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Peter Gabriel: Solsbury Hill
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Innovative pop artist Peter Gabriel, whose major hits include "Solsbury Hill," "Sledgehammer," and "Big Time," has been the subject of several concert and rock videos. The former lead singer for the '70s progressive rock group Genesis has ... penned distinctive scores for such films as Birdy (1984) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Peter "Peter" Gabriel was born in 1967 as a flower (a flower?) to a humble-British martian family, upon Solsbury Hill. Peter served his family underneath the window until he was found by Phil Collins.
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Gabriel recorded his first solo album in 1976 and 1977 with producer Bob Ezrin, titled Peter Gabriel. His first solo success came with the single "Solsbury Hill", an autobiographical piece expressing his thoughts on leaving Genesis. In it, he sings, "My friends would think I was a nut...", alluding to his decision to begin a period of self-exploration and reflection, while he grew cabbages, carrots, parsnips, broccoli and a wide range of other garden vegetables, played the piano for long hours, practiced yoga and biofeedback, and spent time with his family. Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album, and especially the track "Here Comes the Flood" was over-produced. Sparser versions can be heard on Robert Fripp's Exposure, and on Gabriel's greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree (1990).
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Shaking the Tree refracts Gabriel's solo career to match his maturing sensibilities. (Or, one could imagine, insurmountable inter-label politics.) "Solsbury Hill" is the only track from the first album preserved intact; "Here Comes the Flood" gets a new acoustic piano rendition. The second Peter Gabriel is overlooked completely; other than tokens from Passion and his work with Youssou N'Dour ("Shaking the Tree," from the Senegalese star's 1989 album, The Lion) that are unlikely to be on many fans' top-sixteen lists, the material comes entirely from the third and fourth Peter Gabriel albums and So. For all that, the compilation covers most of the essentials, with only "Contact," "Kiss of Life" and "D.I.Y." standing out as serious omissions.
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