Shane’s Rock Challenge: Peter Gabriel – 1990 – Shaking the Tree

Shane’s Music Challenge: Peter Gabriel – 1990 – Shaking the Tree
9/10

An early compilation through Gabriel’s post-Genesis solo albums, Shaking The Tree shows what an innovative and interesting – not to mention articulate – songwriter he is.

From his much-loved Solsbury Hill and Sledgehammer, through duetting with Kate Bush on the exquisite and delicate (as his already shaky marriage would prove to be after cavorting with Bush on the song’s video shoot) Don’t Give Up, and the challenging art-rock of Games Without Frontiers and Shock The Monkey, as well as everything else here shows how innovative the man was & is. It’s no surprise he is so imitated.

I must confess, I have never liked Genesis. Perhaps I should give the early stuff a fresh go, to see what he was capable of in that band format. You can hardly blame me though – I immersed in music around the time Phil Collins took over Genesis, and if you put his Genesis and solo songs next to Gabriel’s, well… chalk & cheese, right?

Incidentally, since I refuse to own anything by Collins (with one small caveat, below) I’ll tell you about my Phil Collins Rule here. “If Phil Collins comes on the radio or wherever: Turn it off, or change it. If you can’t, then leave the premises. No-one needs to be listening to that shit.”

The caveat, of course, is In The Air Tonight: A great song, no matter how you slice it.

But, back on topic: Peter Gabriel -right on!

By Shane Pinnegar

Category: Shane's Rock Challenge