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- REVIEWS, Page 72MUSICThe Rhythms Of Inwardness
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- By GIL GRIFFIN
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- PERFORMER: PETER GABRIEL
- ALBUM: Us
- LABEL: Geffen
-
- THE BOTTOM LINE: After a long hiatus, the cerebral rocker
- returns with a new, deeply introspective album.
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- Six years between studio albums is an eternity in pop
- music. This is especially true for fans of Peter Gabriel, the
- 42-year-old British rock singer, composer, producer and avid
- human-rights activist. Gabriel's last album, So, was
- progressive, musically and lyrically; his latest, Us, is even
- more compelling.
-
- Gabriel has hardly been idle since So was released. In
- 1988 he joined Sting and Tracy Chapman on an Amnesty
- International tour. Two years ago, he created the Real World
- record label to provide a vehicle for Third World musicians
- (some of whom appear on Us) and later composed the score for
- Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ. With the
- Reebok Foundation, he started the Witness program, which
- supplies video cameras to human rights groups in the hope that
- they will record violations.
-
- Despite Gabriel's heightened social awareness, his new
- album is not devoted to political, economic and social matters,
- but mainly to the breakups of his marriage and a postmarriage
- romance. With his band and guest musicians from such countries
- as Senegal, Turkey and Armenia creating a dense sonic atmosphere
- and incorporating Western and non-Western rhythms, he turns
- inward, examining through cerebral lyrics his behavior in
- relationships.
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- In the first released single, Digging in the Dirt, with
- its power guitar riffs, Gabriel explores his "dark" side, as he
- menacingly barks orders to a lover in the chorus. Moments after
- his anger subsides, he exposes his vulnerability, pleading,
- "Stay with me, I need support." Perhaps nowhere else does he so
- eagerly long for an end to pain and for the remedy of a lasting
- relationship than on Love to be Loved and Washing of the Water.
- In the former, Gabriel confesses his fears of loneliness over a
- moody, mid-tempo track, singing, "When my self-esteem is
- sinking, I like to be liked/ In this emptiness and fear, I want
- to be wanted/ 'Cos I love to be loved." Washing of the Water,
- with its slow piano-and-drum accompaniment, sounds hymnal.
- "River, oh river running deep," Gabriel implores, "Bring me
- something to take this pain away."
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- The ethereal ballad Blood of Eden (with Sinead O'Connor
- singing backup) uses biblical references to emphasize Gabriel's
- hunger for spiritual and sexual union. The up-tempo Steam,
- featuring a funky, pumping bass line and brass blasts, teems
- with sexual energy, as Gabriel lusts for a woman who is "turning
- up the heat."
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- Apart from the playful Kiss That Frog, based on the Prince
- Charming fairy tale, Us offers little in the way of light fare.
- Recent Gabriel converts who expect another slew of hits to equal
- those heard on So will be disappointed, but Gabriel's older
- fans, accustomed to his challenging lyrics and textured musical
- landscapes, will find that Us is for them.
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