Peter Gabriel Retrospective: Album 08a- Scratch My Back

 

The eighth studio album by Peter Gabriel.

Album:  Scratch My Back

Year Released:    2010

Lineup:  

• Peter Gabriel – production, arrangement ("The Book of Love"), design concept
• Bob Ezrin – production
• John Metcalfe – arrangement (except "The Book of Love" and "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), mixing (except "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), orchestration (except "The Book of Love"), additional "Oxford" recording
• Nick Ingman – arrangement ("The Book of Love"), orchestration ("The Book of Love")
• Will Gregory – arrangement ("The Book of Love")
• Randy Newman – arrangement ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today")
• Richard Chappell – mixing, engineering (except "The Book of Love"), Air Studios sessions recording
• Tchad Blake – mixing ("My Body is a Cage", "Après moi")
• Pete Sené – assistant engineering (except "The Book of Love")
• Mark Claydon – assistant mixing (except "The Book of Love")
• Kurina Támas – recording ("The Book of Love")
• Kölcsényi Attila – recording ("The Book of Love")
• Steve Orchard – Air Studios sessions recording
• Olga Fitzroy – Air Studios sessions recording assistant, Pro Tools editor
• Laurence Greed – Pro Tools editor assistant
• Melanie Gabriel – vocals ("The Book of Love")
• London Scratch Orchestra – orchestra performance
• The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – choir ("My Body is a Cage")
• Hungarian Orchestra – orchestra performance ("The Book of Love")
• Tony Cousins – mastering
• Marc Bessant – graphic design, design concept
• Nadav Kander – photography
• David Hiscock – photography

Track listing:

1. "Heroes"                                         David Bowie                 4:10
2. "The Boy in the Bubble"                 Paul Simon                 4:28
3. "Mirrorball"                                 Elbow                         4:48
4. "Flume"                                         Bon Iver                         3:01
5. "Listening Wind"                         Talking Heads                 4:23
6. "The Power of the Heart"         Lou Reed                 5:52
7. "My Body Is a Cage"                 Arcade Fire                 6:13
8. "The Book of Love"                         The Magnetic Fields 3:53
9. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" Randy Newman         2:34
10. "Après Moi"                         Regina Spektor         5:13
11. "Philadelphia"                         Neil Young                 3:46
12. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" Radiohead                 5:06

Overall Thoughts:

Scratch My Back is a concept album- a song exchange with a dozen artists, with Peter Gabriel reinterpreting one of their songs and they returning the favor with one of Peter Gabriel's songs.  Gabriel's songs were realeased in the next album (And I'll Scratch Yours), which for various reasons wasn't released until 2013.

It's a fantastic concept.  Gabriel has always been a performer who pushed the boundaries of his music, introducing different styles, instruments, and technologies.  At times it cluttered up some of his songs (Us is full of songs that could sound fantastic with a bare bones, stripped down acoustic style), but other times it produced incredible works.  

The album is fine but disappointing.  It sounds great- musically and vocally (Gabriel's voice is outstanding).  My issue is that Gabriel's interpretation of these songs is to slow them down with a lot of piano and add orchestral music.  In some cases it works very well (I love his version of "The Power of the Heart"), but it feels like he's doing the same thing to every song.

This is Peter Gabriel- for his own albums, he has always brought in music and styles from all over the world.  Listen to his first album (the car album)- he has songs from different eras, including one that sounds it belongs in the 1890s.  I wanted Gabriel to take these songs and go wild with them- Do a Calypso version of "Heroes", or interpret "The Boy in the Bubble" as a marching song.  

Strangely, my criticism of this album is the exact opposite of my feelings about Us.  In that album, he created very personal, deep songs and then threw in so many bells and whistles that it obscured the lyrics.  With Scratch My Back, he took the lyrics of other songs and performed them the same way, when it calling out for Gabriel to be much more freeform.  

Ranking of Peter Gabriel Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. So
2. Up
3. Peter Gabriel (Melt)
4. Us
5. Security
6. Peter Gabriel (Car)
7. Scratch My Back
8. Peter Gabriel (Scratch)

Top 10 Peter Gabriel Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "In Your Eyes", So
2. "Don't Give Up", So
3. "Mercy Street", So
4. "Red Rain", So
5. "Solsbury Hill", Peter Gabriel (Car)
6. "Darkness", Up
7. "That Voice Again", So
8. "Sky Blue", Up
9. "Only Us", Us
10. "Wallflower", Security