Peter Gabriel - Passion
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Free Music Notes for Passion
Free Music Review: Passion (Last Temptation of Christ Soundtrack)
Hit: 5 Stars
An important movie at its time, but the soundtrack far outlives and outshines it. This is possibly because of the way each person approached the work, and how the messages imparted were interpreted. The Last Temptation of Christ is one of those movies that people hate before they've seen it or its been released, and though a comparison can be made to Monty Python's Life of Brian in censorship, the storyline and subject matter are quite different. Where Life of Brian made pointed jabs at the followers of religion, ANY religion, Last Temptation takes a look at the human side of Christ, where religion has obviously focused on his divine leanings. The movie succeeds in portraying a messiah fallen to Earth, constrained by human fault and doubt, but rising to embrace a better thing. And a question is asked of faith observed in human condition and circumstance, which I think is a very important question to raise. Possibly, in the hands of another director, this movie might have approached its subject matter more psychologically or sociologically in sync with the times.
The soundtrack by Peter Gabriel does.
What's so important about Passion, is its melding and obvious admission that the culture of Christ's time was deeply Judaic and Arabic, and that the encroaching influence of Roman (or Christian / Gentile) was just as important. In each song throughout Passion, the history, culture and sounds of this region are incorporated fully, moving through each scene with an approach that borders on the truly beautiful, the sometimes disturbing, angelic and demonic in a heartbeat.
Its influence and long-lasting effect still resound today. Matter of factly, if there is ever a Discovery or National Geographic documentary on the Middle East or the rest of the region, it is almost guaranteed you will hear one song from Peter Gabriel's Passion played in the background. It comes across as so authentic to its sources, that it can be subsituted when the effort to find actual music from the region proves hard or daunting.
There are few artists who can actually bridge that gap between cultures so easily, and seemingly embrace that which they encounter. George Harrison I think of as one, and Peter Gabriel is the other, just in the context of a Western musician jumping over that cultural boundary and bringing back what they learn to a Western audience . It is the equivalent of going over to your neighbour's house and bringing back to your household their history, their stories, and how they live. When cultural walls are breached, it can only mean the human race has a chance of doing things right, for eachother and ourselves.
Passion is an uplifting and memorable album that goes down dark corridors and paths of light. When heard outside of the movie's time frame, every song still tells the story of what is experienced in the mind and in the heart of the storyteller. Gabriel thoroughly explores every rhythm given to him by the fine musicians employed to present Passion. The companion piece, 'Passion Sources', is also worth finding if its still available. And that pretty much sums up the graciousness of Gabriel. Never taking full credit for that which he produces, and giving the listener an opportunity to listen to the same people who inspired him to work, or write with them. 'Passion Sources' is almost indispensable, and I hope that those who remastered Passion, choose to release Sources as well.
Even if you don't own any Gabriel, Passion is a great starting point , though there are very few words throughout the album. The movie itself is an eye opener, but all in all, Passion stands as the better piece.
Free Music Review: Soul Awakening Sounds
Hit: 5 Stars
To listen to Peter Gabriel's Passion CDs is to be drenched in soul awakening sounds. This 21-track CD contains music that swirls, lunges at you, jumps, dances around you and vibrates in your blood. Once you start listening, you cannot escape.
THE FEELING BEGINS has a depth of sound that can be intimidating until the call of the desert slowly draws you into a musical trance. It is at times so overwhelmingly powerful, it feels like a war cry or a march of death. Then, all too soon, it is over.
The entire album seems to move forward like a march towards the inevitable. I see a lone figure standing high on a sand dune, his robes flowing out behind him in the warm evening air reaching his hands towards heaven as the entire world spins around him so unaware that he is their only hope.
To say this is spiritual could be an understatement. It is more than spiritual. The music seems to not only inspire beauty, it is a hypnotic musical journey to exotic lush places where your heart opens up into a sense of wonder and primal appreciation for life.
To me, this entire album is a reminder of the unfulfilled longings of the soul. Within this ambient global dance, I hear the haunting cry of mankind in his search for God. I hear the love of God and I hear the sorrow and intense suffering and conflict Jesus felt as he realized the unavoidability of his fate. IT IS ACCOMPLISHED is a beautiful expression of hope and victory over death.
OF THESE, HOPE is worth the price of this album and I can listen to it ten times in a row. SANDSTROM is so otherworldly and haunting it is difficult to describe. All I see are lights slowly moving from the earth out into the sky like souls journeying into timelessness. WITH THIS LOVE is angelic and comforting. WALL OF BREATH seems to take my breath away as if my soul wants to leave my body to dance with the pureness of the sounds in eternity. DISTURBED seems rather peaceful to me in contrast with THE FEELING BEGINS.
If you love World Music or Fusion, you will be intrigued by musicians from Pakistan, Turkey, India, Egypt, Bahrain, New Guinea, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and the Ivory Coast.
These ancient sounds and soul awakenings are greatly enhanced if you can find a candle or essential oil combination containing: Thyme, Cananga, Lemon, Chamomile, Patchouli, Lavender and Geranium. At times I find that I appreciate music more when I have a more complete experience on the sensory level.
"Moroccan Heat Floral Spice" by Global Notes is just intoxicating. A Patchouli candle is also an excellent option. Light a candle, put on your headphones and allow yourself complete immersion into this world of sound. The beauty of this album is you can listen to it at night and actually fall asleep because the music lessens in intensity as the music progresses. BREAD AND WINE will slowly seduce you into sleep. You could also play this music during a healing and spiritual massage.
PASSION will take your breath away and if you fall in love with this CD, you might also consider "1 Giant Leap."
Dedicated to a friend who knew exactly what I needed to listen to and sent me this CD! To me, track 15 is the level on which their soul vibrates. I dream of reaching that level of peace and openness and having that much passion for life and healing even when life offers so much pain.
~The Rebecca Review
Free Music Review: Mind, ear, eye, and throat-opening...
Hit: 5 Stars
In 1989 Peter Gabriel held the status of household name. Two years earlier his album "So" dominated pop music with a hegemony rarely seen. Brazen pop songs such as "Sledgehammer", "In Your Eyes", and "Big Time" were still in fairly strong rotation when "Passion" appeared on the shelves. Needless to say, fans of "So" likely furrowed their brows at the sounds that emerged from their stereos. "The Feeling Begins" gently opens the album with an Armenian melody played on a doudouk. As the album continues, rhythms and instrumentation from Asia, Africa, and The Middle East blend with electronic instruments in pure Gabriel-esque fashion. Add to this amazing open-throated wailing by the likes of Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Gabriel himself, and a musical experience unlike any other available in 1989 emerges. Without doubt, "Passion" helped energize and define the genre of "World Music". Gabriel somehow managed to combine multifarious and diverse musical styles with his own without coming across as an exploitative appropriator of those styles. Ultimately, Gabriel's global fusion comes across as a tribute to the cultures and styles he meshed together. The result was one of the best albums of Gabriel's career. Songs such as "A Different Drum", "Passion", "With This Love", and "It Is Accomplished" will remain unforgettable to even those who reluctantly open up to all the album has to offer.
To top it off, "Passion" was the official first release of Gabriel's "Real World" label. The motivation behind the label was to showcase non-western or non-mainstream music from anywhere in the world. Many well-known global artists recorded for Real World, including: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Shelia Chandra, Papa Wemba, Afro Celt Sound System, Geoffrey Oryema, Tabu Ley, and countless others. "Passion" initiated this ambitious and much needed project.
In addition, the film for which "Passion" served as soundtrack, Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ", wreaked fervent controversy upon its release in 1988. Did this help or hurt the soundtrack? Looking back, the music seems untouched by the controversy of the film. Regardless, Gabriel's music provided the perfect backdrop to Scorsese's version of the Passion story. Gabriel actually reworked most of the music included in the film (the music in the film differs in many ways from the Gabriel album). This explains why the soundtrack didn't appear for a good year after the film. Not only that, Gabriel's "Passion" doesn't include the entire soundtrack of the film. Gabriel also released (appropriately, on Real World) "Passion Sources" which includes the remaining music featured in the film. It provides the perfect accompaniment to "Passion".
"Passion" has proved to be influential as well as highly listenable. The spread of "World Music" or "World Beat" in the 1990s doubtlessly owes it some gratitude. The album also introduced some amazing performers to the rather closed musical mainstream of the west, most notably the mesmerizing Qawwali vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It represents the culmination of Gabriel's movement away from traditional rock towards something new (which arguably began with Gabriel's third solo album, featured heavily on his fourth, "Security", de-emphasized on "So", and re-emphasized on "Passion" and subsequent albums). "Passion" stands as one of Gabriel's greatest achievements.
Free Music Review: The peak of musical achievement
Hit: 5 Stars
Peter Gabriel has come a long way in his musical career. He was the lead vocalist for the prog-rock band Genesis from 1969-1974, during which time the group released some of the finest rock albums ever recorded. Since releasing his first solo album in 1977, Gabriel has never ceased experimenting, determined not to settle on one sole sound. It was on PASSION, however, that Gabriel's musical journey finally reaches its peak.
PASSION is the "soundtrack" to Martin Scorsese's controversial epic THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, released in 1988 to mixed reviews. The one thing that reviewers could agree on was that Peter Gabriel's score for the film was magnificent. Gabriel held off releasing his score simultaneously with the film; instead, he did a wonderful thing: he went back to the studio and expanded his original material, thus ensuring that PASSION would work as well as an album as it would as a soundtrack.
It certainly does. In fact, PASSION works so well on its own that many of its avid fans haven't even seen THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. That's because, in my opinion, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST is a very good film - but PASSION is a masterpiece. In these circumstances, "masterpiece" seems like far too weak an adjective to apply to this album, and none of the countless other adjectives seem powerful enough either. Let me say this: PASSION IS music. This is as good as music gets. This is the very definition of music. If you give PASSION, an album that sounds vastly different from the music we westerners are used to and nothing like any of Gabriel's other recordings, a chance, you will experience the most powerful album I have ever heard.
PASSION is THE landmark world music album. Peter Gabriel, a long-time fan of middle eastern music, decided to base his music for Scorsese's film around the music of the eiddle east, resulting in a highly-unusual listening experience for westerners. Gabriel recruited some of the finest musicians in the world for this album, and also thoroughly researched middle eastern music, as well as the songs that are said to have existed around the time of Jesus. With all this, the album should sound like a traditional work, but Gabriel himself plays numerous modern instruments, giving certain songs some extra power and creating a dreamily ambient feeling throughout most of the album. The result is one of the most timeless musical works ever recorded.
There's something about the album that really speaks to your soul. It leaves you feeling open, exposed, a feeling that's more than a little unsettling at first, but upon listening further, you come to embrace this openness. PASSION truly touches you, and certain tracks even elevate you. My favorite tracks from the album are "A Different Drum" and "It Is Accomplished", the two most powerful pieces of music I have ever heard.
It's no easy feat describing PASSION. I can only urge you, strongly, to purchase it and give it a few listens. I guarantee you have never experienced anything like it. It's utterly incredible that the soundtrack to THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST could wind up so absolutely magnificent as this, but it did. Peter Gabriel is a musical genius, and PASSION remains by far his finest achievement. It is, without a doubt, the peak of musical achievement.
Free Music Review: Also They Saw God
Hit: 5 Stars
I have started this voyage of commentary by picking up the ones that are close to my heart, but now we're really arriving to the true centre. This album is perhaps the quintenessential album in my short life, the soundtrack of my life, only perhaps a few other albums (namely from Rubinstein or Pärt) slightly echoing the massive impressions it continually paints. As a Gabriel fan in general I still feel this is his best work, the most intimate testament to his skill not only as a musician, but also as a poet.
I don't like the Scorsese film for cinematic reasons alone, and the tapestries of sound drown the images of the film so thoroughly that what breathes through is the visual aspect of Gabriel's music instead of Scorsese's "images". And I have seen the film more than a few times (and am still waiting for the likes of Greenaway, Medem and Malick) to change the way we think of the subject cinematically. But how could I ever feel sad that I couldn't make myself like the film, when what it brought to me was an album like this?
Through the perspective of music history and especially through the evolution and migration of world music to the Western world this is already a significant album in itself. So it has merits. But what it has is the original spirit, the passion in the other sense of the word, to create, to express. And it has personal risk written all over it, made by an artist at the peak of his popularity and then taking the chance and making a small record like this. Once again something that I would already applaud for itself alone. This is passion for music, for the urge to create.
One wonderful property of great art is that it takes us along to participate in the creative process, paints an image of it and folds us around it as it encompasses our own space. "The Feeling Begins" and "A Different Drum" remain as the penultimate spiritual chants only succeeded by Gabriel's "Cloudless" in echoing the flowing rhythm of a ritual invocation, reaching from some artificially distant place inside our soul into our soul in this time and place. There is illusion, there is enchantment, there is magic, there is power, there are miracles. And it still, to this day, makes me believe. Not only is this the soundtrack of a whole life, it is, ironically, the soundtrack, a backdrop of inspiration, to any ideal full reading of the Gospels or Psalms I do. Uplifting, life-altering, everything that's from and in between. And I think of Whitmanian ease of being, as he whispers in 'Song of Myself': "Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge/that pass all the argument of the earth,/And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own,/And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own". These kind of albums to which you can invest your own soul aren't experiences for experiences' sake, but things to cherish life for.
And I am thankful.