Peter Gabriel (1982 album)

History

This album is an early full digital recording. Its instrumentation is mostly electronic with extensive sampling (through use of the then-new Fairlight CMI) and percussion. It was recorded at Gabriel's then-home, Ashcombe House in Somerset, England in 1981. It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002.

The songs on the album cover a wide variety of subject matter. "The Rhythm of the Heat" is based on Carl Jung’s experience while observing a group of African drummers. "San Jacinto" reflects on the fear and pain experienced by a Native American man who sees his culture overwhelmed by modern white society, its lyrics based on a story told to Gabriel by an Apache member. "Shock the Monkey", a meditation on jealousy, uses imagery of a primate to describe personal anxieties. "Lay Your Hands on Me" deals with a theme of healing, through trust, which is further explored on later albums. "The Family and the Fishing Net" is a song comparing a modern-day wedding to a voodoo sacrifice. "Wallflower" is about the treatment of political prisoners in Latin America during the 1980s.

The recording of the album was profiled in detail in an episode of The South Bank Show, which was broadcast in 1982.

This was the last album by Gabriel to be titled Peter Gabriel until the 2008 compilation album released covermount into The Mail on Sunday.

Production

Larry Fast, synthesizer performer on the album, mentioned during a presentation on Moog synthesizers that the working title for "The Rhythm of the Heat" was "Jung in Africa", the working title for "Shock the Monkey" was "Black Bush", and the working title for "Lay Your Hands on Me" was "93" – this was the number of the LinnDrum pattern used on the track.

In popular culture

Track listing

All tracks written by Peter Gabriel.

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Album

Singles

Deutsches Album

Deutsches Album (1982) is the second German language album by Peter Gabriel; a German language adaptation of Gabriel's fourth album. The Deutsches Album was released simultaneously with the international edition in Germany. In lyrics and mixing, the album is noticeably different from the international release.

The album boasted a different running order and some substantially remixed songs from the English-language version. Even the background vocals were redone in German. Gabriel's previous German language album, Ein deutsches Album (1980), had been mostly an overdub of its corresponding English-language version, Peter Gabriel (1980).

The running order of Deutsches Album is slightly different from its parent, as "San Jacinto" is transposed with "The Family and the Fishing Net" (here, "Das Fischernetz"). There are also some obvious differences in running times, with some songs being 15–30 seconds longer or shorter than the corresponding international versions. Track eight gained a final coda not on the English version, while track seven has an earlier instrumental fade. Other changes are only noticeable when listening to both versions back-to-back, such as the shouted nonsense refrain of "WAKAKA WAKAKA" in track three. There are also subtle differences in the instrumental mixes.

All songs written by Peter Gabriel. "Texte" (lyrics) by Peter Gabriel and Horst Königstein.

1. ”Der Rhythmus der Hitze” – 5:36
2. ”Das Fischernetz” – 6:45
3. ”Kon Takt!” – 4:31
4. ”San Jacinto” – 6:13

1. ”Schock den Affen” – 5:43
2. ”Handauflegen” – 6:02
3. ”Nicht die Erde hat dich verschluckt” – 5:59
4. ”Mundzumundbeatmung” – 4:54