OVO The Millennium Show

A Review by Slipperman

Many Peter Gabriel fans may be hesitating before taking the leap with

this record. They may think it's a half-soundtrack, half-multimedia

self-indulgence which has served to distract the Gabeman from his

"proper task" - completing Up.

 

Well, after listening to the album all I can say: Get it. Now.

 

This is Gabriel at the top of his game and will

appeal to anyone who loved the tortured beauty of Passion, the

passionate lyricism of Us or has any interest in grown-up, joined-up

music for now people. This is music with blood in its veins and joy in

its heart. Now for the track by track.

 

1 Low Light (6.39)

 

The first all-new Gabriel album for eight years starts very much how

you'd expect, with just a few hints of the pleasures to come: an ominous

drone, Shankar's double violin and vocal and a tentative, almost

stumbling, piano part set the stage with an eerie prefiguring of The

Nest That Sailed The Sky (about which, more later) Low Light is, in

effect, an overture, a point underlined when the Electra Strings burst

into the piece halfway through with a heart-piercing variation on

Downside-Up. Iarla O'Lionaird's Gaelic vocal is beautiful. The track

ends with a synth bass reprise of the early piano figure over the slowly

dying drones.

 

2 The Time Of The Turning (5.08)

 

The first song tugs at your soul. Richie Havens - an old friend of

Genesis who sang on Steve Hackett's 1978 album Please Don't Touch - is

cast as the father figure (Theo) in this section, set in an agrarian

Eden. Acoustic piano, acoustic guitars and hammer dulcimers provide the

setting for his heartfelt vocal over a tricky, skipping rhythm. Alison

Goldfrapp (about whom I know nothing - anyone got any information?)

sings the chorus while Havens takes the verses. But, come on - you've

probably all heard this on the Real World website anyway...

 

3 The Man Who Loved The Earth/The Hand That Sold Shadows (4.12)

 

Suddenly it's all Dhol Foundation drums and Ganga Giri's bizarre

didgeridoo solo blasting out of the speakers. Very aggressive, very

electronic, very processed, with clattering drums and treatments. Like

some of the more esoteric rhythm pieces on Passion with a more funky

series of shifting backbeats. When the first half melds into The Hand

That Sold Shadows, David Rhodes, guitar blasts out some classic Gabriel

power chords before the whole thing sadly comes to an abrupt end.

 

4 The Time of The Turning (reprise)/ The Weaver's Reel (5.39)

 

A friend who's actually seen the Show was a bit down on this section,

saying it was too reminiscent of Riverdance-style nonsense. But there's

a lot more going on here than that. The opening and midsection reprise

of The Time Of The Turning chorus, sung by Goldfrapp over the Black Dyke

band's evocative brass backing, is both poignant and ominous and the jig

mayhem is a cunning blend (to these ears) of traditional Irish and

Indian musics. The closing section, with the folk instruments

climactically blending with brass and strings before dramatically

expiring while the Dhol Foundation clatter out a terrifying drum

crescendo, simply has to be heard to be believed.

 

5 Father, Son (4.55)

 

A simple piano ballad performed by PG, the Black Dyke Band and Tony

Levin on bass, Father, Son features the first Gabriel vocal on the

record. Heartfelt and melodically powerful, this is probably the song

about PG's father mentioned in the revised edition of Spencer Bright's

biography. The emotional power of the song, in particular the closing

verse, grows with repeated plays. Blokes in the audience will especially

like this one; you can't help but think of your relationship with your

own dad as you listen.

 

6 The Tower That Ate People (4.45)

 

This is the track that was released on the last Real World Notes E-CD

as100 Days To Go, but it's been developed considerably since that

version. This is more like a song in the vein of "Digging In The Dirt,"

although with a much more modern spin in its rhythm tracks. Levin,

Rhodes and Manu Katche are especially strong here and the piece seems to

have developed an entirely new vocal middle eight to that featured in

the Dome version. This really stomps along. I like it! The end section

drums, which sounded so much like Rhythm Of The Heat and The Feeling

Begins on the earlier version, have now been reconfigured, and appear on

a track of their own as...

 

7 Revenge (1.28)

 

A short percussive coda to the song, featuring an entirely different

drum pattern to the one on the earlier E-CD.

 

8 White Ashes (2.40)

 

One of the more "experimental tracks," White Ashes features an odd,

loping, synthesised bass line, upfront electronicised percussion,

processed screams and a nagging, imposing vocal chant which gains in

force and drama as the track closes. Spooky!

 

9 Downside-Up (6.02)

 

This is the one that Dome visitors are whistling as they leave. And who

can blame them? It's utterly gorgeous. Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile

whistles over the atmospheric acoustic guitar intro before Elizabeth

Fraser of the Cocteau Twins starts the vocal proper. Buchanan takes the

first chorus ("Downside-up, upside down/Take my weight from the ground/

Falling deep in the sky/Slipping into the unknown....) and it'll hit

you straight away, believe me. This belongs with "In Your Eyes" and "Secret

World" in Peter Gabriel's Power Ballad Hall Of Fame. The middle section

with the band rocking out as PG and Havens sing an "OVO chant" leads to

a phenomenal closing stretch with the strings leading into as

keyboard-led recapitulation of the main melody and Buchanan and Fraser's

closing chorus. Sheer beauty.

 

10 The Nest That Sailed The Sky (4.53)

 

An ambient mood piece with roots leading back to Open from Passion and

even Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

This is more beautiful than either, mainly because of the way Shankar's

violin rises from a bed of glorious brass swells.

 

11 The Tree That Went Up (2.17)

 

Joyful drama with synths and strings (arranged by PG himself) blasting

out strange, twisted chord shapes over a foundation of titanic drums. It

all ends far too quickly. I could have listened to much more of this

stuff.

 

12 Make Tomorrow (10.18)

 

Is this the longest track on any of PG's studio albums outside Genesis?

I think so. Whatever, it,s rapidly becoming my favourite track. A

complex and organic tangle of guitar, strings, keyboards and percussion

underpins yet another amazing tune. Buchanan, Fraser, PG and Havens all

contribute to the vocals, with a message of inspiration for the future

underlining the conclusion to the story. The prominent role given to the

guitar parts (Gabriel himself is credited with "synth guitar") is

particularly interesting, adding a Fripp/Edge/Frisell frisson to a

naggingly addictive rhythm track. The band, especially Levin,s bass, are

also extraordinary in the home stretch. The track eventually fades into

a striking Electra Strings coda. It's magic, trust me.

 

Overall, the album shows Gabriel to still be the master of the areas he

has previously made his own as well as taking a few steps into

previously unexplored territory. The jig, the almost techno percussive

edge to some tracks, the increased use of guitars and the very effective

and colourful use of brass and strings are just some of the new wrinkles

on this one. Listening to OVO has brought all my love of Gabriel music,

slowly fading after an eight-year drought, rushing back. The story

itself, delivered in a cartoon strip in a thick accompanying booklet is

naive and simplistic, though, and doesn't approach the music in terms of

originality and emotion. An extra CD single with a rap version of the

story is for completists only and seems an odd addition. Both CDs

feature the same enhanced track - a time-lapse video of the Show to a

soundtrack of The Nest That Sailed The Sky.

 

Anyone willing to start laying bets on when Up will be out? I can't wait

to hear some of this stuff on stage.

---

 

Back to the Music