Some interesting thoughts here. I like the idea of a NY's Eve album retrospective - I did that years and years ago when my album choice was Ween's 'The Pod' (1991). Still a favourite (still a Top 10 - that would be an interesting topic of correspondence), but for different reasons now.
At your mentioning, I pulled up 'Abacab', and while I agree in part with the prog/art/commercial aspect (and there are definitely hints of the same in its predecessor, 'Duke'), I still agree with the NME's assessment that 'So' is the first true example of art rock becoming commercial. There's not a track on 'So' that doesn't work on both fronts, whereas on 'Duke' you've got Duke's Travels which at the best of times makes you go, meh ... and on 'Abacab' there's 'Who Dunnit?' Which, let's be honest, could be left off just as 'Treefingers' should have been left off of 'Kid A'. Nothing inherently objectionable, but just ... filler.
Shall we do a Top 10 albums list? That might be fun.
We just saw Peter Gabriel in concert last week in Columbus, Ohio. It was our first time splurging on floor seats at a concert, and it was worth every penny. He was fantastic. So and Us are my favorite albums of his, and he sang several songs from each.
Sounds like you had a great time and I'm sure it was a brilliant concert - and with artists like him, splurging is worth it. Friends of ours saw him at the O2 in London recently - said it was amazing. Hopefully I'll have a chance to see him on his next swing through here ...
Definitely one of the very best recordings of that decade. I recall on New Year's Eve 1989 my friends and I gathered and listened all night to a full albums retrospective and then voted on which album each of us considered to be the best offering. The 1980s were, for better or worse, our coming of age period, and I know it has marked me for life in terms of my politics. I chose Big Country's debut 'The Crossing' (1983) as my pick for the best but 'So' was among the top 5 for everyone for sure. My only doubt concerning his song list is in fact 'Mercy Street' given the possible false memory syndrome condition of the poet in question and the enduring problem of the theatrical in mental illness. Though Gabriel is one of the greatest pop song writers of all time, once in a blue moon he comes across as a trifle naive or, perhaps, simply generous. The other track that struck me the same way though for different reasons was the one he stated was conceived when wild animals started playing along with him and his band on some adventure tourism trip. I don't immediately recall the title of this track but it was featured on the DVD concert 'Growing Up'. Well, maybe, maybe not!
As an aside, Gabriel's old band, Genesis, may have some claim on your sub-title five years earlier with the 1981 release of 'Abacab'. I listened to it for the first time in 30 years or so just last week and its sound still comes across as strange and innovative, and many critics of the time suggested that this is in fact when prog or art rock went commercial. But if we really want to push this just for fun, I would also call attention to Yes' 'Drama', yet one year earlier, where the recent replacement of Wakeman and Anderson, two art rock legends, with the duo from The Buggles of all persons, produced an up-tempo rather commercial version of Yes that made many lose their lunch. Even so, I admire the album for not mincing its lyrics ('Machine Messiah') and for its newly concise landscape paintings that echo Roger Dean's proverbial fantasies ('Tempus Fugit', for instance).
Some interesting thoughts here. I like the idea of a NY's Eve album retrospective - I did that years and years ago when my album choice was Ween's 'The Pod' (1991). Still a favourite (still a Top 10 - that would be an interesting topic of correspondence), but for different reasons now.
At your mentioning, I pulled up 'Abacab', and while I agree in part with the prog/art/commercial aspect (and there are definitely hints of the same in its predecessor, 'Duke'), I still agree with the NME's assessment that 'So' is the first true example of art rock becoming commercial. There's not a track on 'So' that doesn't work on both fronts, whereas on 'Duke' you've got Duke's Travels which at the best of times makes you go, meh ... and on 'Abacab' there's 'Who Dunnit?' Which, let's be honest, could be left off just as 'Treefingers' should have been left off of 'Kid A'. Nothing inherently objectionable, but just ... filler.
Shall we do a Top 10 albums list? That might be fun.
Let’s be honest, the vehicle you ended up driving most often was the Country Squire wagon!
My God, but that car was huge. Plenty of space for my cassette tape storage box to bounce around in the passenger seat!
You would have had enough room to chauffeur the current Genesis lineup in that boat!
AND all their gear, too. It was huge! And (compared to today's cars) so ... heavy.
We just saw Peter Gabriel in concert last week in Columbus, Ohio. It was our first time splurging on floor seats at a concert, and it was worth every penny. He was fantastic. So and Us are my favorite albums of his, and he sang several songs from each.
Sounds like you had a great time and I'm sure it was a brilliant concert - and with artists like him, splurging is worth it. Friends of ours saw him at the O2 in London recently - said it was amazing. Hopefully I'll have a chance to see him on his next swing through here ...
Definitely one of the very best recordings of that decade. I recall on New Year's Eve 1989 my friends and I gathered and listened all night to a full albums retrospective and then voted on which album each of us considered to be the best offering. The 1980s were, for better or worse, our coming of age period, and I know it has marked me for life in terms of my politics. I chose Big Country's debut 'The Crossing' (1983) as my pick for the best but 'So' was among the top 5 for everyone for sure. My only doubt concerning his song list is in fact 'Mercy Street' given the possible false memory syndrome condition of the poet in question and the enduring problem of the theatrical in mental illness. Though Gabriel is one of the greatest pop song writers of all time, once in a blue moon he comes across as a trifle naive or, perhaps, simply generous. The other track that struck me the same way though for different reasons was the one he stated was conceived when wild animals started playing along with him and his band on some adventure tourism trip. I don't immediately recall the title of this track but it was featured on the DVD concert 'Growing Up'. Well, maybe, maybe not!
As an aside, Gabriel's old band, Genesis, may have some claim on your sub-title five years earlier with the 1981 release of 'Abacab'. I listened to it for the first time in 30 years or so just last week and its sound still comes across as strange and innovative, and many critics of the time suggested that this is in fact when prog or art rock went commercial. But if we really want to push this just for fun, I would also call attention to Yes' 'Drama', yet one year earlier, where the recent replacement of Wakeman and Anderson, two art rock legends, with the duo from The Buggles of all persons, produced an up-tempo rather commercial version of Yes that made many lose their lunch. Even so, I admire the album for not mincing its lyrics ('Machine Messiah') and for its newly concise landscape paintings that echo Roger Dean's proverbial fantasies ('Tempus Fugit', for instance).