Peter Gabriel - Scratch (1978)

This was Peter Gabriel's second solo album. At the young age of 27, PG had just left Genesis and was on a new trajectory with Bruce Springsteen's keyboardist (Roy Bittan) to boot.

Side One

1. On the Air - textured ceiling, moog/distorted synth-bass, arpeggiator and harmonies. The lyrics tell a story of an asocial teen that finds solace in musical reverie, or hosts a radio-show?
   
2. D.I.Y. (recommended listen) - acoustic guitar, ascending and descending simultaneous lines, piano percussion, mosquito outro. Freakin' awesome intro gets me every time. I'm not sure, but I believe P.G. founded the D.I.Y. movement with this song? "And I'll tell you, straight in the eye..." friggin' mosquito in my ear!
   
3. Mother of Violence - R&B Gabriel ballad
   
4. A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World - nice and upbeat and goes to prove: money can buy synths.
   
5. White Shadow - perhaps P.G.'s way of creating musical filler, but its still quality.
   

Side Two

1. Indigo - pretty piano-drive ballad. Nice, signature close-reverb vocals along side pedal-steel (synth or real?). I'm having a hard time deciphering whether the bass and pedal-steel are real or generated sound (same thing I guess)?
   
2. Animal Magic - a little too Santana-like for me. Perhaps I'm confusing it with Black Magic Woman, but the guitar is cheese.
   
3. Exposure - mellow, downtempo
   
4. Flotsam and Jetsam - this song is clogging the needle of my turntable with lint. Distored with gunk. I skip ahead...
   
5. Perspective - holy shit! AC/DC intro. I'm gonna pretend that P.G. is celebrating Gaia on this one. Great guitar texture and saxophone...I'm starting to wonder how much Roy Bittan influenced the sound on this one?
   
6. Home Sweet Home - downright depressing ballad with honky-tonk tendencies.
   

Overall, this was a consistent listening experience. Its well worth the flotsam and jetsam synth-lines and signature vocals.