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Peter Gabriel (1977 album)

Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel (self-titled album, 1977 - cover art).jpg
Studio album by Peter Gabriel
Released 25 February 1977 (1977-02-25)
Recorded July 1976 – January 1977
Studio The Soundstage, Toronto, Canada, Morgan Studios, London, Olympic Studios, London
Genre Arena rock, progressive rock, art rock
Length 41:42
Label Atco (US & Canada)
Charisma
Producer Bob Ezrin
Peter Gabriel chronology
Peter Gabriel
(1977)
Peter Gabriel
(1978)
Singles from Peter Gabriel
  1. "Solsbury Hill"
    Released: 1977
  2. "Modern Love"
    Released: 1977
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars
Chicago Sun-Times 3/4 stars
Entertainment Weekly A
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3/5 stars
The Village Voice B+

Peter Gabriel is the first studio album by English rock musician Peter Gabriel and the first of four with the same eponymous title. Released on 25 February 1977, it was produced by Bob Ezrin. Gabriel and Ezrin assembled a team of musicians, including King Crimson main-man Robert Fripp, to record the album. Upon the album's release, Gabriel began touring with a seven-piece band under his own name.

This album is often called either Peter Gabriel 1 or Car, referring to the album cover by London artist Peter Christopherson when he was associated with the London artists group Hipgnosis. The car was a Lancia Flavia owned by Hipgnosis founder Storm Thorgerson.

The album went to No. 7 in UK and No. 38 in the USA.

Gabriel's first solo success came with the album's lead single "Solsbury Hill", an autobiographical piece expressing his thoughts on leaving Genesis. Although mainly happy with the music, Gabriel felt that the album and especially the track "Here Comes the Flood" was over-produced. Piano-only or piano with synth versions may be heard on Robert Fripp's Exposure, his appearance on Kate Bush's 1979 TV special and a third version on his greatest hits compilation Shaking the Tree (1990). He often performs the song live accompanied by only himself on keyboard, either in German or English, depending on the audience.

Direct Disk Labs released a half speed mastered version from the original master tapes. It has a longer version of "Slowburn" (5:16 instead of 4:36) with the song's introduction intact. All other versions of this album have the introduction (with a full band) edited out.

During the The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour, Gabriel announced to his Genesis bandmates that he had decided to leave the band, citing estrangement from the other members and the strains on his marriage. Nonetheless, he saw his commitment through to the conclusion of the tour. The breaking point came with the difficult pregnancy of Gabriel's wife, Jill and the subsequent birth of their first child, Anna. When he opted to stay with his sick daughter and wife, rather than record and tour, the resentment from the rest of the band led Gabriel to conclude that he had to leave the group.


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Wikipedia

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