Customer Reviews

Plays Live

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, I am a die-hard Peter Gabriel fan, and yes, I own all his albums (just like many of the fans who have posted their comments here). But I also have over 900 CDs in my collection, and more than a few of those are live albums, and I find this one double album happens to combine things not too common in a live production:
-The track listing is flawless. It's more than fair to say that (if you happen to be a newcomer into Peter's work) you have got covered the first solo musical period of Peter Gabriel with it (1977 - 1982) except for the unfortunate absence of 'Here comes the flood' (not that I suggest at all, that you don't buy the rest of his albums -in fact, you'll be almost possessed once you listen to 'Plays Live' and find yourself going to get them all, in a way that's very hard to explain in words). If you want to listen to the best versions of the songs "Solsbury Hill," "Humdrum," "Family Snapshot" and "San Jacinto" this is the place to find them.

-The band... The band are a bunch of guys each of whom is awesome at his instrument! Tony Levin, at the bass (one of the world's best renowned bass and stick players, who happens to have played with King Crimson among others, as well); Jerry Marotta, in the drums; Larry Fast, in keyboards and synthesizers (I happened to be lucky enough to catch these first three performing together at a Tony Levin concert last year -they left me speechless); and David Rhodes doing true wonders with his guitar.

-The recording production (engineered by Neil Kernon; produced by PG and Peter Walsh). Out of all the live albums I've heard, this one stands out as the standard by which all will have to be measured: attention to detail, perfection and balance in the capture of sound (no instrument, not even PGs voice, drowns the others -notice the drums, and barely noticeable splash cymbals, as an example), and most important of all, all the emotion of the artist and of the audience are very easy to perceive and feel by listening to the album.

Nice to have this in a single box, but did Geffen truly remaster this CD? After the debacle of the Beatles' White Album reissue (it was just repackaged, not remastered), one has to wonder. If Geffen has remastered this album, why not the earlier studio albums (which sound good, but could sound great using 20+ bit technology)?

The music is still the same, regardless of how its packaged. This is a fine career summation for Gabriel and one of the best live albums. Yes, there's a little bit of cheating(Gabriel admits in the linear notes that he went back and fixed a couple of bits to make the package acceptable to audiences), but it doesn't detract from the power of the performances, terrific playing (by the always underrated David Rhodes and Tony Levin) and great songs.

The material from SECURITY sounds better live than on the studio album--the performances and arrangements expand on the more tentative studio versions. The production by Gabriel with Peter Walsh (who also co- produced the SECRET WORLD live album as well). Most live albums tend to be little more than a document for the fans(most of the latter day Stones live albums), or a way to earn a little extra cash from the tour. PLAYS LIVE belongs in the same category as the Allman's FILMORE album; the live versions here present the songs away from the sterility of the studio full of the vigor that initially inspired them.

A fine addition to any collection, this is an essential Gabriel title.

I own several hundred C.D.'s and have an eclectic taste in music. Out of all the discs that I have, if I had to give them all away and keep only one...Peter Gabriel Plays Live is the one that I'd keep. This is a teriffic introduction to PG's early works, and it sounds just as fresh today as it did when it was released. If you are looking for just one PG disc for your collection...pick Plays Live.

So far, Peter Gabriel has released two live albums. The first is PLAYS LIVE, which features songs from Gabriel's first four albums (all of which were self-titled, though they have all been given frequently-used nicknames: CAR, SCRATCH, MELT, and SECURITY). The second is SECRET WORLD LIVE, which features songs from Gabriel's fifth and sixth albums, SO and US, as well as a few tunes from other Gabriel recordings. PLAYS LIVE was recorded in 1982 during the SECURITY tour, and released the following year. After the live recording, Gabriel took the recordings into his studio and tweaked them a little. Is this irritating? A little, but it seems more unnecessary than irritating. (At least Gabriel freely admits to tweaking the tunes in the CD booklet.) Regardless of the tweaking, PLAYS LIVE is a lively album that presents some very interesting - and occasionally superior - performances of Gabriel faves.

None of the live performances are bad, though "Solsbury Hill" does lose a lot of its strength when infused with synthesizers. Most of them are quite good, and a few are superior to their studio originals. One such song is "Intruder". The live version adds a little weirdness to the tune, but takes out much of the chillyness from the studio version; still, the PLAYS LIVE version is probably the best. Also, the live version of "The Family And The Fishing Net" is considerably better than the studio version.

Inexplicably, the rest of the songs lose much of their power when performed live. The only other song that really sticks out is "I Go Swimming", available exclusively on this CD. "I Go Swimming" is one of Gabriel's most fun songs and possibly one of his best. What really keeps PLAYS LIVE going is the interesting arrangements of the Gabriel faves - different instruments, new instrumental sections, lyrics sung differently, etc. Still, none are really knockouts, save for the aforementioned tunes.

If you're a big-time Gabriel fan, you'll want to check out this CD. Otherwise, spend your money purchasing his studio albums. PLAYS LIVE is consistently intriguing, but it often feels bland and rarely excites. (Steer clear of the HIGHLIGHTS version, released in 2002 as part of the remastered Gabriel catalogue. The HIGHLIGHTS version deletes six of the album's tracks, most of which were among the best on the album.)

When I bought this on Cassette back in '87, it was ( And still is to a point ) one of the most important recordings in my life. I was 11 when this was recorded so I never had the chance to see Peter Gabriel Live until support of his 'SO" album.

This was originally issued with 16 songs, and if you did some looking, there was a Live E.P. on vinyl that included a live version of "KISS OF LIFE" from the same tour. Some Genius at GEFFEN decided that 4 tracks from the original release and the bouns track from the E.P. didn't merit this latest incarnation and it's a shame.

You're better off buying the orginal disc release of this. for 4 reasons. Namely, the songs omitted

1. The Rhythm of the heat. The live percussion on this track was breathtaking

2. Not One of Us. Again, just a great sounding live track tossed aside

3. Intruder. This was the best version of the song!!!!! The drums were booming and Peters' vocals were melodic opposed to the studio version. ( This is the highest crime on the remasterd version )

4. On the Air. My Goodness! This song is amazing in the live version.

Here's hoping that Geffen puts together a compilation that includes these missing tracks.

The trend ( and a good one ) with remastered versions is to add tracks, not ditch them.

Geffen really dropped the ball with this one. As they did with the remastered back catalogue. No additional tracks on any of these. The packaging is nice, but the assassination of tracks is unforgivable.

Buy the original release of this on C.D.

Do yourself a favor-- spend the cash and get the unedited Japanese version. "Plays Live" was originally 85 minutes too long, slightly too much for a single CD. The choice to chop four songs ("The Rhythm of the Heat", "Not One of Us", "Intruder" and "On the Air") is really quite irritating, in particular because "The Rhythm of the Heat" and "Intruder" are two of my favorite cuts from this one.

Having said that, let me talk a bit about the music-- its a really great great record, like I said, a good bookend to Gabriel's first four albums-- the set is pretty evenly spread between "3" and "Security", with a few songs from the first two albums. The performance is top notch, on the highlights disc, "San Jacinto", "No Self Control", and "Biko" are my favorite cuts, but the whole thing is really quite good.

The Gabriel band of the era, David Rhodes, Tony Levin, Larry Fast and Jerry Marrotta, by this point were incredibly tight and superbly replicate the studio material, but shake things up enough to keep things interesting.

Still, if you can get the Japanese release, go that route, I think you'll be happier.

Plays Live is everything a concert album should be but rarely is, a true reflection of the live experience. Peter Gabriel's concerts are filled with power and this CD captures this experience much more successfully than the later Secret World CD. Incredible performances and an involved but not intrusive audience make this a definite necessity for anyone who has been to a Gabriel performance. Scratch that, it's a necessity for any fan of Gabriel's music.

If you want to know about Peter Gabriel and don't want to spend a lot of money, the best start is this "Plays Live" album. Better in the 2-CD edition. And you should buy it together with "Secret World Live", to get the full advantage.

With this two double CD set you will get more than buying the newest compilation "Hit". You can find in here a lot of songs you cannot miss from his four first recordings, as "On the air", "Humdrum", "D.I.Y.", "No self control".

I like Peter Gabriel's sound live. And this recording is very good even being almost 20 years old. Secret World sounds a little better and has the rest of the essential songs of PG, but I thik in this case two songs ("Secret World" and "In your Eyes") are too much for half of a disc.

Two excellent songs will be out of this four CD set: "Games without frontiers" and "Big Time" (it should be lovely to listen this track live), but the fact is that all songs in "Plays Live" are enough variety and quality to start knowing PG's first recordings.

Car: Solsbury Hill, Humdrum. (I should have included Here comes the Flood, too).

Scratch: On the Air, D.I.Y. (It is not my favourite album, but both songs are O.K.).

Melt: Intruder, No Self Control, I Don't Remember, Family Snapshot, Biko, Not One of Us. (Very good representation for a great album).

Security: The Rhythm of the Heat, San Jacinto, I Have the Touch, The Family and the Fishing Net, Shock the Monkey. (More than half of the original recording!).

PG's been an extraordinary artist in live performance. What about a DVD with his first solo appearances?

Peter Gabriel has one of the most original voices in the music industry. He was good in Genesis, but he is better in his solo career, that actually became interesting from the third album. Pete Gab's interest for Africa and the world music rendered his music less pop-oriented and more experimental. This live recording has one foot in the traditional pop material heard on albums 1 and 2 (on the air, I go swimming, DIY) and the other foot in the african-influenced tracks (the rhythm of the heat, no self control). All songs sound to me better than the studio original tracks, thanks to an excellent musicianship (Larry Fast on keyboards [see my review of Synergy's 'Electronic realizations for rock orchestra'], David Rhodes on the guitar, Tony Levin (which joined King Crimson in 1980) on the bass (fantastic bassline on 'I don't remember' and 'DIY') and Jerry Marotta on drums (the sound is similar to Mosley's sound on the Marillion's live 'Reel to real', as they both play on Yamaha drums). The songs are played with energy and Pete's voice is great. This is a fabulous live recording, that is worth being listened to as often as you can.

This album perfectly captures the best of Peter Gabriel. Well, in the way that it reminds you of a certain time in your life. All of Peter's work up to "So" is my favorite. He is still a talent, but the world-beat stuff is not for the older (trying to be young listening to kid's music) me. Anyway...there are great versions of great songs here. I encourage older fans to use this album to introduce youngsters to Peter Gabriel.