Peter Gabriel - Hit

Peter Gabriel's work doesn't lend itself easily to compilations -- not because he didn't cut singles, since he made many terrific stand-alone singles, but because his body of work is so idiosyncratic, even contradictory, that it's possible to have perfectly valid differing perspectives on his catalog. This results in differing opinions among fans, so it's perfectly logical that Gabriel and his associates would have a unique view of his own work, as captured on Hit. Billed on its slipcase as "The Definitive Two CD Collection," Hit spans 29 tracks culled from his entire solo career, from 1977's Peter Gabriel to 2002's Up, plus the previously unreleased "Burn You Up, Burn You Down." It certainly is a generous compilation, and it does contain the basics: "Solsbury Hill," "Shock the Monkey," "Sledgehammer," "Don't Give Up," "Games Without Frontiers," "Biko," "Red Rain," "Big Time," and "In Your Eyes." But the devil is in the details, and in this particular case, the details push Hit away from the broad-based appeal of So and closer to the dense, subtle territory of Us and Up. This is achieved, of course, through the track selection, which is heavy on recent material (note: none of the edit details are present on the back cover, hence their presence here): from Up, there's "Growing Up [Tom Lord-Alge Mix]," "More Than This [Radio Edit]," "The Drop," "I Grieve," and "Signal to Noise," which amounts to half the entire album; the previously unreleased 2003 live track "Downside Up"; "Cloudless" from the soundtrack to the 2002 Rabbit-Proof Fence and "Lovetown" from the 1994 Philadelphia soundtrack; "The Tower That Ate People [Steve Osborne Mix]" and "Father, Son" from OVO; the 1990 Shaking the Tree remake of "Here Comes the Flood"; from Us, the album track "Love to Be Loved," plus the singles "Digging in the Dirt," "Blood of Eden [Radio Edit]," and "Steam [Radio Edit]."

That's a grand total of 16 tracks dating after the career high watermark of So -- 16 tracks covering two full albums, plus a lot of odds and ends. There's unquestionably good material here -- not just the Us singles, but much of Up was quite excellent, even if it requires several listens to appreciate -- but the heavy emphasis on this post-So work skews too much to the new (nine of the 14 tracks on disc two are of relatively recent vintage), at least if the yardstick is either an evenhanded appreciation of Gabriel's entire solo work or a portrait of his best-known, best-loved work. After all, there are many singles missing -- "I Have the Touch," "I Go Swimming," "Come Talk to Me," "Kiss That Frog," and "Secret World" among them -- plus other worthy uncollected rarities (his deliriously paranoid "Out Out" from the 1984 Gremlins soundtrack needs to finally get a CD issue) and many, many terrific album tracks that would have had given this compilation greater breadth and depth, including "Moribund the Burgermeister," "Mercy Street," "Intruder," "Family Snapshot," and the tremendous pair of "On the Air" and "D.I.Y.," the two best cuts on the underrated Peter Gabriel 2 (which is once again consciously ignored by Gabriel, with this exhaustive collection featuring nothing from the record). If some of these 12 songs had managed to get on Hit, it truly would have been definitive, capturing the entire scope of his solo career. As it stands, it's a very good collection, one that delivers most of what is expected, even as it presents a relatively up-to-date self-portrait of the artist. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Adrian Chivers Vocals (Background) Alex Swift Programming Allan Schwartzberg Drums, Director Andrew Clark CS-80, Organ (Hammond), CMI, Bass Armando Gallo Photography Arona N'diaye Sabar Assane Thaim Tama Ayub Ogada Vocals Babacar Faye Djembe Babacar Faye Drummers Drums Ben Findlay Mixing Bill Dillon Guitar Billy Cobham Drums Black Dyke Band Brass Bob Ezrin Producer Brian Eno Keyboards BT Fills, Programming, Choir, Chorus, Guitar Caroline LaVelle String Arrangements, Cello Chris Hughes Linn Chuck Norman Programming, Keyboards, Strings Coral Gordon Vocals (Background) Daniel Lanois Guitar, Horn Arrangements, Engineer, Hi Hat, Vocals, Tambourine, Producer Danny Heaps Assistant Darryl Johnson Hand Drums David Bascombe Engineer David Bottrill Engineer, Programming, Mixing David Gregory Guitar David Lord Producer, Engineer David Rhodes Guitar (12 String), Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background) David Sancious Organ (Hammond) Dee Lewis Vocals (Background) Dhol Foundation Drums Dick Morrissey Saxophone Dominic Greensmith Drums Don Mikkelsen Trombone Ekome Dance Company Percussion Elizabeth Purnell Brass Arrangement Gavyn Wright Violin Ged Lynch Drums, Percussion Gus Isidore Guitar Hossam Ramzy Tabla, Surdo Hugh Padgham Whistle (Human), Engineer Jackie Shave Violin James Gerard Watson Conductor Jerry Marotta Drum Sticks, Percussion, Surdo, Drums Jill Gabriel Vocals (Background) Jim Kerr Vocals (Background) Jimmy Maelen Synthesizer, Percussion, Trombone John Giblin Bass John MacArthur Ellis Guitar, Vocals (Background) Jon Brion Treated Piano, Chamberlin, Mandolin Josef Chirowski Keyboards Jules Shear Vocals (Background) Justin Adams Guitar Karl Wallinger Vocals, Piano, Vocals (Background), Producer Kate Bush Vocals, Guest Appearance, Vocals (Background) Keith Grant Engineer Kevin Killen Engineer Larry Fast Programming, Synthesizer Bass, Bagpipes, Processing, Prophet Synthesizer, Moog Bass, Synthesizer Larry Klein Bass Leo Nocentelli Guitar Lévon Minassian Doudouk London Session Orchestra Strings Manu Katche Talking Drum, Percussion, Electronic Drums, Drums Marc Bessant Graphic Design Mark Rivera Saxophone Melanie Gabriel Vocals, Vocals (Background) Michael Been Vocals (Background) Neal Preston Photography Nick Ingham Orchestration Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Vocals (Background) P.P. Arnold Vocals (Background) Pete Davis Programming Peter Gabriel Treatments, Synthesizer, Brass Arrangement, Vocals (Background), Whistle (Human), Horn Arrangements, Rhythm, Sampled Guitar, Linn, Percussion, Bass, Surdo, Producer, Sampling, Jam Man, Prophet Synthesizer, Keyboards, Engineer, CMI, Drum Arrangements, Synthesizer Bass, Electronics, Loop, Mellotron, Vocals, Keyboard Bass, Organ, Valiha, Flute, Piano, Programming, Synthesizer Drums Peter Hammill Vocals (Background), Vocals Phil Collins Drums (Snare), Surdo Phil Kamin Photography Reggie Houston Sax (Baritone), Horn Renard Poché Horn, Trombone Richard Blair Programming Richard Chappell Engineer, Tambourine, Mixing, Tom-Tom, Treatments, Drum Programming, Assembly, Loops, Keyboard Bass Richard Evans Vocals, Programming, Whistle (Human), Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Bass, Mixing, Mandolin Richard MacPhail Vocals Richard Tee Piano Robert Fripp Guitar, Guitar (Classical) Robert Hrycyna Engineer Robert Stasiak Engineer Rod O'Brien Engineer Ronnie Bright Bass (Vocal) Shankar Violin, Double Violin Sinéad O'Connor Vocals Stephen Hague Percussion, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Drums Steve Double Sleeve Photo Steve Gadd Drums Steve Hunter Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar (Acoustic) Steve Lillywhite Producer, Whistle (Human) Steve Osborne Producer, Mixing Stewart Copeland Drums, Hi Hat Susie Millns Design Coordinator Tchad Blake Mixing The Blind Boys of Alabama Vocals (Background), Vocals The Holmes Brothers Vocals (Background) Tim Green Horn, Sax (Tenor) Tim Summerhayes Engineer Tom Lord-Alge Remixing Tony Cousins Mastering Tony Levin Stick, Drum Sticks, Bass, Tuba, Vocals Wayne Jackson Cornet, Trumpet Will Gregory Bass Arrangement Will Malone String Arrangements Will White Percussion William Orbit Programming Youssou N'Dour Guest Appearance, Vocals