Another great show Pete. I am a huge fan of Peter Gabriel. I was so lucky to see him live at Kent State with my future wife back in the late 70's after his second solo release.
"Jeux sans frontieres"was also the slogan for the international version of the 70s game show 'It's A Knockout". " Kissing baboons in the jungle. It's a Knockout".
It must be double tracked because I swear that I hear Peter singing the French part too. Then again, I listen to the Sixteen Golden Greats version which I believe is a remix. I have "Melt", but haven't dusted it off for a while.
My top 7 PG albums: 1. Up - Every track rewards on repeated listens, his most mature lyrics. Also the longest tracks of any of his solo albums. My 10 faves: Darkness (rocks), Growing Up (a real grower), Sky Blue (exquisite with choir), Don't Leave (great mood journey song), I Grieve (Levin bass), The Drop (short and stark), The Barry Williams Show (phenomenal parody, biting lyrics), My Head Sounds Like That (a marvelous mind journey song), More Than This (could have been a single), Signal To Noise (the tour de force on this amazing record) 2. II - Robert Fripp did a great job in production and songwriting contributions. Maybe his quirkiest album. My 7 faves: On The Air (great sonics), DIY (punk Gabriel), Mother Of Violence (great ballad), A Wonderful Day In A One Way World (quirk city), White Shadow (best song on the album, horns!), Indigo (nice downbeat song), Flotsam And Jetsam (a brilliant two minutes) 3. So - PG strikes multi-platinum! My 5 faves: Red Rain (his strongest opening track), Sledgehammer (legendary sexual metaphors), Don't Give Up (Kate Bush!), In Your Eyes (his commercial zenith), Big Time (fun!) 4. III - His most consistent album. Maintains the vibe all the way through. My 4 faves: Intruder (sinister), No Self Control (ominous), I Don't Remember (psychotic), Games Without Frontiers (multi-lingual fun) 5. IV - A tale of two sides. First side almost all high, second side drags after Monkey. My 4 faves: The Rhythm Of The Heat (drums!), San Jacinto (his most majestic song), I Have The Touch (catchy), Shock The Monkey (his pop breakthrough) 6. I - Could have been a Genesis album, but lacks the textures of his subsequent releases. My 3 faves: Solsbury Hill (great allegory), Humdrum (prog!), Here Comes The Flood (epic!) 7. Us - His dreariest album, and the highlights repeat past accomplishments. My 3 faves: Steam (Sledgehammer pt.2), Digging In The Dirt (by far the best song on the album), Kiss That Frog (Sledgehammer pt.3)
Yeah!! I've been waiting for this one for ages! Here's my ranking 7- Peter Gabriel 2 (Scratch) 6- Up 5- So 4- Peter Gabriel 3 (Melt) 3- Peter Gabriel 1 (Car) 2- Us 1- Peter Gabriel 4 (Security) I absolutely love the top 5, really splitting hairs to separate them (except number 1)
I am a huge P G fan and have ranked my albums the following, 1 Melt, 2 So, 3 Security,, 4 Car, 5 Scratch, 6 Us, 7 Up. Such a great body of work from an outstanding talent, nice ranking Pete.
PG4 - Security for me ! Saw him live on that tour, Gabriel is one of the most charismatic/magnetic performer I ever saw live, up there with Rob Halford and Morrissey
Normand, I totally agree with you about the Security tour. I saw that show here in Cleveland Ohio and I can honestly say that it ranks in my top five all time and I have seen hundreds of shows in my lifetime.
I love that album. The tour was great as well. I think my favorite is the Melt album. Just some incredible songs. Intruder, I Don’t Remember, Biko, etc.
@@kenwhite8103 Yeah, it's the tour captured on the Plays Live album, incredible stuff. Saw the tour as well and it's in my top 3 concert experiences for sure.
I might've included his soundtrack albums, "Birdy" and especially "Passion" (from the last temptation of Christ). He is an amazing artist. Good recap, Pete.
US is my favourite. Don't know why I love it so much but I think it's the topics and sound. It also gives me that warm feeling that only your favourite albums do.
The Melt album was such a landmark in so many ways....he was dropped from Atlantic because of this record.( they thought he had lost his mind)..it's his one and only on Mercury...Notice their are no cymbals on this record( no hi-hat...no crash...no ride...nada)...but most of all it was the birth of gated reverb on the drums(discovered by accident) that became the drum sound of the 80's...look up the history of gated reverb on youtube to get the full story....
The melt album will always be my fav , takes me back to 1980 living in a basement flat in Islington , london..my flat mates and me played that album to death and we even had the album poster up in the bathroom lol
Oh MAN!!!! This was a tough one!!! I LOVE Melt, but I also love the dense production and soundscapes of US. 1. Security 2. So 3. Us 4. Melt 5. Scratch 6. Car 7. Up
Gotta go with "Melt" as my #1. WMMR in Philly was playing almost every track from this album and my 16 yr old self loved it. His first 4 albums have aged very well.
Saw Peter live on the PG 3 tour . Very edgy. A sense of danger which was very exciting.. This atmosphere around his persona receded over time , but still a great artist , writer and vocalist
I'm surprised you skipped over Passion for your listing. Peter & Rosanna Arquette were living in Big Sur and would occasionally come into the record store where I worked in Carmel. I asked him if he would sign the Passion album for me and he obliged. He held it in both hands, staring at it for a prolonged period, then looked up and apologized. He said it was the first time he had seen the finished artwork! It was always a thrill when they came in. He asked me for many, many recommendations and Rosanna turned me on the Indigo Girls.
Always admire Peter Gabriel's solo work as I love most of his stuff and Us is my main favourite album with his discography. An underrated album that's a classic and a favourite of all time
Brilliant video thank you for sharing. Can’t argue with your ranking as you could put his albums in any order and it would be right as they are all outstanding.
Hi Pete, in the UK in the 70's we had a TV program called 'It's A Knock Out'. Basically human crazy golf with competitors in costumes and stuff doing obstacle courses. I guy called Stuart Hall used to commentate and spent most of it laughing his nuts off. The teams that won the UK heats went to play in 'European Finals' with other countries and the program was called "jeux sans frontières". You can check both out, plenty of clips on this channel. Believe that's where it came from 'Games without frontiers war without tears'..
Hey Pete, thanks for this one. I have always been a huge Gabriel fan and really enjoyed seeing your ranking. One other little historical note; when the "Melt" album was presented to his US label at the time, Atlantic Records, they thought that he had lost his mind or on heavy drugs and dropped him from label. It was originally released on Mercury Records and on later Geffen, which became his next "home".
My sister and I used to call Sledgehammer the Dancing Chicken song, solely because of the music video. Absolute gem of a song and it's one of my all time favourites.
Peter Gabriel had an excellent solo career after Genesis. It's hard to choose a favorite Peter Gabriel solo album but my favorites would be Melt, Security, So, Passion and Us.
Enjoyed the video... I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan! I really need to give you some advice, though... You NEED to get the 2002 remasters of the early albums! They sound SO much better! Seriously... very much worth the investment.
Thanks for this review. My favourites are as follows: 1. Peter Gabriel (iv) Security 2. Up 3. Peter Gabriel (i) Car 4. So 5. Peter Gabriel (iii) Melt 6. Peter Gabriel (ii) Scratch 7. Us
The line 'jeux sans frontières' (trans: games without frontiers) is a reference to a Europe-wide game show that used to air on TV. A bit like the Eurovision song contest, but with countries competing in silly games instead of performing songs. The UK-only version of the programme was called 'It's a knockout' and Pete makes a direct reference to that in the song's lyrics.
My introduction to Peter's solo albums was "Security" and that remains my favourite album - the drums at the end of "The Rhythm of the Heat" are amazing - BUT they're all great albums as are "Passion" and "Birdy"
Good show, Pete! It IS weird that you never did Peter Gabriel solo before since you are such a huge Genesis fan. I remember you did something on his best LIVE album which is divine that was a good show...maybe live album recommendations. You have so much going on with the channel, though. Congrats on the 20 MILLION views, too! We all know you put a lot of hours into this and deserve it. :-) Anyway....I would pick a tie for So and Us at number one. Depends on my mood. Then the first four in this order - 3,4,1,2. And the latest ones I would rank last. I honestly haven't listened to them as much as the other ones and should be ashamed of myself. Thanks again for this show!
Same here with Games Without Frontiers. I was 16 and mesmerized by that song. And the video added to the mystery not knowing who Peter Gabriel was at the time.
It was funny how PG made a new video of 'GWF' later. Guess he was kinda embarrassed by the unintentional ped-oh vibes of the original. It's a great biting, sarcastic video.
Interesting that you skipped Passion. I get the omission of the post-Up stuff, but I know quite a few people that rate Passion alongside the top albums in his catalog. Not sure it would crack my Top 5, but it deserves a mention. Oh well. Great list anyway. 👍
@@seaoftranquilityprog I can understand excluding compilations and live albums, but soundtracks can be worth mentioning at times. Granted some soundtracks are made up of little more than instrumental soundscapes, but occasionally they feature fully-developed songs with vocals. In PG's catalog, I'd say Passion and OVO are worth noting, though perhaps not Birdy so much.
My favourite PG album is the third one - the one that has Games Without Frontiers, Intruder, I Don't Remember, Lead a Normal Life and other songs. I even listened to the German version.
One of the most consistent discography. He´s been working on a new one since 1995, he said it would be released in 2004... He´s 71, I´m optimistic and say he´ll have it released before he´s 80. No pressure.. Very hard catalogue to rank. I think the top 5 are perfect all the way through, the bottom two mostly. 1. SO 2. III 3. IV 4.UP 5.Us 6.II 7. I
I might swap out the first album and "Security" on the list, but it's a close call, mainly due to "Solsbury Hill", a song I personally connect with on so many levels. But there are so many great cuts on "Security" that I'm inclined to bump this up a bit. Agree with the other rankings, and particularly with "Melt" as Number One. But one of my favorite Gabriel songs is "The Tower That Ate People" which I first heard on his "Hit/Miss" recording (which also had "Burn You Up. Burn You Down" - another great song). Thanks for a fun video!
"The Tower that Ate People" is a phenomenal and totally overlooked piece of his! I first heard it as the end song of the movie "Red Planet" and I thought...... waitaminute... and sure enough. th-cam.com/video/h7SdYvN__vs/w-d-xo.html
Melt is definitely my #1. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time. Every song is just incredible on it. I love most of Gabriel’s albums. Love your videos, Pete! This is my top 7: 1. Peter Gabriel III (Melt) 2. Peter Gabriel IV (Security) 3. Peter Gabriel 1 (The Car Album) 4. Us 5. So 6. Peter Gabriel II (Scratch) 7. Up
I'm glad you did this because I never got heavily into his solo stuff except the first Peter Gabriel and I want to. Your taste is very close to mine in rock so it will be a good kinda directory for me! 😁👍
I'm mostly a hard rock/metal fan but I have to say Peter Gabriel put on one of the best shows I've ever seen...I saw him in 1993 promoting the US album and even though the songs from US had different arrangements live than on their studio counterparts they sounded really awesome. My only disappointment was with the audience...most of the crowd sat in subdued silence until Solsbury Hill was played and of course everyone screamed and jumped around and had fun and then it was silence again until Sledgehammer was played and of course more silence from the crowd until In Your Eyes was played during the encore...I really hate when audiences only get into the show during the really popular songs. Actually saw that happen at an AC/DC show one year.
You weren't at my US concert then. It was in L.A. & PG couldn't do his usual floating on the audience during 'Lay Your Hands on Me' because they would've torn him apart. Shame. Probably because the audience was filled with young former metalheads after the Hollywood hard rock crap started to die thanks in part to grunge.
To me Melt is one of the few perfect albums. So it's definitely number one for me. Us would be a 10/10 if you trim 20 minutes. My hot take is that So has the best singles but it doesnt jell as an album, specially with the original sequencing.
This was tough. I like all of these a lot, except for "Up". I originally had "Security" at #5, but it kept moving up the list. Needless to say, this could change at any time. Especially #3-5. 7) Up (the only thing more boring are his next two covers albums) 6) Us (I really like this and listened to it a lot when it came out) 5) Peter Gabriel 1/Car 4) Peter Gabriel 2/Scratch 3) Peter Gabriel 4/Security 2) So (I didn't expect this to be so high on my list, but... here we are) 1) Peter Gabriel 3/Melt (easy #1 for me. I could listen to "Intruder" and "Biko" on repeat for hours.) Thanks for the video, Pete!
I knew of Gabriel because of MTV but didnt start listening to more than what was on the radio until Us. I was a Genesis fan but didnt know he was ever in the band. So in the 90's i was growing up listening to both, discovering their 80's stuff, but i never went back into the 1970's for some reason, so i had no clue they were connected....i feel pretty dumb these days, since i watch Sea of Tranquility regularly. Anyway, i only know the last 4 albums but love them all. 1. Us 2. So. 3. Up 4. Security
When I started to listen to PG solo career it was just after my love story with early Genesis and I was blown away by " Car" , that was not far away from the progressiveness I was still hoping he would retain. And I wasn t disappointed! from start to finish it s masterpiece , u got some rockers ( modern love) some blues ( waiting for a big one) some folk( solsbury ) , some prog ( moribumd, down the dolce vita) , and a bombastic rock epic ( here comes the flood). Fantastic. However as years passed and I dug a bit deeper in his catalogue I was more and more in love with all of his albums including side projects and live shows., and I must say that for me the Scratch album which is the most overlooked underapriciated and underrated PG album is my all time favourite ( with Us close second)...It is a strange album in his apparent simplicity , and direct approach, but when u pay attention to it closely it has several layers and each listening brings something new to the ears.It s like Fripp meets Randy Newmam meets Billy Joel , meets punk and mature pop. Very very consistent album with cool bittersweetnes to it.Melt is the one I had the most difficult time with after being enamoured with the two firsts.The no cymbals robotic drumming, and the cold wavish sound was a bit harsh to get used to. A bit depressing. To this day it s the PG album I have a love hate rekation with , and easily my least favourite. And by the way Pete, I swear today the song Wonderful day in a one way world popped in my head all day and I was wondering if you would deliver your appreciation of PG albumsany time soon..and here u are ! Unbelievable synchronicity! Great Vlog , as usual ! Keep up the good work! Cheers
If Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had have stayed with Genesis there is no doubting my mind they would've been the greatest band ever. I believe that they would've adjusted to the post program era much better than Genesis without them adjusted. Stunning creativity in the classic Genesis lineup.
They probably would have been great, although I don't think they would have held onto their epic prog style for as long as fans may have wanted them to. Virtually all of the '70s prog greats turned more toward pop in the late '70s and '80s, including the ones that had no lineup changes. So I don't see why it would have been different for Genesis even if Pete and Steve had stayed around.
also at the time Games Without Frontiers was a single here in the UK.. we used to have a programme on tv called It's a Knock Out ! ... which I wouldn't be surprised if Pete had in mind when writing the song 😎✌🏻
The label/category I use for most music from PG, Kate Bush and the like is "prog-pop". Seems to describe it the best for me at least. My favorite PG list, including the soundtracks and live albums, I simply can't leave those out: 1. Plays Live (saw the tour, amazing) 2. Passion 3. PG 4 4. Birdy 5. PG 3 6. SO 7. US 8. PG2 9. UP 10. PG1
Great Review and ranking as always. I can definitely understand why you put 3 or Melt first, such as innovative album and helped changed the face of 80s Pop music for production techniques.. However, 'So' for me is j Perfect and just edges it 1. So 2. PG 3 3.PG 4 5.PG 1 6.PG 2 7.UP 8.US
From the second Genesis lp to his last solo UP there is not a dud . Not even close. No artist in my lifetime has a track record like him. My favorite artist. I'm not going to pick one. Can't do it.
I LOVE me some Peter Gabriel! We agree on "Melt" being the favorite, but the rest is a bit different. Here's my ranking: 1. Peter Gabriel III (Melt) 2. Peter Gabriel IV (Security) 3. Us 4. So 5. Up 6. Peter Gabriel I (Car) 7. Peter Gabriel II (Scratch) I also enjoy his soundtrack albums. I'd rank those as follows: 1. Passion: Music from The Last Temptation Of Christ 2. OVO: The Millennium Dome Show 3. Birdy: Music from the film by Peter Gabriel 4. Long Walk Home: Music from The Rabbit-Proof Fence
A bit off topic but shout out for all of the great live Gabriel records: Back To Front Live In Vienna, Growing Up Live, Plays Live, Rare (Live), The Warm Up Tour - Summer 2007: 02.07.07 Brescia, Italy. It's really tough to say "I'm glad Gabriel left Genesis because the solo albums are so good". They are (mostly) but there's no telling where the band would've gone next, after all he left at age 25 & at his peak. Maybe Hackett would've stayed too or maybe not, or maybe Collins would've left to go solo & to become a lead singer (supposedly he never really seriously considered taking the mic full-time before Gabriel left - he had to be persuaded). Where the band had already taken the music by 1975 was amazing, especially considering their age. If that had continued then who knows what would've come next. I really like the Trick through Duke records too but it's just the "what if" of more Gabriel Genesis records, there was something really special about the early albums that they never really recaptured post-Gabriel
Another great show Pete. I am a huge fan of Peter Gabriel. I was so lucky to see him live at Kent State with my future wife back in the late 70's after his second solo release.
Games Without Frontiers is Kate Bush singing in french "jeux sans frontières"
To this day I thought she was saying "She's so far below" lol
People also used to think she was saying “She’s so popular”
"Jeux sans frontieres"was also the slogan for the international version of the 70s game show 'It's A Knockout". " Kissing baboons in the jungle. It's a Knockout".
@@BrainiacFingers Here come the Belgians!
It must be double tracked because I swear that I hear Peter singing the French part too. Then again, I listen to the Sixteen Golden Greats version which I believe is a remix. I have "Melt", but haven't dusted it off for a while.
My top 7 PG albums:
1. Up - Every track rewards on repeated listens, his most mature lyrics. Also the longest tracks of any of his solo albums. My 10 faves: Darkness (rocks), Growing Up (a real grower), Sky Blue (exquisite with choir), Don't Leave (great mood journey song), I Grieve (Levin bass), The Drop (short and stark), The Barry Williams Show (phenomenal parody, biting lyrics), My Head Sounds Like That (a marvelous mind journey song), More Than This (could have been a single), Signal To Noise (the tour de force on this amazing record)
2. II - Robert Fripp did a great job in production and songwriting contributions. Maybe his quirkiest album. My 7 faves: On The Air (great sonics), DIY (punk Gabriel), Mother Of Violence (great ballad), A Wonderful Day In A One Way World (quirk city), White Shadow (best song on the album, horns!), Indigo (nice downbeat song), Flotsam And Jetsam (a brilliant two minutes)
3. So - PG strikes multi-platinum! My 5 faves: Red Rain (his strongest opening track), Sledgehammer (legendary sexual metaphors), Don't Give Up (Kate Bush!), In Your Eyes (his commercial zenith), Big Time (fun!)
4. III - His most consistent album. Maintains the vibe all the way through. My 4 faves: Intruder (sinister), No Self Control (ominous), I Don't Remember (psychotic), Games Without Frontiers (multi-lingual fun)
5. IV - A tale of two sides. First side almost all high, second side drags after Monkey. My 4 faves: The Rhythm Of The Heat (drums!), San Jacinto (his most majestic song), I Have The Touch (catchy), Shock The Monkey (his pop breakthrough)
6. I - Could have been a Genesis album, but lacks the textures of his subsequent releases. My 3 faves: Solsbury Hill (great allegory), Humdrum (prog!), Here Comes The Flood (epic!)
7. Us - His dreariest album, and the highlights repeat past accomplishments. My 3 faves: Steam (Sledgehammer pt.2), Digging In The Dirt (by far the best song on the album), Kiss That Frog (Sledgehammer pt.3)
Digging In The Dirt is genius
Listen to Us with headphones and man you will float to Come Talk To Me and Blood of Eden it takes you to another place (No drugs either lol)
Ooo and Washing Of The Water amazing track
In summer '86 Peter and Genesis switched U.S. #1 position in the pop singles charts, what a moment for prog rock :)
Yeah!! I've been waiting for this one for ages!
Here's my ranking
7- Peter Gabriel 2 (Scratch)
6- Up
5- So
4- Peter Gabriel 3 (Melt)
3- Peter Gabriel 1 (Car)
2- Us
1- Peter Gabriel 4 (Security)
I absolutely love the top 5, really splitting hairs to separate them (except number 1)
Great list!
Melt is such a great album.
I am a huge P G fan and have ranked my albums the following, 1 Melt, 2 So, 3 Security,, 4 Car, 5 Scratch, 6 Us, 7 Up. Such a great body of work from an outstanding talent, nice ranking Pete.
PG4 - Security for me ! Saw him live on that tour, Gabriel is one of the most charismatic/magnetic performer I ever saw live, up there with Rob Halford and Morrissey
Normand, I totally agree with you about the Security tour. I saw that show here in Cleveland Ohio and I can honestly say that it ranks in my top five all time and I have seen hundreds of shows in my lifetime.
Man you got to see him do the stage fall, that must’ve been awesome
I love that album. The tour was great as well. I think my favorite is the Melt album. Just some incredible songs. Intruder, I Don’t Remember, Biko, etc.
@@kenwhite8103 Yeah, it's the tour captured on the Plays Live album, incredible stuff. Saw the tour as well and it's in my top 3 concert experiences for sure.
I might've included his soundtrack albums, "Birdy" and especially "Passion" (from the last temptation of Christ). He is an amazing artist. Good recap, Pete.
OVO too is interesting although more of a collab I guess - Birdy is up there with my favourite PG albums
Both really good, especially "Passion", in my opinion.
@@fogzax
Ovo is a really good album. (Awesome album).
Heard more of 3000 times since 2000 !!
Luv thee US record , saw that tour , still one of my top 10 concerts....just Great!
US is my favourite. Don't know why I love it so much but I think it's the topics and sound. It also gives me that warm feeling that only your favourite albums do.
The Melt album was such a landmark in so many ways....he was dropped from Atlantic because of this record.( they thought he had lost his mind)..it's his one and only on Mercury...Notice their are no cymbals on this record( no hi-hat...no crash...no ride...nada)...but most of all it was the birth of gated reverb on the drums(discovered by accident) that became the drum sound of the 80's...look up the history of gated reverb on youtube to get the full story....
Passion and So are very close number ones for me.
Security was groundbreaking and ominous in all the best ways.
My favorite PG solo album - the Melt album and then Security.
I keep going back & forth b/w those 2 as my favorites. I just can't choose b/w them.
Peter Gabriel could sing "Do You Know The Muffin Man?" and make it delightfully dangerous.
Or maybe even Frank Zappa's Muffin Man. 😃
Ha! I can just imagine that!
The melt album will always be my fav , takes me back to 1980 living in a basement flat in Islington , london..my flat mates and me played that album to death and we even had the album poster up in the bathroom lol
Oh MAN!!!! This was a tough one!!! I LOVE Melt, but I also love the dense production and soundscapes of US.
1. Security
2. So
3. Us
4. Melt
5. Scratch
6. Car
7. Up
I’m so sad that we ALL get old. I wish we could keep PG young forever. What would we hear?!
Leaving Genesis was a smart move, his solo catalog is glorious.
Not as good as Trespass up to the Lamb though for me…I say that as a huge Peter fan
Yes, I am so glad he left Genesis and gave us so much great music to love as a solo artist. Like a bird spreading his wings and taking flight.
Kids, what you gonna do?
His Genesis is arguably more gorgeous, but that may be splitting hairs. Either way, I'm glad we have both.
Thank you Pete- I knew you would get to the highly talented Peter Gabriel eventually, I love them all but especially melt scratch and car!
Thank you for this. Always wanted to know about Gabriel’s material in such a complete all encompassing definitive way.
Gotta go with "Melt" as my #1. WMMR in Philly was playing almost every track from this album and my 16 yr old self loved it. His first 4 albums have aged very well.
Go Birds 🦅!
Saw Peter live on the PG 3 tour . Very edgy. A sense of danger which was very exciting.. This atmosphere around his persona receded over time , but still a great artist , writer and vocalist
Peter Gabriel first live album. Spectacular!!!!!
I'm surprised you skipped over Passion for your listing. Peter & Rosanna Arquette were living in Big Sur and would occasionally come into the record store where I worked in Carmel. I asked him if he would sign the Passion album for me and he obliged. He held it in both hands, staring at it for a prolonged period, then looked up and apologized. He said it was the first time he had seen the finished artwork! It was always a thrill when they came in. He asked me for many, many recommendations and Rosanna turned me on the Indigo Girls.
So - what a remarkable album. One of my favorite vinyls.
Melt is my favorite but there all excellent a true masterful tunesmith and epic live performer. Keep these ranking episodes coming can’t get enough.
“Jeux sans frontières”
Kate is singing “Games Without Frontiers” in French.
Great show Pete. I've followed PG since 1970. So much brilliant work throughout the years. Your ranking is spot-on.
Many thanks.
Great ranking Pete, I love PG solo discography also, especially the first records before So.
I believe it's Kate Bush on Games without frontiers who sings jeux sans frontieres,which is French for....Games without frontiers.
All of this is correct.
Passion - ethno-avantgarde musical masterpiece and most extreme spiritual journey. #1 for me. Cheers.
I agree with you Pete, my favourite is the third self-titled as well. There are no bad ones.
Always admire Peter Gabriel's solo work as I love most of his stuff and Us is my main favourite album with his discography. An underrated album that's a classic and a favourite of all time
Brilliant video thank you for sharing. Can’t argue with your ranking as you could put his albums in any order and it would be right as they are all outstanding.
7. So
6. Up
5. Us
4. "Security"
3. "Car"
2. "Scratch"
1. "Melt"
Hi Pete, in the UK in the 70's we had a TV program called 'It's A Knock Out'. Basically human crazy golf with competitors in costumes and stuff doing obstacle courses. I guy called Stuart Hall used to commentate and spent most of it laughing his nuts off.
The teams that won the UK heats went to play in 'European Finals' with other countries and the program was called "jeux sans frontières".
You can check both out, plenty of clips on this channel.
Believe that's where it came from 'Games without frontiers war without tears'..
Great! Thank you!
My ranking:
1. 4
2. 3
3. So
4. Us
5. 2
6. Up
7. 1
Hey Pete, thanks for this one. I have always been a huge Gabriel fan and really enjoyed seeing your ranking. One other little historical note; when the "Melt" album was presented to his US label at the time, Atlantic Records, they thought that he had lost his mind or on heavy drugs and dropped him from label. It was originally released on Mercury Records and on later Geffen, which became his next "home".
My sister and I used to call Sledgehammer the Dancing Chicken song, solely because of the music video. Absolute gem of a song and it's one of my all time favourites.
Peter Gabriel had an excellent solo career after Genesis. It's hard to choose a favorite Peter Gabriel solo album but my favorites would be Melt, Security, So, Passion and Us.
He's grown on me threw the years. And threw the wire is my favorite song 🎵
Thanks. It Makes again a lot of fun.
Greetings from Germany
1. Security 2. Melt 3. So 4. Car 5. Scratch 6. Us 7. Up
Passion would be #2 if soundtracks counted
You rank them exactly how I do for the same reasons. Great video, sir. Appreciate your channel
Enjoyed the video... I'm a big Peter Gabriel fan! I really need to give you some advice, though... You NEED to get the 2002 remasters of the early albums! They sound SO much better! Seriously... very much worth the investment.
Thanks Sir, i discovered "Melt" after watching this video. I'm really really into it, Love It!❤️
This Is how I would Rank them:
1) So
2) Us
3) Melt
4) Security
5) Car
6) Up
7) Scratch
Swap 4 with 5 and that's my list.
@@stevefleming8742 Yeah... all his albums are great but I kind of rank them by how many times I have listened to them.
Love the Gabriel debut and play it often. Saw him at the Tower in Philly on that tour. Fripp on guitar.. great band/show. Television opened.
Thanks for this review. My favourites are as follows:
1. Peter Gabriel (iv) Security
2. Up
3. Peter Gabriel (i) Car
4. So
5. Peter Gabriel (iii) Melt
6. Peter Gabriel (ii) Scratch
7. Us
The line 'jeux sans frontières' (trans: games without frontiers) is a reference to a Europe-wide game show that used to air on TV. A bit like the Eurovision song contest, but with countries competing in silly games instead of performing songs. The UK-only version of the programme was called 'It's a knockout' and Pete makes a direct reference to that in the song's lyrics.
"Security' all day every day.
it was 'jeux sans frontières', french for games without frontiers
Great albums!
I neglected to mention The Mahabharata soundtrack. However, that's actually performed by various artists on Peter's Real World label.
The 3rd Gabriel album (Melt) is so solid and perfect it holds up with the best Gabriel/Genesis era records. Masterpiece!
The definitive versions of Secret World, Kiss That Frog, and Come Talk To Me are on the Secret World Live album.
My introduction to Peter's solo albums was "Security" and that remains my favourite album - the drums at the end of "The Rhythm of the Heat" are amazing - BUT they're all great albums as are "Passion" and "Birdy"
1. So
2. Car
3: scratch
4:Melt
5:Security
6: Us
7: Up
Great list Pete... "She's so funky yeah!!"
I love US so much. Ever since its release, has always been a top 10 album for me.
Good show, Pete! It IS weird that you never did Peter Gabriel solo before since you are such a huge Genesis fan. I remember you did something on his best LIVE album which is divine that was a good show...maybe live album recommendations. You have so much going on with the channel, though.
Congrats on the 20 MILLION views, too! We all know you put a lot of hours into this and deserve it. :-)
Anyway....I would pick a tie for So and Us at number one. Depends on my mood. Then the first four in this order - 3,4,1,2. And the latest ones I would rank last. I honestly haven't listened to them as much as the other ones and should be ashamed of myself. Thanks again for this show!
Same here with Games Without Frontiers. I was 16 and mesmerized by that song. And the video added to the mystery not knowing who Peter Gabriel was at the time.
It was funny how PG made a new video of 'GWF' later. Guess he was kinda embarrassed by the unintentional ped-oh vibes of the original. It's a great biting, sarcastic video.
Self title 1980 album is great!
Passion is my number one, and OVO with the legendary Paul Buchanan also on vocals is non too shabby.
Oh let’s go!! I was just looking for this video last night!!
Interesting that you skipped Passion. I get the omission of the post-Up stuff, but I know quite a few people that rate Passion alongside the top albums in his catalog. Not sure it would crack my Top 5, but it deserves a mention.
Oh well. Great list anyway. 👍
Yeah looks like he omitted the soundtracks. Fair enough
Passion is my favorite Peter Gabriel record. Amazing.
I don't include soundtracks, compilations, and live albums when I do these.
@@seaoftranquilityprog Makes sense. The commenters picked up the slack either way, as they so often do. :)
@@seaoftranquilityprog I can understand excluding compilations and live albums, but soundtracks can be worth mentioning at times. Granted some soundtracks are made up of little more than instrumental soundscapes, but occasionally they feature fully-developed songs with vocals.
In PG's catalog, I'd say Passion and OVO are worth noting, though perhaps not Birdy so much.
My favourite PG album is the third one - the one that has Games Without Frontiers, Intruder, I Don't Remember, Lead a Normal Life and other songs. I even listened to the German version.
One of the most consistent discography. He´s been working on a new one since 1995, he said it would be released in 2004... He´s 71, I´m optimistic and say he´ll have it released before he´s 80. No pressure..
Very hard catalogue to rank. I think the top 5 are perfect all the way through, the bottom two mostly.
1. SO
2. III
3. IV
4.UP
5.Us
6.II
7. I
Intruder is a noire masterpiece, Dire Straits’ Private Investigations is up there too.
Nice video I have heard about half of his albums. My favorite I heard is So. Great album with no filler. I will dig more into his catalog.
1. III: Melt 2. IV: Security 3. II: Scratch 4. Us 5. I: Car 6. So 7. Up
I might swap out the first album and "Security" on the list, but it's a close call, mainly due to "Solsbury Hill", a song I personally connect with on so many levels. But there are so many great cuts on "Security" that I'm inclined to bump this up a bit. Agree with the other rankings, and particularly with "Melt" as Number One. But one of my favorite Gabriel songs is "The Tower That Ate People" which I first heard on his "Hit/Miss" recording (which also had "Burn You Up. Burn You Down" - another great song).
Thanks for a fun video!
"The Tower that Ate People" is a phenomenal and totally overlooked piece of his! I first heard it as the end song of the movie "Red Planet" and I thought...... waitaminute... and sure enough. th-cam.com/video/h7SdYvN__vs/w-d-xo.html
Melt is definitely my #1. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time. Every song is just incredible on it. I love most of Gabriel’s albums. Love your videos, Pete!
This is my top 7:
1. Peter Gabriel III (Melt)
2. Peter Gabriel IV (Security)
3. Peter Gabriel 1 (The Car Album)
4. Us
5. So
6. Peter Gabriel II (Scratch)
7. Up
Yes, all are very good to great
1 - Melt
2 - Security
3 - So
4 - Us
5 - Car
6 - Up
7 - Scratch
Flip the top two and you’ve got my list. Bravo!
Jeux San Frontieres was a pan European crazy game show between different countries on tv at the time the song was released.
God bless, Pete!! Great choice. This is really after my own heart. ;)
1) SECURITY!!!
Runner UP ....can one guess? ;)
surprised and pleased you went with Peter's albums, I think he's very underrated
my top is
1 Us
2 Up
3 PG1
4 PG4
5 So
6 PG3
7 PG2
"Birdy" and "Passion",I would put those two on the top of the list.
I was literally going to ask for this today. 🤙👏
I’ve only heard the first 4 but I love them! Gonna have to check out the rest soon.
1. Melt
2. Car
3. Security
4. Scratch
I'm glad you did this because I never got heavily into his solo stuff except the first Peter Gabriel and I want to. Your taste is very close to mine in rock so it will be a good kinda directory for me! 😁👍
I'm mostly a hard rock/metal fan but I have to say Peter Gabriel put on one of the best shows I've ever seen...I saw him in 1993 promoting the US album and even though the songs from US had different arrangements live than on their studio counterparts they sounded really awesome. My only disappointment was with the audience...most of the crowd sat in subdued silence until Solsbury Hill was played and of course everyone screamed and jumped around and had fun and then it was silence again until Sledgehammer was played and of course more silence from the crowd until In Your Eyes was played during the encore...I really hate when audiences only get into the show during the really popular songs. Actually saw that happen at an AC/DC show one year.
You weren't at my US concert then. It was in L.A. & PG couldn't do his usual floating on the audience during 'Lay Your Hands on Me' because they would've torn him apart. Shame. Probably because the audience was filled with young former metalheads after the Hollywood hard rock crap started to die thanks in part to grunge.
1.Passion, 2.So, 3.Melt, 4.Security 5-6. Us and Up, 7.Car, 8.OVO, 9.Scratch, 10.Birdy, 11.Long Way Home
To me Melt is one of the few perfect albums. So it's definitely number one for me. Us would be a 10/10 if you trim 20 minutes. My hot take is that So has the best singles but it doesnt jell as an album, specially with the original sequencing.
I love changing the sequence on So. Try a chronological one.
It's so good, not a skippable track on it.
This was tough. I like all of these a lot, except for "Up". I originally had "Security" at #5, but it kept moving up the list. Needless to say, this could change at any time. Especially #3-5.
7) Up (the only thing more boring are his next two covers albums)
6) Us (I really like this and listened to it a lot when it came out)
5) Peter Gabriel 1/Car
4) Peter Gabriel 2/Scratch
3) Peter Gabriel 4/Security
2) So (I didn't expect this to be so high on my list, but... here we are)
1) Peter Gabriel 3/Melt (easy #1 for me. I could listen to "Intruder" and "Biko" on repeat for hours.)
Thanks for the video, Pete!
Phil Collins found his famous gated reverb drum sound working on PG's "Intruder"
thanks to the engineer just working with XTC !
I knew of Gabriel because of MTV but didnt start listening to more than what was on the radio until Us. I was a Genesis fan but didnt know he was ever in the band. So in the 90's i was growing up listening to both, discovering their 80's stuff, but i never went back into the 1970's for some reason, so i had no clue they were connected....i feel pretty dumb these days, since i watch Sea of Tranquility regularly.
Anyway, i only know the last 4 albums but love them all. 1. Us 2. So. 3. Up 4. Security
When I started to listen to PG solo career it was just after my love story with early Genesis and I was blown away by " Car" , that was not far away from the progressiveness I was still hoping he would retain. And I wasn t disappointed! from start to finish it s masterpiece , u got some rockers ( modern love) some blues ( waiting for a big one) some folk( solsbury ) , some prog ( moribumd, down the dolce vita) , and a bombastic rock epic ( here comes the flood). Fantastic. However as years passed and I dug a bit deeper in his catalogue I was more and more in love with all of his albums including side projects and live shows., and I must say that for me the Scratch album which is the most overlooked underapriciated and underrated PG album is my all time favourite ( with Us close second)...It is a strange album in his apparent simplicity , and direct approach, but when u pay attention to it closely it has several layers and each listening brings something new to the ears.It s like Fripp meets Randy Newmam meets Billy Joel , meets punk and mature pop. Very very consistent album with cool bittersweetnes to it.Melt is the one I had the most difficult time with after being enamoured with the two firsts.The no cymbals robotic drumming, and the cold wavish sound was a bit harsh to get used to. A bit depressing. To this day it s the PG album I have a love hate rekation with , and easily my least favourite. And by the way Pete, I swear today the song Wonderful day in a one way world popped in my head all day and I was wondering if you would deliver your appreciation of PG albumsany time soon..and here u are ! Unbelievable synchronicity! Great Vlog , as usual ! Keep up the good work! Cheers
If Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett had have stayed with Genesis there is no doubting my mind they would've been the greatest band ever. I believe that they would've adjusted to the post program era much better than Genesis without them adjusted. Stunning creativity in the classic Genesis lineup.
They probably would have been great, although I don't think they would have held onto their epic prog style for as long as fans may have wanted them to. Virtually all of the '70s prog greats turned more toward pop in the late '70s and '80s, including the ones that had no lineup changes. So I don't see why it would have been different for Genesis even if Pete and Steve had stayed around.
also at the time Games Without Frontiers was a single here in the UK.. we used to have a programme on tv called It's a Knock Out ! ... which I wouldn't be surprised if Pete had in mind when writing the song 😎✌🏻
The label/category I use for most music from PG, Kate Bush and the like is "prog-pop". Seems to describe it the best for me at least. My favorite PG list, including the soundtracks and live albums, I simply can't leave those out:
1. Plays Live (saw the tour, amazing)
2. Passion
3. PG 4
4. Birdy
5. PG 3
6. SO
7. US
8. PG2
9. UP
10. PG1
plus i saw this tour at the la forum and when he surfed the crowd during lay your hands on me i got to pass him we had pretty good floor seats
I too have melt at #1. I love the early stuff
"Passion " music from film is so trippy and strong .1989 .
Great Review and ranking as always. I can definitely understand why you put 3 or Melt first, such as innovative album and helped changed the face of 80s Pop music for production techniques.. However, 'So' for me is j Perfect and just edges it
1. So
2. PG 3
3.PG 4
5.PG 1
6.PG 2
7.UP
8.US
From the second Genesis lp to his last solo UP there is not a dud . Not even close. No artist in my lifetime has a track record like him. My favorite artist. I'm not going to pick one. Can't do it.
PG's one of those rare, up there in the stratosphere true-music-as-art Rock Legends.
I LOVE me some Peter Gabriel! We agree on "Melt" being the favorite, but the rest is a bit different. Here's my ranking:
1. Peter Gabriel III (Melt)
2. Peter Gabriel IV (Security)
3. Us
4. So
5. Up
6. Peter Gabriel I (Car)
7. Peter Gabriel II (Scratch)
I also enjoy his soundtrack albums. I'd rank those as follows:
1. Passion: Music from The Last Temptation Of Christ
2. OVO: The Millennium Dome Show
3. Birdy: Music from the film by Peter Gabriel
4. Long Walk Home: Music from The Rabbit-Proof Fence
I'm surprised Passion is not included in this list.
A bit off topic but shout out for all of the great live Gabriel records: Back To Front Live In Vienna, Growing Up Live, Plays Live, Rare (Live), The Warm Up Tour - Summer 2007: 02.07.07 Brescia, Italy.
It's really tough to say "I'm glad Gabriel left Genesis because the solo albums are so good". They are (mostly) but there's no telling where the band would've gone next, after all he left at age 25 & at his peak. Maybe Hackett would've stayed too or maybe not, or maybe Collins would've left to go solo & to become a lead singer (supposedly he never really seriously considered taking the mic full-time before Gabriel left - he had to be persuaded).
Where the band had already taken the music by 1975 was amazing, especially considering their age. If that had continued then who knows what would've come next. I really like the Trick through Duke records too but it's just the "what if" of more Gabriel Genesis records, there was something really special about the early albums that they never really recaptured post-Gabriel