Released a year after Martin Scorsese’s controversy-laden film first hit the big screen in 1988, "Passion" tends to be regarded as a work in its own right rather than just being a movie soundtrack. It features additional music than was included in the film; this extra material was the result of Peter Gabriel (ex-Genesis) continuing to record and to resolve "unfinished ideas", hence the later arrival of the record. Built on a foundation of Middle Eastern and North African rhythms and melodies, "Passion" is unsurprisingly Peter’s most spiritual work, no more so than when the alternately ascending voices of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’Dour and himself interweave on the title track. Nusrat and Youssou are far from the only notable guests; the cross-continental gathering of musicians also includes Senegalese griot Baaba Maal, jazz drummer Bill Cobham and avant-garde trumpeter Jon Hassell among many others…
2-CD set of the complete and unedited concert recorded from the soundboard and mixed by the Peter Gabriel engineering team. These professionally mastered and manufactured CDs (NOT CD-Rs) are packaged in cardboard mini (LP-style) gatefold sleeves that add to the bootleg look and feel.
2-CD set of the complete and unedited concert recorded from the soundboard and mixed by the Peter Gabriel engineering team. These professionally mastered and manufactured CDs (NOT CD-Rs) are packaged in cardboard mini (LP-style) gatefold sleeves that add to the bootleg look and feel.
2-CD set of the complete and unedited concert recorded from the soundboard and mixed by the Peter Gabriel engineering team. These professionally mastered and manufactured CDs (NOT CD-Rs) are packaged in cardboard mini (LP-style) gatefold sleeves that add to the bootleg look and feel.
2-CD set of the complete and unedited concert recorded from the soundboard and mixed by the Peter Gabriel engineering team. These professionally mastered and manufactured CDs (NOT CD-Rs) are packaged in cardboard mini (LP-style) gatefold sleeves that add to the bootleg look and feel.
2-CD set of the complete and unedited concert recorded from the soundboard and mixed by the Peter Gabriel engineering team. These professionally mastered and manufactured CDs (NOT CD-Rs) are packaged in cardboard mini (LP-style) gatefold sleeves that add to the bootleg look and feel.
Generally regarded as Peter Gabriel's finest record, his third eponymous album finds him coming into his own, crafting an album that's artier, stronger, more song-oriented than before. Consider its ominous opener, the controlled menace of "Intruder." He's never found such a scary sound, yet it's a sexy scare, one that is undeniably alluring, and he keeps this going throughout the record. For an album so popular, it's remarkably bleak, chilly, and dark – even radio favorites like "I Don't Remember" and "Games Without Frontiers" are hardly cheerful, spiked with paranoia and suspicion, insulated in introspection…
The album contains two of Gabriel's most famous songs, the U.K. Top 10 hit "Games Without Frontiers" and the political song "Biko", about the late anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.
This album is often referred to as "Melt" due to its cover photograph by Hipgnosis.
Peter Gabriel's second double-disc live album doesn't have the energy of Plays Live, which isn't surprising; his newer material is more subtle and doesn't easily lend itself to live performances. That's part of the reason why the Secret World tour was filled with cutting-edge visuals and stage effects. Unfortunately, it's very hard to record a light show, and the result is a thoroughly bland album.