CD Me

Peter Gabriel s Scratch My Back album project is the first part of a series of song
exchanges in which Gabriel and other leading artists reinterpret each other s songs.
To help craft his recording of the album s eclectic array of cult favorites and classic
tracks, Gabriel enlisted former Durutti Column member John Metcalfe, composer,
arranger and the expertise of producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd s The Wall , Lou
Reed s Berlin ) and engineer, mixer and producer Tchad Blake (Suzanne Vega,
Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits).
Gabriel describes this as a very personal record with twelve songs performed only
with orchestral instruments and voice. He made the choice not to include guitar or
drums. The album s richly diverse sounds include the sparse romance of Lou Reed s
The Power of the Heart , the powerful musical journey of David Bowie s Heroes
and an epic arrangement of Arcade Fire s My Body Is A Cage. Gabriel and his
collaborators recorded the album at George Martin s Air Lyndhurst Studios and the
Real World Temple with further editing and mixing at his own Real Worlds Studio in
Wiltshire. The Scratch My Back release is one of the most creative and engaging
records from an iconic artist in a long time. The marketing focus is to penetrate
Peter Gabriel s core fan base as well as fans of all genres and in all demographics
given the scope of artists being covered as well as its depth of composition.

User Reviews about Scratch My Back

I LOVE Peter Gabriel - pretty much my #1 favorite artist, but I was underwhelmed by this album. It's interesting and unique, but I just had a hard time getting into it. I hope a new album is upcoming that goes back a bit to his prior work. -- Not my cup of tea.

First off, I really do not like cover albums. Secondly, since Gabriel left Genesis, he has seemed to become more and more pretentious as the decades have passed. He is notoriously slow at working on his projects. However, his solo work has been brilliant and compelling especially the last studio album Up. I had no interest in a cover album and was not going to waste my time with this. If Gabriel is too good to join back with the old boys for a tour why should i give him my attention, right? Well, I borrowed this album from an acquaintance and have to say i was more than surprised as well as quite pleased. The only song I knew is Bowie's Heroes but it matters not whether you know whose song he is singing. It might actually be better to have never heard some of these songs in their original recordings. Scratch My Back is an odd title, although it works within his concept of other artists covering his songs on another recording. Yet, the album is beautiful and moving. My Body is a Cage surprised me. It is an awesome track as is the following The Book of Love. Gabriel's reinterpretation of Bowie also works well.
I still don't like cover albums but Gabriel has done a great job in both his vocal performance and arranging of these songs and deserves at least a listen. -- One says, then another says...

The person's who wrote bad reviews for this Album I totally disagree with it. I study music and I can tell you this album is awesome. The mix, everything is great. I added this album to my cart after listening to one song "games without frontiers". This is awesome, that's all I have to say. -- AWESOME

I am not going to account for taste regarding this musically entralling album, but I will say you absolutely need to hear this on vinyl, and in a system worth hearing it through. What once was muddled and confusing, is now utterly dynamic, alive and self-effacing. It's going to take awhile for people to digest the greatness hear, musically and sonically. Rocks in its own way. -- Stunning.