That Eric Alper

On October 2, 2015, Peter Gabriel’s first four self-titled solo albums will be made available on vinyl for the first time since 2002. The first three albums are affectionately known as Car, Scratch and Melt due to their iconic Hipgnosis designed covers, while the fourth album is entitled Security.

“I really wanted the first record to be different from what I’d done with Genesis so we were trying to do things in different styles,” says Peter Gabriel. “A bit of barbershop, which Tony Levin helped with, there were more bluesy things, a variety of songs and arrangements that were consciously trying to provide something different than what I’d done before.”

Much expertise and care was taken when remastering the albums, resulting in incredible audio for not just Peter Gabriel fans, but for the music community at large. All the albums have been Half-Speed Remastered and cut to lacquers at 45RPM, across two heavyweight 180g LPs to deliver maximum dynamic sound range. The vinyl was cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering, mastered by Tony Cousins at Metropolis and overseen by Peter Gabriel’s main sound engineer Richard Chappell.

The vinyl editions will be gatefold sleeves, utilizing imagery from the initial first LP pressings, sourced and re-scanned from original artwork. Each album comes as a limited edition and one of 10,000 worldwide units – all are individually numbered. The albums include download cards with a choice of digital download (Hi-Res 24-bit/96k or 16-bit/44.1k).

These releases form the first wave of vinyl re-releases that will see all of Peter Gabriel’s albums given the Half-Speed Remaster treatment over time, with further roll-out details to follow.

Following his departure from Genesis in 1975, Peter Gabriel released his first solo album, Peter Gabriel (often referred to as ‘Car’), in February 1977. It featured ‘Solsbury Hill’, his debut solo single, which remains one the best-loved songs in the Gabriel canon. Produced by Bob Ezrin, with guest musicians including Robert Fripp and, notably, the first appearance of long-term collaborator Tony Levin. The album charted at number 7 in the UK, and number 38 in USA.

The second album, Peter Gabriel also known as ‘Scratch’, followed in June 1978, with Robert Fripp installed as producer. Fripp continued to feed Peter’s growing fascination with electronics (see the use of ‘Frippertronics’ on the track ‘Exposure’), and the resulting album is denser and more experimental than the debut.

Writing in the NME, Nick Kent said, “closer to the root of the album, there’s a purity of strength to the songs individual enough to mark Gabriel out as a man whose creative zenith is close at hand.”

The third album, Peter Gabriel also known as ‘Melt’ released in May 1980 was Gabriel’s first solo UK number 1 album. It also included his first UK Top 5 single ‘Games Without Frontiers’ (which featured Kate Bush, who also appeared on the album’s ‘No Self Control’) and Peter’s first overtly political song ‘Biko’. Of ‘Biko’ Peter has said; “It was as much a song that helped shape me as the other way round.” Produced by Steve Lillywhite, the album features notable contributions from not only Kate Bush but also former band-mate Phil Collins, Paul Weller, who played guitar on ‘And On Through The Wire’ and Gabriel stalwart David Rhodes.

The final album in the series, Peter Gabriel, also known as ‘Security’ was released in September 1982. It further showcased Gabriel’s questing spirit, as not only did it point to Peter’s increasing interest in non-Western music and rhythms, it was also his first fully digital recording. The extensive use of sampling through the Fairlight CMI also brought a new dimension to this record. The album included his first US Top 40 hit ‘Shock The Monkey’.

The albums will be released on Real World.

Pre-order now from: www.petergabriel.com/vinyl

Currently Peter Gabriel remains in the studio working on new music.

TRACKLISTINGS:
 
PG1 – CAR (1977)
A1: Moribund The Burgermeister
A2: Solsbury Hill

B1: Modern Love
B2: Excuse Me
B3: Humdrum

C1: Slowburn
C2: Waiting For The Big One

D1: Down The Dolce Vita
D2: Here Comes The Flood
PG2 – SCRATCH (1978)
A1: On The Air
A2: D.I.Y.
A3: Mother of Violence

B1: A Wonderful Day In A One-Way World
B2: White Shadow

C1: Indigo
C2: Animal Magic
C3: Exposure

D1: Flotsam and Jetsam
D2: Perspective
D3: Home Sweet Home
PG3 – MELT (1980)
A1: Intruder
A2: No Self Control

B1: Start
B2: I Don’t Remember
B3: Family Snapshot
B4: And Through The Wire

C1: Games Without Frontiers
C2: Not One Of Us

D1: Lead A Normal Life
D2: Biko
PG4 – SECURITY (1982)
A1: The Rhythm Of The Heat
A2: San Jacinto

B1: I Have The Touch
B2: The Family and The Fishing Net

C1: Shock The Monkey
C2: Lay Your Hands On Me

D1: Wallflower
D2: Kiss Of Life