Bought the album today … no PG - never been.
But …
Like the album very much - it is a bit too well produced. But sound is good in my ears. I like the dark mix better - sounds more organic. Still not decided, if I like hd do cd better. Will also rip it with my melco d100 - the rips are a bit smoother than the quobuz downloads.
Like the calmer songs very much
I had a quick listen on Spotify and decided to add it to a small list if anyone wanted to give me a Christmas present, and now have it. I’ve listened a couple of times so far, and I also prefer the dark mix - the other is a bit ‘thin’ sounding for my taste. To me it is a bit weird an artist not deciding what they prefer and releasing that, instead offering two options. I haven’t listened enough yet to really form an opinion overall - whilst enjoyable it doesn’t ‘grab’ likesome of his earlier work.
When Supertramp released ‘some things never change’ it felt like a wank album and a lot of ‘irrelevant to me’ themes.
But the songs grew on me, and after a few days (a few plays), I found myself humming the tunes in my head and that it was a contagious listen.
Now, not saying it is one of Supertramps’ greatest albums, but I have listened to it more than any other of their individual albums (but not VS ‘best ofs’)…
Peter Gabriels’ newest seems to hold the same criticisms that Some Things Never Change (1997/Supertramp) often received,… and just like that release, is a ‘grower’.
on the topic of ‘why two mixes’; it no doubt landed A LOT of extra sales, AND had people play the album enough to ‘get in their heads’.
Brilliant.
To be fair, though, I like this album… the callbacks to previous works are part of its’ great weave- the strength recollected in those familiar beats and tunes that litter majority of the songs on this album release make it a masterful work in my eyes.
It reminds me that Peter Gabriel is STILL a master, erm,… alchemist or magician.
(My mum went Genesis is better with Phil route; but certainly with regards to their individual works: Gabriel, for me, is ‘just what the doctor ordered’)
Having had a rather long week, I finally sat down to read the paper this evening. Put on i/o, partly because I hadn’t listened to it for a few weeks and because the house was empty I could crank it a bit.
Slightly surprisingly, So Much (Dark Side) swiftly moved me to tears; quite profoundly so. A combination of factors, I suspect, but surely shows it’s not a trivial piece of work. Also, that my system’s clearly on song if it can provoke that much emotional involvement!