Customer Reviews

Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

People-

This album was a pretty good compilation of the songs written by Peter Gabriel. There are a few things that bug me about it. There are also a few things I like about it.

I own all of Peter Gabriel's albums, so I know every song of his. When you listen to this album after hearing his songs on the actual album, you will hate it. For the reason is, they butchered almost every song on there. Five songs (Sledgehammer, Mercy Street, Don't Give Up, Games Without Frontiers, Shock The Monkey) had parts in them cut out. It was too evident. The new Genesis album, "Turn It On Again: The Hits," also a greatest hits album, has a few cut-outs, but not to insanity.

Also, where the hell is the song "In Your Eyes." That song is one of his biggest hits, and yet, it is not on his greatest hits album. What the hell is the matter with the Geffen company.

Not everything about this album is bad, however. I love how the new versions of "Shaking The Tree," "Here Comes The Flood," and one of the remixes for "I Have The Touch."

If they had made this album a double CD album, it would be a lot better. First, they wouldn't have to cut everything out. Second, they could fit more songs and remixes. And, third, double albums attract more customers. What us Peter Gabriel fans look for is a double album. We hope for his new album, "Up", to be a double album.

If you do not have any Peter Gabriel albums and are looking for an album filled with hits and hits only, this is the album for you. Otherwise, if you are a huge Peter Gabriel fan and have most or all of his albums, I strongly suggest to stay away from this. Buying this album causes paragraph-long complaints like this one!

- Adam

With the release of the double-CD, 'Hit' (2003), the 16 golden greats has been superceded as THE BEST collection for the passing or casual fan for two reasons:
(1) 'Hit' has 12 tracks that came out in the 1990s and beyond (after 'Shaking the Tree' (1990)), and even the passing fan would be remiss by passing up tunes like "Digging in the Dirt" and "I Grieve".
(2) As for earlier material from the 1970s and 1980s, one of PG's biggest hits - "In Your Eyes" - is included on 'Hit' (U.S. version), but is conspicuosly absent from 'Shaking the Tree'. ('Shaking the Tree' does have four other lesser-known tracks not included on 'Hit', the title track, "Mercy Street" from 'So' (1986), "I Have the Touch" from 'Security' (1982), and "Zaar" from the 'Passion' soundtrack (1989). )

At this point in time (2003), 'Shaking the Tree' is a collectible for die-hard PG fans only because: (1) the studio version of the title track featured only on this compilation; and (2) the remix of "I Have the Touch" that differs from the version on 'Security' (1982).

An effective collection. It's missing a track or two, as compilations inevitably are (especially from such an accomplished artist as Gabriel), but this is, on the whole, a satisfying collection. The big hits and well-known songs are here - Sledgehammer, Shock The Monkey, Big Time, Red Rain, Games Without Frontiers, etc. Also gratefully included are some personal favorites of mine - Mercy Street, Don't Give Up, San Jacinto, and a stunning new version of Here Comes The Flood. All of these are great, sprawling songs of the emotionally impactive variety Gabriel does so well. Also included, of course, is his first single, Solsbury Hill, which addresses his leaving Genesis, and, despite the years, is still my all-time favorite track of his. It's one of those songs that, no matter how many times I hear it, I still love it. Zaar, from his beautiful album Passion, is here as well. Shaking The Tree is a very nice starting place for the casual fan.

Absolutely outstanding! One of my personal top 5 CD's of all time. If you are not a die-hard Peter Garbiel fan, you really should buy this one. A few songs I didn't like on their original mix were greatly improved like, "I Have The Touch". Although the purist might be offended by the alterations, someone who is not a Gabriel fan will become one after hearing so many excelent tracks all on one CD.

Sure..."In Your Eyes" is not on this collection. But "Red Rain", "Mercy Street", and "Don't Give Up" are. Point is - these songs are from the same studio album as "In Your Eyes" (_So_) and are just as good. But most people who casually know the work of Peter Gabriel might have never even heard them. And therefore, this is a successful "Best Of" album because it contains material that casual listeners have heard on the radio ("Sledgehammer", "Big Time", "Solsbury Hill") and other material that they are probably less familar with ("San Jacinto", "Here Comes the Flood", "Family Snapshot", and "I Don't Remember"). This was the first Gabriel album that I picked up and it made me go back and pick up his studio albums. The choices for the 'sixteen greats' are excellent. "Shaking The Tree" makes its first appearance here, as does a piano/vocal-only version of "Here Comes the Flood." If you're thinking of picking up this album because you've liked what you heard of Gabriel on the radio, you really can't go wrong with this collection.

After reading so many comments about the omission of "In Your Eyes" on "Shaking the Tree," I felt I had to comment. When you think about it, "In Your Eyes" was only a minor hit when first released in 1986. It didn't become the acknowledged classic until its use in "Say Anything" in 1989. Since "Shaking the Tree" came out originally in 1990, the song had not been a "classic" for that long. The bigger reason that "In Your Eyes" is not on this greatest hits collection is that including EVERY hit from "So" would greatly hurt sales of the "So" CD release. With "In Your Eyes" on "Shaking the Tree," fans could now get "Sledgehammer," "Big Time," "Don't Give Up," "Mercy Street," "Red Rain," and "In Your Eyes on a greatest hits CD. For most people, that would preclude them from buying "So." If you notice, on his "Hit" CD, "In Your Eyes" is there, but the brilliant "Mercy Street" is missing. If you notice other greatest hits CD's from other artists, the majority of them follow this practice. As the old saying goes, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

Even though its not a double cd, this cd is special for having the song "Shaking the Tree". A must in the Peter Gabriel collection. Downfall of this album is the fact that its outdated. Do yourself a favor and buy this album, Gabriel II, Us, So and Up. You will have a great collection of his best work. If you're a fan buy everything, trust me its worth it.

It's pretty obvious that "In Your Eyes" perhaps one of Peter's biggest hits was omitted off this album, this compilation of hits is pretty thorough though. I was stunned that "In Your Eyes" was not included but I'll have to buy "So" to have it in my cd collection.

Asides from "In Your Eyes" not being on the cd, I thought "Shaking the Tree:Sixteen Golden Greats" is excellent, especially for casual Peter Gabriel listeners such as myself. His songs on this cd are great and timeless. Songs like "Mercy Street" and "Don't Give Up" give me the chills. They possess a haunting quality about them that makes my hair stand up. "Biko" is another favorite track of mine and tells the listener the story of Steven Biko.

Peter Gabriel's vocal stylings is rather unique as his ability to tell stories through songs like "Biko". Frankly there isn't a artist today that can come close to Peter Gabriel in my book. The beauty of his music is that he can have fun in songs like "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" and be serious in "Biko" and "Red Rain".

Though the songs on "Shaking the Tree" are undeniably strong, it is a woefully inadequate compilation. The material recorded by Peter Gabriel between 1977 (the debut album) until 1989 ("Passion") is too rich and diverse to be well-served by a single-disc compilation. One studio album (the second), isn't even represented, and neither is the live album, "Plays Live." And "In Your Eyes" is a gross omission. Gabriel's other hits are all here (except those from 1992's "Us") so those with only a lukewarm interest may be satisfied. But Peter Gabriel is not a singles artist. Anyone with a stronger interest is better off buying the individual records.

In short, Peter Gabriel is an artist whose material should be slowly explored, not summed up in a brief greatest hits collection. Morever, the hits sound better in the artistic context of the original albums.

Ironically, Peter Gabriel completists will have to buy "Shaking the Tree" anyway in order to obtain the title track, co-written and co-performed with Youssou N'Dour. Also, "Here Comes the Flood" is a new version with just piano and voice.

First, I thought I'd help clarify the (ostensible) reasons behind some of the song choices on Shaking The Tree (alright everyone, let's get our trivia caps on!):

Gabriel reportedly excluded "In Your Eyes" for two reasons; first of all, he just tired of it, disliking it as a millstone around his neck which misrepresented him and pigeonholed him. It became his "Creep," to make a wholly inappropriate analogy to a Radiohead song. In some sense I agree with this; I for one find it really annoying when I try to talk about Gabriel to my friends and all they know by him is that damned behemoth prom song. The second reason is a bit more personal: he wrote it about his wife Jill, and their marriage fell apart afterwards (Much of Us is based on the emotional turmoil in Gabriel's life during the period of his divorce, of course). So it was a little painful to revisit it, I suppose. I for one don't miss it much, as it never did a thing for me.

As for the absence of tracks from Peter Gabriel 2, there are also two reasons for that. Firstly, both of the first two album were recorded for Atco, not Geffen, so there were licensing issues (apparently they didn't want to pay to include the songs). You'll notice that of the first two albums, only "Solsbury Hill" is here (really only because it would have been completely unacceptable to have a best-of compilation without it); "Here Comes The Flood" is a 1989 remake (which I prefer anyway; really haunting stuff). Second, he was really disappointed with both the tepid reception of the album and the production, which WAS a bit ropey and loose.

Enough with the trivia, though, now onto my own worthless views! I LOVE this as a compilation (although it could easily be a double CD since there are some questionable omissions: "Modern Love?" "On The Air?" "Wallflower?" And we didn't need "San Jacinto!"); to me it's everything that a best-of should be. It's thoughtfully (though contentiously) selected, well-sequenced, and sweetened with bonus tracks and edits. That means a lot, too, as a bunch of songs here are slightly altered from the album versions: "Sledgehammer," "I Have The Touch," "Shock The Monkey," "Games Without Frontiers," "Zaar," "Mercy Street," etc, and in EVERY case the changes are for the better. "I Have The Touch" turned from an anonymous flat-as-yesterday's-Mr. Pibb song into some sort of percussive beast! And all it took was a new drum track. "Sledgehammer" is a lot more fun now that the wacky ersatz-flute intro has been cut out, too. Anyway, while this ISN'T a definitive compilation (I'd say you need the first & third albums as well), it's a damn fine listening experience in its own right, with the songs put together with each other in a way that makes you sit up and say "Hey! That Peter Gabriel, he was some writer, wasn't he?"

And UP is finally out now! Go get it!