Peter Gabriel
Car

Release Date: 1977 | Tracklist

“Car” is the debut studio album of Peter Gabriel that was released in 1977. The line up on the album is basically Gabriel that played several instruments. But, the album had also the participation of Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Allan Schwartzberg, Jimmy Maelen, Steve Hunter, Larry Fast, Jozef Chirowski, Dick Wagner and the London Symphony Orchestra with arrangements by Michael Gibbs.


As many of we know, Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975 after Genesis’ sixth studio album “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” which was released in 1974. “Car” was made right after his departure from Genesis. This is a conceptual album essentially created by his own mind. His departure from the band was the final result of several factors. Gabriel was saturated with the band and he wanted to pursue new musical projects. The decision was taken before the live tour supporting “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” album, but Gabriel stayed in the group until the conclusion of that live tour. So, somehow, we can say that “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” is a sort of his first attempt as solo, really.

In the beginning of his solo works, Gabriel was still trying to find his way. His time in Genesis had, of course, had a lasting influence on him and cast the foundation for his reputation as a singer, songwriter and performer. Now, wanting to turn away from the music style that Genesis made, he approached of other styles. Musically, the album is rich in arrangements that hail from guitar mainstream but also in unexpected effects. Strings and a brass group help give the album a big, lofty and expansive bombastic sound. Almost all the songs follow the conventional pattern of verse-chorus-verse, which is a marked contrast to the meandering structures of Genesis songs. Gabriel also uses elements of hard rock rather than classical music and he would continue to make use of them in the mid of the 80’s. As far the lyrics are concerned, Gabriel still writes stories as weird as in his times with Genesis, but also with introspective lyrics, which is a first experience for him. The words to his songs are, however, still rich in puns that require a careful interpretation.

“Car” has nine tracks. All songs were written by Gabriel, except “Excuse Me” which was written by Gabriel and Martin Hall. “Moribund The Burgermeister” has a great Gabriel’s theatrical vocal performance, which is one his trademarks. It’s one of the most progressive songs on the album and one of its best too. “Solsbury Hill” was written after Gabriel’s departure from Genesis and it explains the main reasons why he left them. It’s the most beautiful song on the album and one of my favourites too. Fripp’s guitar work at the end is magic. “Modern Love” is a more conventional song. It’s a very beautiful, strong and rhythmic song. The chorus is nice and it has good melodies too. “Excuse Me” is a very fun song but is an average song. It’s one of the less interesting tracks on the album. Anyway, we have a great guitar work from Fripp here. “Humdrum” is a very interesting and beautiful song with some progressive leanings. It’s beautifully composed and performed. It’s subtle and gentle and has a nice melody. “Slowburn” is the second heavily song on the album. It’s completely different from “Modern Love” but it’s no less interesting. It features the same kind of sound of it but it’s played more up tempo and lacks to it the majesty of that track. “Waiting For The Big One” is a typical song on the blues area. It’s a slow song with some interesting piano parts. After “Excuse Me” this is the other average track on the album. Besides, I never was a great fan of blues. “Down The Dolce Vita” is another very good song, one of the best tracks on the album. This is absolutely an amazing song with a frenetic rhythm and is very well orchestrated. It’s with “Solsbury Hill”, “Here Comes The Flood” and “Humdrum”, one of the highest moments on the album. “Here Comes The Flood” is a fantastic song to finish the album. It’s an amazing and emotional piece extremely beautiful that oscillates between some acoustic and calm moments and some electric explosive moments. This is one of the loveliest songs that Peter has ever written. Personally, I always loved it. It represents a fantastic close for this so interesting album.


Conclusion: Peter Gabriel’s debut studio album is, without any kind of question, a very good album. However, I’m sure that it was a sort of a disappointment for many Genesis’ fans at the time of its release, starting with myself. Why? Because we expected an album musically something different, but much closer to Genesis’ style of music and above all, much more progressive than it really is. Anyway, be different doesn’t have to be necessarily a bad thing. After all these years and after the dust of time has settled, we may say this is an album with good musical quality and it has also some great musical moments. The album represents a first attempt for Gabriel try and builds a musical career as a solo artist. After all these years, we can say that he has not quite found his feet yet with this album, but his large potential is evident and is all on it. Still, if you want to discover the real Gabriel’s music, this isn’t probably the best starting point.


Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)

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