Peter Gabriel

Mike sent me this article on Peter Gabriel and I think it's worth a read. When I was a kid I overheard some big smart kids in the neighborhood talking about how Peter Gabriel had left Genisis and come out with a solo album. They all agreed that Genisis was cool but Peter Gabriel was being held back. I didn't really know what any of that meant and I was a teenager before I ever got a hold of a Gabriel album.

Gabriel is something of an enigma for me. His really "poppy" songs bore me (although it remains entirely possible that I would quite like them had they not been #1 singles played to oblivion,) but the albums they're on are shockinly good. Mercy Street is simply one of the best songs ever produced and Security (which first introduced me to the vast potential of "world" music) one of the best albums. The SACD release of So is so drenched in audiophile goodness as to, on it's own, justify the purshase of the equipment necessary to play it.

On top of this he's written several of the most interesting soundtracks ever done and he owns a thriving record label. In short, Peter Gabriel has one of the most diverse and complicated discographies in all of pop music. In fact, writing this post has all but insured that I'll listen to little else before I revisit each of his albums.

So here is the music question of the day; which current young artists have the best chance of building similar musical legacies? Who has the depth and who has the legs?

My money's on Ashlee Simpson.