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Peter Gabriel è uno dei più grandi geni ed innovatori della musica moderna. Vocalmente dotato di una voce unica ed inimitabile, capace di garantire interpretazioni sceniche e recitative pressochè inarrivabili, se non da pochi rarissimi eletti. Il suo percorso creativo lo portò ad affacciarsi curiosamente sulla World Music, sulla musica elettronica, sul rock di stampo "Springsteeniano" e persino sulla disco music, ma i suoi ultimi due dischi esplorano la musica classica e le capacità interpretative della prestigiosa orchestra d'accompagnamento, totalmente spogliata degli strumenti tipici del rock. Così come in "Scratch my back" esplorava canzoni altrui però, in "New Blood" rianima il sangue delle sue vecchie composizioni, anche con l'aiuto della figliola Melanie Gabriel, che per me non ha un giudizio del tutto positivo, ma lo spiegherò in seguito, nel dettaglio.
Il disco inizia con la maestosa ed estremamente cupa "The Rhytm Of The Heat", proveniente dall'immenso "IV", e qui ripresentata in veste meno claustrofobica. La prima cosa che si nota è un autentico miracolo: la voce di Peter con gli anni non fa che migliorare! qui assume decine di sfumature diverse, si incupisce e si chiude su sè stessa, si lancia in incredibili arrampicate e affoga nel nichilismo della follia danzante delle tribù africane. Nel complesso trovo però meglio resa la versione originale.
"Downside Up" è la prima canzone in cui a duettare con il paparino c'è la affascinante Melanie Gabriel, che dire? la sua voce semplicemente viene schiacciata da quella del padre, e su questo non ci piove, ma la cosa mi ha sorpreso in negativo: spesso si perde solo in inutili ghirigori vocali e gorgheggi reiterati, troppo lamentosa e mancante di espressione. Il pezzo è comunque estremamente godibile, e ben meglio reso dell'originale.
Segue l'immenso capolavoro Gabrielliano di tutti i tempi (in lotta con "The Family and The Fishing Net") la carezzevole, dolce ed estremamente decisa "San Jacinto". E' qui il regalo più bello che Peter ci fa, il riuscire a rendere un capolavoro immenso anche più grande. La nuova dimensione orchestrale dona al brano un'ariosità e una sensazione pressochè unica di estrema libertà, cosa che l'originale andava un po' trascurando in favore di una altrettanto incisiva base percussiva martellante e meno soffiata e delicata di questa, eppure straordinariamente inserita tra gli altri strumenti. La voce tocca la massima punta emotiva mai raggiunta da PG, specialmente nell'esplosione orchestrale dei 4 minuti. Non mi aspettavo che senza chitarra elettrica la forza sarebbe rimasta invariata, ma mi sono dovuto ricredere ascoltando l'immensità del cantato gabrieliano qui, poco da fare, quest'uomo ha reso la voce la sua puttana.
"Intruder" è il primo tentativo del disco di riportare a galla la cara vecchia sensazione di paura che PG sapeva ben trasmettere. Chi non ricorda l'originale? con quelle pelli della batteria strozzate, quel ritmo martellante e marziale, quell'assurdo cantato sussurato che riempiva di terrore strisciante e meschino. Bene, qui tutto ciò è stato tolto (mi sono sentito molto deluso per la mancanza del cantato soffiato, dopo quel che PG era stato capace di fare con la voce nel brano precedente mi aspettavo molto altro) in favore dell'aggiunta di una nuova dimensione strumentale al brano, che presenta una lunga coda orchestrale, abbastanza inquietante ma ben poco in armonia con il passato. Un nuovo brano questo, non considerabile una cover in quanto radicalmente diverso!
"Wallflower" mi hapersonalmente deluso, partendo all'originale si potevano fare grandissime cose come per San Jacinto, ma qui PG non aggiunge assolutamente nulla alla proposta iniziale, c'è solo un malinconico pianoforte e una alquanto dimenticabile prestazione diMelanie sul finale.
"In Your Eyes" procede con un tema brioso, senza eccellere,e poi segue il brano che mi ha più deluso dell'intero disco assieme a "Darkness", sto parlando di "Mercy Street", dove diavolo è finita la magia dell'originale? persino la voce sembra peggiorata! il finale ambient( secondo me una delle cose più emozionanti mai scritte da PG) poi si perde come nulla sotto la debole base orchestrale, e il risultato è un mezzo patatrac con la splendida voce di PG in primo piano, non abbastanza per giustificare alcun giudizio positivo.
"Red Rain" rialza di non poco il livello qualitativo, meravigliosa l'atmosfera nervosa praticamente invariata dall'originale, spettacolare sia la voce che la melodia nel ritornello, che ci fa davvero apparire come prima immagine nel cervello una maestosa immensa tempesta, dove un impavido PG naviga su una nave (quella che doveva essere di Mercy Street, per intenderci "Out with the father he's out in the boat, riding the water, riding the waves on the sea"c'è stata una trasfigurazione) affrontando con coraggio i suoi incubi peggiori. Nuovo apice vocale, indeed, e netto miglioramento dell'originale.
Seguono altri due brani che se non sono ributtanti ci sono vicini, su Don't Give Up ho davvero da dire solo parolacce (cos'è quel coso che miagola al posto della Bush? COSA CAZZAROLA E'?) ma per Darkness voglio spendere due parole. L'originale è uno dei miei brani preferiti in assoluto, con quelle esplosioni metalliche e quella dolcezza inquietante del piano nei momenti di pausa, nei momenti di vuoto cosmico che prelude ad una nuova incalmabile esplosione di furore, terrore e rabbia pura. bene, qui non c' è nulla. Dove prima la voce era semplicemente filtrata come attraverso un cellulare, qui è pesantemente modificata digitalmente, e il risultato è davvero goffamente tragicomico. Nessun senso di terrore incombente, nessun suono metallico sullo sfondo, nulla ci darebbe l'impressione che alla base della canzone c'è la follia. Io ci vedo solo mestiere, e questo non mi piace. Delusione immane!
"Digging In the Dirt" rialza nuovamente lo standard del disco, ottima prestazione vocale, belle le pause strumentali sul ritornello, cariche di tensione che si sprigiona nelle fasi successive. E qui Melanie diventa quasi piacevole all'orecchio, in quanto si limita a fare da pilastro per il papà, e devo dire che quella voce dolce ben accompagna quella ruvida e tagliente del padre.
Il momento più alto del dsico è però, secondo me, una assolutamente ignorabile canzone strumentale di 3 minuti, "The Nest That Sailed the Sky". Mai, e dico mai, PG è riuscito ad emozionarmi così tanto, e con così poco. La assoluta delicatezza, la totale espressione di libertà e apertura al mondo esteriore che questa traccia trasmette, rendono quelle brutture precedenti sopportabili, in quanto sai che ti aspetta un lungo viaggio nel cielo aperto e scintillante di un azzurro innaturale, nel tuo caldo cesto di vimini foderato con amore dalle mani femminili di una qualche parente, o magari da tua madre. Queste sono le immagini eteree che mi evoca la canzone, e non c'è modo migliore di concludere così un album.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 The Rhythm of the Heat (05:41)
Looking out the window
I see the red dust clear
High up on the red rock
Stands the shadow with the spear
The land here is strong
Strong beneath my feet
it feeds on the blood
it feeds on the heat
The rhythm is below me
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
The rhythm of the heat
Drawn across the plainland
To the place that is higher
Drawn into the circle
That dances round the fire
We spit into out hands
And breathe across the palms
Raising them up high
Help open to the sun
Self-conscious, uncertain
I'm showered with the dust
The spirit enter into me
And I submit to trust
Smash the radio
No outside voices here
Smash the watch
Cannot tear the day to shreds
Smash the camera
Cannot steal away the spirits
The rhythm is around me
The rhythm has control
The rhythm is inside me
The rhythm has my soul
03 San Jacinto (06:59)
Thick cloud - steam rising - hissing stone on sweat lodge fire
Around me - buffalo robe - sage in bundle - run on skin
Outside - cold air - stand, wait for rising sun
Red paint - eagle feathers - coyote calling - it has begun
Something moving in - I taste it in my mouth and in my heart
It feels like dying - slow - letting go of life
Medicine man lead me up though town - Indian ground -
so far down
Cut up land - each house - a pool - kids wearing water
wings - drink in cool
Follow dry river bed - watch Scout and Guides make
pow-wow signs
Past Geronimo's disco - Sit 'n' Bull steakhouse - white
men dream
A rattle in the old man's sack - look at mountain top -
keep climbing up
Way above us the desert snow - white wind blow
I hold the line - the line of strength that pulls me through
the fear
San Jacinto - I hold the line
San Jacinto - the poison bite and darkness take my sight -
I hold the line
And the tears roll down my swollen cheek - think I'm losing
it - getting weaker
I hold the line - I hold the line
San Jacinto - yellow eagle flies down from the sun -
from the sun
We will walk - on the land
We will breathe - of the air
We will drink - from the stream
We will live - hold the line
04 Intruder (05:08)
I know something about opening windows and doors
I know how to move quietly to creep across creaky wooden floors
I know where to find precious things in all your cupboards and drawers
Slipping the clippers
Slipping the clippers through the telephone wires
The sense of isolation inspires
Inspires me
I like to feel the suspense when I'm certain you know I am there
I like you lying awake, your baited breath charging the air
I like the touch and the smell of all the pretty dresses you wear
Intruders happy in the dark
Intruder come
Intruder come and leave his mark, leave his mark
05 Wallflower (06:26)
Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
And you face the night alone
While the builders of the cages
Sleep with the bullets, bars and stone.
They do not see your road to freedom
That you build with flesh and bone
They take you out - the light burns your eyes
To tha taking room - it's no surprise
Loaded questions from clean white coats
Their eyes are all as hidden as their Hippocratico Oath
They tell you how to behave, behave as their guest
You want to resist them, you do your best
They take you to your limits, they take you beyond
For all that they are doing there's no way to respond.
Hold on, hold on
They put you in a box so you can't get hurt
Let you spirit stay unbroken, may you not be deterred.
Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
And you face the night alone
While the builders of the cages
Sleep with bullets, bars and stone,
They do not see your road to freedom
That you build with flesh and bone.
Though you may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say to you, I will do what I can do.
You may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say to you, I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do
06 In Your Eyes (07:13)
Love
I get so lost sometimes
Days pass
And this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
All my instincts
They return
The grand façade
So soon will burn
Without a noise
Without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light, the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway
To a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution
In your eyes
Of all the fruitless searches
Oh, I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes
Love
I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted
And this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired
Working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you
To keep me awake and alive
And all my instincts
They return
And the grand façade
So soon will burn
Without a noise
Without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway
To a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution
In your eyes
Of all the fruitless searches
Oh, I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
In your eyes, in your eyes
07 Mercy Street (06:00)
looking down on empty streets, all she can see
are the dreams all made solid
are the dreams all made real
all of the buildings, all of those cars
were once just a dream
in somebody's head
she pictures the broken glass, she pictures the steam
she pictures a soul
with no leak at the seam
let's take the boat out
wait until darkness
let's take the boat out
wait until darkness comes
nowhere in the corridors of pale green and grey
nowhere in the suburbs
in the cold light of day
there in the midst of it so alive and alone
words support like bone
dreaming of mercy street
wear your inside out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy street
swear they moved that sign
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms
pulling out the papers from the drawers that slide smooth
tugging at the darkness, word upon word
confessing all the secret things in the warm velvet box
to the priest-he's the doctor
he can handle the shocks
dreaming of the tenderness-the tremble in the hips
of kissing Mary's lips
dreaming of mercy street
wear your insides out
dreaming of mercy
in your daddy's arms again
dreaming of mercy street
swear they moved that sign
looking for mercy
in your daddy's arms
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
mercy, mercy, looking for mercy
Anne, with her father is out in the boat
riding the water
riding the waves on the sea
08 Red Rain (05:16)
Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
I am standing up at the water's edge in my dream
I cannot make a single sound as you scream
It can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch
Hey - we touch
This place is so quiet, sensing that storm
Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
Well I've seen them, buried in a sheltered place in this town
They tell you that this rain can sting and look down
There is no blood around see no sign of pain
Hey - no pain
Seeing no red at all, see no rain
Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
Red rain
Putting the pressure on much harder now
To return again and again (red rain)
Just let the red rain splash you
Let the rain fall on your skin (red rain)
I come to you defences down (oh)
With the trust of a child
Red rain coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me
And I can't watch anymore
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this
Red rain coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I see it
Red rain coming down
Red rain is pouring down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm bathing in
Red rain coming down
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is coming down all over me
I'm begging you
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Red rain coming down
Over me in the red red sea
Over me
Over me
Red rain
09 Darkness (06:11)
i'm scared of swimming in the sea
dark shapes moving under me
every fear i swallow makes me small
inconsequential things occur
alarms are triggered
memories stir
it's not the way it has to be
i'm afraid of what i do not know
i hate being undermined
i'm afraid i can be devil man
and i'm scared to be divine
don't mess with me my fuse is short
beneath this skin these fragments caught
when i allow it to be
there's no control over me
i have my fears
but they do not have me
walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
the deeper i go, the darker it gets
i peer through the window
knock at the door
and the monster i was
so afraid of
lies curled up on the floor
is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
i cry until i laugh
i'm afraid of being mothered
with my balls shut in the pen
i'm afraid of loving women
and i'm scared of loving men
flashbacks coming in every night
don't tell me everything’s alright
when i allow it to be
it has no control over me
i own my fear
so it doesn’t own me
walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
the deeper i go, the darker it gets
i peer through the window
knock at the door
and the monster i was
so afraid of
lies curled up on the floor
is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
i cry until i laugh
Drums: Manu Katche, Dave Power
Percussion: Mahut Dominique, Ged Lynch, Richard Chappell
Bass: Tony Levin
Guitars: David Rhodes
The London Session Orchestra: Strings
String Arrangement: Peter Gabriel, Will Gregory
Orchestration: Nick Ingham
Programming: Richard Chappell
Additional Programming: Alex Swift
Bosendorfer, Mutator, Keys, JamMan, MPC Groove: Peter Gabriel
11 Digging in the Dirt (04:58)
Something in me, dark and sticky
All the time it's getting strong
No way of dealing with this feeling
Can't go on like this too long
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you
Don't talk back
Just drive the car
Shut your mouth
I know what you are
Don't say nothing
Keep your hands on the wheel
Don't turn around
This is for real
Digging in the dirt
Stay with me, I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
To find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt
The more I look, the more I find
As I close on in, I get so blind
I feel it in my head, I feel it in my toes
I feel it in my sex, that's the place it goes
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
This time you've gone too far
I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you
Don't talk back
Just drive the car
Shut your mouth
I know what you are
Don't say nothing
Keep your hands on the wheel
Don't turn around
This is for real
I'm digging in the dirt
Stay with me I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
To find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt
I'm digging in the dirt
Stay with me I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
To find the places I got hurt
To open up the places I got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt
14 Solsbury Hill (04:35)
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen, had no choice
I did not believe the information
I just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."
To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
'Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey," he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
Yeah back home
When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey," I said "You can keep my things,
They've come to take me home."
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Altre recensioni
Di SydBarrett96
Peter Gabriel fa parte di quel gruppo ristretto di artisti che tentano sempre di rinnovarsi e di non essere mai fini a sé stessi.
Un nuovo sangue... scorre leggiadro tra una canzone ed un'altra, quasi fosse un fiume ricco di nuove emozioni, di novità.
Di paolofreddie
New Blood dimostra che Peter Gabriel non è solo un grande artista rock, ma un artista a tutto tondo.
La versione orchestrale di San Jacinto emoziona più dell'originale.
