Once again, a musical list that no one asked for, but it was on my mind, so here it is.
Gabriel has been one of my favorite artists from before I had any idea on who he was. He was the mind behind the progressive band Genesis, and when he left it, so did most of the value. His solo career has been a strange combination of British prog-rock, New York art rock, world music, retro, political activism, and spiritualism.
I’ve seen him twice in concert, and the first was the finest show I’ve ever seen, with nothing close. That concert was recorded and is one of the sources for his live album, Plays Live (1983).
He’s always been an album artist. As such, choosing best songs of his is very odd. I don’t listen to individual songs, but to entire albums. And the quality of individual songs rarely equate to the quality of the albums they are on. Ranking his “normal” studio albums from best to least, I’d place them Security, Melt {Peter Gabriel 3}, Car {Peter Gabriel 1}, So, Scratches {Peter Gabriel 2}, Us, Up. But Security does very poorly on my list below, while So does markedly better than the others.
A few honorable mentions: Slowburn (Car), On the Air (Scratches), Family Snapshot (Melt), And Through the Wire (Melt), Games Without Frontiers (Melt), San Jacinto (Security), I Have the Touch (Security), Lay Your Hands on Me (Security), Wallflower (Security), Don’t Give Up (So), Blood of Eden (So).
#10 That Voice Again (So)
#9 Come Talk to Me (Us)
#8 Secret World (Us)
#7 Modern Love (Car)
#6 The Rhythm of the Heat (Security)
#5 Here Comes the Flood (Car)
#4 Red Rain (So)
#3 Biko (Melt)
#2 Solsbury Hill (Car)
#1 In Your Eyes (So)