Peter Gabriel - New Blood

Peter Gabriel - "No guitars. No drum kit." The succinct self-description of the new orchestral project from one of rock's most innovative and respected visionaries hints at what's in store with the follow up of sorts to his 2010 covers album Scratch My Back. Arranger John Metcalfe is again on hand for the symphonic transformation, this time tackling Gabriel's own repertoire of songs that reach back to his 1977 solo debut...a concert DVD New Blood Live arrives October 25 // Release: New Blood (October 11, Real World) // Sounds like: As former frontman for once-progressive art-rockers Genesis and then for more than 30 years as a groundbreaking solo performer, Gabriel is no stranger to the dramatic -- a quality that not suprisingly serves him well here...some may argue that the treatment gives the project an overly cerebral tone  -- Gabriel describes it as "all adult and serious" -- but it's a revelation to hear these songs in a completely different context...

Quote: "We really felt as if we'd come up with something that we hadn't heard before. And what we really didn't want to do was the usual thing of having a rock band with an orchestra, so we took away the guitars, drums and bass and just worked with the colours of the orchestra." // What we like: Metcalfe and Gabriel keep the grandiosity factor in check even as the music moves to the larger stage, even big and busy productions like "Intruder" and "Red Rain" keep the use of space in perspective and Gabriel's voice firmly in the spotlight...we can quibble with the use of Ane Brun's tentative warble on "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Street" but there's something oddly affecting in the simple phrasing and tone of Gabriel's daughter Melanie on "Downside Up", a track that originally appeared on the 2000 album OVO...

Peter Gabriel - "Downside Up" (with Melanie Gabriel) (from New Blood)

Peter Gabriel - "Red Rain" (from New Blood)