I've been fond of Peter Gabriel's music since college when I sought it out during one of my "Must listen to everything I can!" phases. Mostly this was limited to his work in Genesis (Selling England by the Pound is one of my absolute favorite albums), his first solo album from 1977, his third from 1980 (the one with "Biko"), "Shock the Monkey" (see below), and his biggest hit So. I liked him for the same reason I like most of the musicians from the 1970s: it must've been exciting to listen to them and have no idea where they were going to go within the next five years. The lack of predictability always seemed cool and something I sorely wished musicians would do more often these days if it weren't for the music industry getting more constrictive instead of less.
That said, it wasn't until more recently (3 years ago?) that I actually heard anything off his second album though. Which is weird, since it wasn't any less good than the stuff I already loved - mostly it was just a matter of ease and access. Upon listening to it, it didn't grab me like the other ones did but it also feels like a tighter version of the first album. There's a sonic unity instead of the different music styles but not as unified as he'd be by the third album, which cut down further on the wooliness of the themes. It also has my favorite cover out of all his work. I'm surprised by how little there is written about it but the reviews I've found, though, cover my general feelings on it:
"There are great moments scattered throughout the record, yet it never captivates, either through intoxicating, messy creativity (as he did on his debut) or through cohesion (the way the third Peter Gabriel album, two years later, would). Certain songs work well on their own -- not just the opening numbers, but the mini-epic "White Shadow," the tight "Animal Magic," the tense yet catchy "Perspective," the reflective closer "Home Sweet Home" -- yet for all the tracks that work, they never work well together. Ironically, it holds together a bit better than its predecessor, yet it never reaches the brilliant heights of that record. In short, it's a transitional effort that's well worth the time of serious listeners, even it's still somewhat unsatisfying." - Stephen Thomas Erlewine for Allmusic
"Its brazenly left-field veneer left me cold at first, and it's only now that its strengths are starting to come across ... once past the disarming non-focus veneer, there's a quietly remarkable talent at work – quiet in the manner of the slow fuse burn of 'Mother of Violence' with Roy Bittan's piano work outstripping anything he's turned out for either Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie. Closer to the root of the album, there's a purity, a strength to the songs individual enough to mark Gabriel out as a man whose creative zenith is close at hand." - Nick Kent for NME (1978)
I agree it's a bit unfocused but it also lays down a lot of what he did later and acted as a good stepping stone for what his 1980s work. If you have some time to check it out, you should - it can be a little chilly but there's some good stuff in that frost.
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