Ten years since his last U.S. studio release, Peter Gabriel’s latest collaboration, “Up,” is more than just 10 tracks of emotionally stirring music.
It’s also a conceptual album that’s rooted in the human psyche and may be considered his darkest release to date.
Almost as if he suffered a nervous breakdown between albums, Gabriel seems to derive his lyrics from a sudden and drastic epiphany.
He takes listeners on a journey through the realization of the crack in one’s self-identity, the attempt, struggle and failure of correction, the despair that follows, the recovery and ultimate regaining of the will to attack it all again.
Gabriel fuses these lyrics with a sound track that intensifies and compliments these impressions.
The opening track, “Darkness,” brings these ideas into focus. A mixture of delicate, drifting melody clashes with crashing and stomping rhythms to produce a mental tug-of-war that is both soothing and disturbing.
“I’m afraid of what I do not know/ I hate being undermined/ I’m afraid I can be devil man / and I’m scared of being divine/ don’t mess with me, my fuse is short/ beneath this skin these fragments caught/ when I allow it to be/ there’s no control over me/ I have my fears/ but they don’t have me.”
“I Grieve,” the fifth track, was the first to make me stop, rewind and give pay utter attention.
It has a sullen downward drift that hangs as Gabriel mournfully breathes the words of loss. It’s very lonely and at times cries out for relief and release.
“The news that truly shocks is the empty empty page/ while the final rattle rocks its empty empty cage/ and I can’t handle this/ I grieve for you/ you leave me/ let it out and move on/ missing what’s gone/ they say life carries on and on/ they say life carries on and on and on.”
As the name of the album implies, there is more than just melancholy to this collection. There are also rays of hope and the strength of resolve.
“Sky Blue,” track three, is open, free and aspiring. Gabriel intertwines The Blind Boys of Alabama seamlessly, which polishes this jewel and makes it shine.
Having the guts to do this and pulling it off with such style is worthy of much credit.
“No Way Out,” track four, is the journey into the struggle. It is laden with percussion and African rhythms.
Its essence is reflective while still traveling forward to the goal. It moves at a brisk pace, allowing the listener to feel some distance has been traveled.
The spiraling begins and all too soon a casualty ensues as darkness creeps in toward the end.
“Up,” the third of Gabriel’s two-letter-titled albums, is a brilliant, welcome change to what we have been offered for the last few years.
The funny thing is, he is nominated for the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance with “The Barry Williams Show,” which is one of the least noteworthy of songs on the album.
If you like Peter Gabriel, I shouldn’t have to tell you to go out and get it. But for those who like deep eclectic music and either weren’t sure or don’t know who he is, this album should be a staple in your collection.
Peter Gabriel gets darker on his first U.S. album released in 10 years. He collaborates with The Blind Boys of Alabama to produce one of the more hopeful tracks on the CD. (PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERSCOPE RECORDS)
