subscription

Hello, friends of the forum

As soon as I could I ordered I/o through Real World Records.

Today I received the package at home but they have left me the notice from the post office.

I hope to pick it up on Thursday 7th December and I'll let you know how it goes.

Here I have seen it in a supermarket (El Corte Inglés) at a good price 18,99.

It will be more expensive for me but I know that its value in euros has gone to REAL WORLD RECORDS.

In total it will cost around 30 euros for a double cd.

I didn't find i/O in vinyl format in this department store.

Chao!

The 2-CD set will be under the tree come Christmas.

Apart from hearing a rough live version of "Love Can Heal" from the Paper Scissors Rock tour many years ago, I have avoided listening to the monthly releases and so will come to the album (I prefer listening to an entire album as a whole work) 'deaf' as it were.

The only thing I'm asking myself is should I listen to each disc as it is, or listen to both versions of each song side by side and so on...? Would I be prejudiced against whichever 'side' I didn't listen to first? Or that I did listen to first...?

Or will I just be bloody grateful that after 21 years (and 24 days) I'll actually have his new album in my hands, as a little over 2 years ago I posted:

"Only when I have a CD of new original PG material in my hands

...and only when I have listened to the CD for the second time (because the first might be a dream)...

...will I start to believe his new album might be nearing release."

...or actually has been released...

Mine has just arrived & I have to put it on iTunes. It seems excessive to put both mixes on, so I'll start with the Bright Side Mix. I probably won't be albe to distinguish between them anyway.

I've listened to the bright side through, then the dark side, and on these first casual couple of listens I couldn't point to a single difference I noticed. Maybe the dark side Four horses version is a little more orchestral and less techno-y than the bright side mix?? I could be way off with that though.

Quote from thewatcher

I've listened to the bright side through, then the dark side, and on these first casual couple of listens I couldn't point to a single difference I noticed. Maybe the dark side Four horses version is a little more orchestral and less techno-y than the bright side mix?? I could be way off with that though.

I've been playing both for a while and am starting to hear the differences a lot clearer. The one that stands out is the much bigger splash at the end of Road to Joy on the dark side!

This made me smile. Bald old fella battles it out with K-Pop stars and Michael Buble!

https://www.officialcharts.com…chart-race-michael-buble/