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Peter Gabriel

May 15, 2014 by strictlyrock Leave a Comment

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Peter Gabriel was born in Chobham, Surrey, England, in 1960. His father was an electrical engineer, however his mother, more musically inclined, instilled in Gabriel a love for music as a child, teaching Gabriel to play the clarinet. Growing up in private schools around England, Gabriel eventually transferred to Charterhouse school, where history would begun to be made. Befriending classmates Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Mike Rutherford, and Chris Stewart (a drummer). In 1967, with a name suggested by a fellow classmate, the group of young friends decided to start a band called Genesis, with Gabriel on the microphone. Gaining attention in England, Genesis became famous for their intriguing concert performances, using black lights and black light responsive sheets as backdrops, creating the illusion of silhouettes performing music for their audience.

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While filming for an Australian documentary, Gabriel appeared onstage wearing a dress and a fox-head (much to his bandmates’ surprise), and soon grew famous for his outlandish, dreamlike costumes. This fame however, began to take a toll on the band as a whole. By setting himself off with his eccentricities, Gabriel began to be singled out as the group’s frontman, while the group was, in actuality, comprised of four collaborators who worked together to produce the band’s music. Heightened by Gabriel’s ambitious work on Genesis’ album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, to which he contributed a large share of the work, and which the band performed in entirety while on tour, and which became highly theatrically-charged. The combined stress of his singled-out fame, the highly-demanding tour, and issues in his private life prompted Gabriel to announce his departure from Genesis in 1975.

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Following his departure from Genesis, Gabriel began a solo career which included eight studio albums to date—the first four all titled Peter Gabriel—much to the frustration of his producers. His first solo album, released in 1977, produced the hit Solsbury Hill, which was a reflection about leaving Genesis. While his second album, released in 1978, yielded no hits, his third album, released in 1980, fared somewhat better. Recruiting the collaborative help of former bandmate Phil Collins on multiple tracks, the 1980 album was responsible for hits including “Games Without Frontiers,” “I Don’t Remember,” and “Biko.” By the release of Gabriel’s fourth album, record producers in the US were losing patience, and ultimately forced Gabriel to choose a more definitive name for the album. Dubbed Security in the US and released in 1992, the album brought to the table hits such as “Kiss of Life,” “I Have the Touch,” and “Shock the Monkey,” which produced a popular music video on MTV.

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Moving away from the artistic choice to name all of his solo albums Peter Gabriel, his 1986 release, titled So, proved to be one of his most successful albums to date. Featuring five singles—”Big Time,” “In Your Eyes,” “Sledgehammer,” “That Voice Again,” and “Don’t Give Up,” the album was certified platinum five times in the US. His next album, titled Passion, was released in 1989 and served as the soundtrack for the film The Last Temptation of Christ. While it did not produce any radio hits, Passion earned Gabriel the Grammy for Best New Age Artist in 1990. Us, released in 1992, explored personal matters in Gabriel’s life, and produced hits such as “Digging in the Dirt,” “Steam,” “Kiss that Frog,” and “Secret World.”

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The new millennium brought new albums for Gabriel. His 2002 release, Up, was self-produced and returned to the sounds which made him famous in the late ’70s. His lengthy singles never charted, however the album itself charted at #9 in the US. Following Up, Gabriel turned his attention again to soundtracks, producing songs for Disney’s 2008 film WALL-E, which earned him a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture. Continuing to remain in the pop-culture spotlight, Gabriel released Scratch My Back in 2010. Consisting entirely of covers from bands such as David Bowie, Radiohead, The Arcade Fire, and Neil Young, Gabriel’s artistic genius will be made clear when the album I’ll Scratch Yours is released—in which the bands covered on Gabriel’s album will, in turn, cover his own music. With further albums on the horizon (his up and coming album I/O, for example, has fans eagerly awaiting its release), Gabriel has made clear that after over forty years of performing, he’s showing no signs of stopping.

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100 Greatest Rock & Roll Bands

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Rolling Stones
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Elvis Presley
  6. The Who
  7. U2
  8. Pink Floyd
  9. The Doors
  10. The Police
  11. Elton John
  12. Metallica
  13. AC/DC
  14. Van Halen
  15. Nirvana
  16. Guns N' Roses
  17. Santana
  18. The Allman Brothers Band
  19. Bon Jovi
  20. David Bowie
  21. Grateful Dead
  22. Rush
  23. Yes
  24. Black Sabbath
  25. Bob Dylan
  26. James Brown
  27. The Beach Boys
  28. Eric Clapton
  29. Fleetwood Mac
  30. The Eagles
  31. Bob Marley
  32. Van Morrison
  33. Bruce Springsteen
  34. The Clash
  35. Queen
  36. Janis Joplin
  37. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  38. R.E.M.
  39. The Kinks
  40. Steely Dan
  41. Steve Miller Band
  42. Jethro Tull
  43. Tool
  44. The Scorpions
  45. Coldplay
  46. Stone Temple Pilots
  47. Rod Stewart
  48. Marilyn Manson
  49. Creedence Clearwater Revival
  50. KISS
  51. The Pretenders
  52. Green Day
  53. Aerosmith
  54. Tina Turner
  55. Pearl Jam
  56. Ted Nugent
  57. Pantera
  58. Motörhead
  59. Judas Priest
  60. ZZ Top
  61. Megadeth
  62. Motley Crue
  63. Alice Cooper
  64. Def Leppard
  65. Iron Maiden
  66. Billy Idol
  67. Journey
  68. Anthrax
  69. Rage Against the Machine
  70. Blue Oyster Cult
  71. Alice in Chains
  72. Genesis
  73. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  74. Chuck Berry
  75. Buddy Holly
  76. Little Richard
  77. Elvis Costello
  78. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  79. Sex Pistols
  80. Cream
  81. Frank Zappa
  82. Talking Heads
  83. Stevie Ray Vaughan
  84. Billy Joel
  85. The Band
  86. Ramones
  87. Lynyrd Skynyrd
  88. Jerry Lee Lewis
  89. Doobie Brothers
  90. Foo Fighters
  91. The Cure
  92. Soundgarden
  93. Iggy Pop
  94. Peter Gabriel
  95. The Byrds
  96. Traffic
  97. Deep Purple
  98. Blondie
  99. Velvet Underground
  100. Heart

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