This album, and the singles “Sledgehammer” and “Big Time”, were my first real exposure to Peter Gabriel, which is the case with a lot of people. This is easily Gabriel’s most accessibly mainstream album, but even with that in mind, it bears more than a casual listen. And it’s still my favorite, mainly due to simple personal-significance-in-my-life sort of reasons. But while this may be Peter’s most mainstream album, featuring as it did the singles “Sledgehammer” and the nutso “Big Time” (which therefore makes the latter my favorite of the two), it also has my all-time favorite Gabriel tune, a haunting little number called “Mercy Street” which to this day sends shivers down my spine. How much of that is the song itself and how much is actually just the instinctive correlation between hearing the song and remembering certain events in my life, I can’t tell, because I can’t separate them anymore. Whenever I seek a profound personal catharsis, I put my headphones on, crank the volume, and sing along as best I can. Again, whew. Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah, Laurie Anderson also does a guest vocal on the memorable “This Is The Picture”.
While I give this album my highest recommendations and include it on my DNP Album List, it has one other distinction not shared by many of the other albums I’ve enjoyed and reviewed – it is incredibly important to me personally. Thank you, Pete.
- Red Rain (5:39)
- Sledgehammer (5:16)
- Don’t Give Up (6:33)
- That Voice Again (4:53)
- In Your Eyes (5:29)
- Mercy Street (6:21)
- Big Time (4:30)
- We Do What We’re Told: milgram’s 37 (3:22)
- This is the Picture: excellent birds (4:18)
Released by: Geffen
Release date: 1986
Total running time: 46:21
