Friday, May 17, 2024

New Music: Peter Gabriel, Blue Öyster Cult

 Groundbreaking rock is on full display via several new titles available now.



Artist:
 Peter Gabriel
Title: Back To Front - Live in London (Mercury Studios)
You might like if you enjoy: Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, elbow
Tell me more: Available in 4K Ultra High Definition for the first time ever, Peter Gabriel's Back To Front - Live in London (released on May 10, 2024) is a marvelous showcase of how top-tier music making and state-of-the-art technology immerse and capture the power of a perfect concert. Filmed over two nights at The O2 arena in London on Oct. 21 and 22, 2013, the Hamish Hamilton-directed 142-minute Back To Front - Live in London was shot on Gabriel's tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of his groundbreaking 1986 album So. Gabriel embarked on that tour with his original 1986-87 touring band members drummer Manu Katché, bassist Tony Levin, guitarist David Rhodes and keyboardist David Sancious, who collectively played So in its entirety for the first time ever. The stellar visuals and audio quality on Back To Front - Live in London only bolster the power of the setlist. After opening with a previously-unheard and unfinished selection ("Daddy Long Legs" which would be further developed into "Playing For Time" for the artist's long-awaited 2023 full-length return i/o), Gabriel and company (including backing singers Jennie Abrahamson and Linnea Olsson) perform favorites and deep album cuts. Early standouts include the nuanced "Come Talk To Me," propulsive "Shock The Monkey," luxurious and poignant "Family Snapshot" and breezy crowd-pleasing track "Solsbury Hill." 

The performance of So selections includes a stunning "Red Rain" (enhanced by Katché's dynamic drum playing), euphoric "Sledgehammer" and "Don't Give Up," the latter teaming Gabriel's affecting vocals with Abrahamson's soprano. Gabriel shows off his theatrical talents and dance moves on an especially infectious version of "Big Time." The encore includes a performance of the ambitious art rocker "The Tower That Ate People" and impactful "Biko." 

Among the bonus features on the title is an interview with Gabriel and light show designer Rob Sinclair. A colorful 16-page booklet included with Back To Front - Live in London features a slew of photographs from the concert film as well as insightful liner notes penned by Mark Beaumont. Information: https://www.mercurystudios.co/.



Artist:
 Blue Öyster Cult
Title: Ghost Stories (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
You might like if you enjoy: Blue Öyster Cult, the Animals, Raspberries
Tell me more: Leave it to the technological magic of artificial intelligence and 21st century digital technology to assist one of rock's great enduring acts to complete a collection of choice cuts in 2024. Blue Öyster Cult's Ghost Stories is a full-length album of "reimagined and newly completed songs" that span from 1978-2016. The "lost gems" featured on the album were recorded mostly between 1978 and 1983 — the exception being 2016's heartfelt cover of the Beatles' beloved "If I Fell." Now the archival recordings originally tracked on reel-to-reel analog tape by audio engineer George Geranios have been completed. Produced by Steve Schenck and Richie Castellano, original band members Eric Bloom and Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser as well as Albert Bouchard, Rick Downey and Castellano worked to complete the tracks heard on Ghost Stories. Early highlights on this new disc include the blues-rock opener "Late Night Street Fight," haunting "So Supernatural," a winning cover of the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place," Neo-psychedelic nugget "Soul Jive," and rousing rocker "Gun." The dreamy "The Only Thing," a freewheeling lead guitar-fueled version of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," the classic rock flavored "Money Machine" and melodic prog rocker "Don't Come Running To Me" are among the standouts on the disc's last half. Order Ghost Stories HERE.



Robert Kinsler


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