![]() ![]() In the Acoustic segment, the early-’80s MTV fixture “Shock the Monkey” evolves into postmodern piano-driven funk swing, thanks to the minimalist intro and jazzy flourishes from Sancious and the way Katché carries and controls the revised tempo with his top-of-cymbal drumstick taps and intense hi-hat percussion before the emphatic “Shock!” breaks ensue. The set consists of three segments: Acoustic (four songs stripped down, and mostly with the house lights on), Retro (six favorites), and So (the album played in full, in essentially the original running order), plus two encores. Raincoated glory on the Live in Athens 1987 Blu-ray-a telling family snapshot of how much So has evolved over the subsequent years, thanks to the intuitive interplay of these top-drawer, improv-savvy musicians. (Newer additions Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olsson handle the background vocals.) For comparison, the core group can be seen in its full, of-era calf-length. There’s also an included code for a 24-bit download via the Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound.īack to Front commemorates the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking So album (give or take a year, that is), and it reunites the original touring band: guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin, drummer Manu Katché, and keyboardist/accordionist David Sancious. The chameleon’s golden ears (and eyes) must have been burning, because that tour’s special magic has since been captured on Back to Front: Live in London, and the best way to experience it all is via the Deluxe Limited Edition, which contains two Blu-rays with full concert footage shot in glorious 4K on one disc and a shorter theatrical version on the other, plus the full show on two CDs. While I did purchase the board-mix CDs approved by Gabriel’s longtime front-of-house engineer Ben Findlay, I wished I could also own such an unforgettable show in high-res A/V form. When I saw the Back to Front tour in Philadelphia in September 2012, I was struck not only by how much he and his band had updated each one of his catalog staples, but how sharp and nuanced they sounded in the oft-challenging arena setting. Genesis catalog, Gabriel takes exacting care to reinterpret and rearrange that material while leaving the melodic building blocks intact as touchpoints. ![]() On the occasions he’s chosen to revisit his vast and varied post. If there are new musical frontiers to discover and master, Gabriel is consistently among the first to dig into the aural dirt. ![]() The roles he’s chosen to inhabit over the last five decades are as varied and forward-thinking as they come: art school rocker. Peter Gabriel has made a career out of being a restless chameleon, a man perpetually interested in pushing sonic boundaries rather than remaining in stasis. ![]()
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