Peter Gabriel
'UP'
Geffen Records
SACD MC

I'm a fan of this guy for a long time. 'SO', IMO, was easily in the top 5 records of the 80s.

I've seen his SACD releases everytime I visit Media Play to buy discs, but I refused to buy any of them because they were all stereo only releases.

Needless to say, when I saw that 'UP' was a Hybrid MC release, I snatched it up.

First things first...being a bass player for lo these many years, I gotta say, there is some powerful low freqs on this disc.
Most of it is in the FL/FR and gets redirected to the sub. There is relatively little info in the LFE channel.
Most of it comes from one of the most prolific session bassists ever, Tony Levin ('Double Fantasy', 'Thrak', 'SO', etc., etc.), and he is GOOD. A very cool guy, to boot.

Gabriel isn't for everyone. He continues to find a way to push the envelope, decade after decade.

There are great dynamics, there is abject insanity, social commentary, very deep imagery and imaginative conglomerations of sound along with some very beautiful melodies.

Production value is way up there.

The players are all top notch.

And the lyrics....well, you tell me:

'The knife, it scrapes across the burnt, brown toast
A freight train rumbles past my window
Oh
My head sounds like that'

Did I mention the bass?

It may take the right mood or a few listens, as was the case for me, but I'm giving this one a 'must have' rating.



[This message has been edited by bossobass (edited December 14, 2003).]