Peter Gabriel (III)
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| Peter Gabriel (III a/k/a Melt) | ||
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| Studio album by Peter Gabriel | ||
| Released | May 30, 1980 | |
| Recorded | Late 1979 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 45:32 | |
| Label | Charisma/Virgin (UK) Mercury(originally), Geffen (US) |
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| Producer(s) | Steve Lillywhite | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Peter Gabriel chronology | ||
| Peter Gabriel (1978) |
Peter Gabriel (1980) |
Ein deutsches album (1980) |
| 2002 Reissue Cover | ||
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Peter Gabriel, released in 1980, is Peter Gabriel's third eponymous album and his first (and only) for Mercury Records and re-issued in 1983 on Geffen Records. The album was met with wide critical acclaim and contains two of Gabriel's most famous songs, "Games Without Frontiers," which reached the U.S. Top 50, and "Biko". It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalog in 2002.
This album is often referred to as Melt, referring to the album cover by Storm Thorgerson using image manipulation techniques employing a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera (though Thorgerson has said that Gabriel himself was involved with the smudging of several photos from the same session, and he does not remember whether he or Gabriel is responsible for the cover's final look.)
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Peter Gabriel.
- "Intruder" – 4:54
- "No Self-Control" – 3:55
- "Start" – 1:21
- "I Don't Remember" – 4:41
- "Family Snapshot" – 4:28
- "And Through the Wire" – 5:00
- "Games Without Frontiers" – 4:06
- "Not One of Us" – 5:22
- "Lead a Normal Life" – 4:14
- "Biko" – 7:32
[edit] Personnel
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, piano, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, percussion
- Kate Bush – vocals
- Phil Collins – drums
- Larry Fast – synthesizer, bass synthesizer
- Robert Fripp – guitar
- John Giblin – bass
- Dave Gregory – guitar
- Tony Levin – Chapman stick
[edit] Additional personnel
- Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion
- Dick Morrissey – saxophone
- Morris Pert – percussion
- David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Weller – guitar
[edit] Miscellanea
The song "Family Snapshot" was inspired by An Assassin's Diary, published in 1973 and written by Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate George Wallace. Gabriel talked about the book in an authorized biography of him written by Spencer Bright and published (ISBN 0-283-99498-3) in 1988:
- An Assassin's Diary was a really nasty book, but you do get a sense of the person who is writing it. Bremer was obsessed with the idea of fame. He was aware of the news broadcasts all over the world and was trying to time the assassination to hit the early evening news in the States and the late night in Europe to get maximum coverage.
Phil Collins and Jerry Marotta's drum sound on this album (notable for its lack of cymbals) was a strong influence on Public Image Ltd's Flowers of Romance. Collins, in turn, was so impressed with Flowers of Romance that he hired that album's engineer, Nick Launay, for future recording projects.
In 2000 Q magazine placed the album at number 53 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Billboard Pop Albums | 22 |
Single
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Games Without Frontiers" | Billboard Pop Singles | 48 |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
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| BPI – UK | Gold | June 2, 1980 |
