Gabriel Albums Ranked
by emptysquares

Following his sudden and unexpected departure from Genesis, the first several years of Gabriel's solo career were spent experimenting with various musicians, styles, technology and cultural influences which yielded 4 studio albums, none of them perfect, but each fascinating in its own way as Gabriel tinkered with his chosen art form as if it were some kind of Rubik's cube. Eventually, acute financial pressures forced his hand into making the more commercially friendly 'So', which for many remains the definitive Gabriel album. However, success changes everything and whilst his experimental nature remained in his DNA, financial security seemingly led to ever increasing gaps between albums as Gabriel's output slowed to a glacial pace. Even his orchestral experiments of 2010 seemed something of a 'cop-out' as most of the arrangements were undertaken by others - and the results on 'Scratch My Back' were at best mediocre. Maybe the moral of this story is that artists are at their optimum when hungry.

• Chart updated: 02/14/2024 13:45
• (Created: 10/23/2020 19:26).
• Chart size: 14 albums.

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1. (=)

Peter Gabriel (1980) 

 Peter Gabriel

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Recorded in '79, few albums can claim to have had more influence on the coming decade than this. The soundscape created by Gabriel, assisted by producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham, pretty much became a sonic template for the 80's - particularly the use of digital reverbs and noise gates creating Phil Collins' 'trademark' drum sound for the very first time. Today it sounds almost painfully 80's, but this was genuinely pioneering and original at the time. The song-writing was also a big leap-forward for Gabriel and his impressively dark lyricism gave the album thematic continuity before closing with the powerful 'Biko'.
v&k:Gabriel; g:Fripp/Gregory/Weller/Rhodes; k:Fast; b:Levin/Giblin; s:Morrissey; bv:Bush; d:Marota/Collins/Pert; Produced by Steve Lillywhite [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

536 charts

Rank Score:

4,067

Rank in 1980:

6

Rank in 1980s:

56

Overall Rank:

412

Average Rating:

 81 (599 votes)

Comments:

24

2. (=)

Peter Gabriel (1982) 

 Peter Gabriel

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Gabriel's 4th solo album saw him become an early-adopter of world-music influences and following this album he would play a key role in establishing WOMAD and later collaborate with diverse musicians from across the globe. But no matter how sincere the motives, it is difficult to ignore that this album was performed by (mostly) western white guys, which if repeated today would come across as a somewhat ugly act of cultural appropriation. A bigger issue with PG4 was David Lords heavy-handed production as he fell into the same trap as Bob Ezrin on the overblown PG1. Nonetheless, PG4 contains some of Gabriel's most original and powerful moments, particularly on 'Rhythm of the Heat', 'San Jacinto' and 'Family and the Fishing Net'.
v,k&p:Gabriel; g:Rhodes/Ellis; k:Fast/Lord; b:Levin; s:Laneri; d:Marotta/Pert; Ekome Dance Co; Produced by David Lord & Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

286 charts

Rank Score:

1,724

Rank in 1982:

14

Rank in 1980s:

157

Overall Rank:

1,003

Average Rating:

 79 (366 votes)

Comments:

8

3. (=)

Peter Gabriel (1978) 

 Peter Gabriel

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Following the over-blown sound of the debut, production duties were handed to Robert Fripp who did a good job of scaling things down and this album has a nice icy-coldness to its soundscape. At the time, perhaps wrong-footed by the debut, many were disappointed by this record (me included) - but it has worn well and many songs like 'Mother of Violence', 'Exposure' and 'White Shadow' possess an impressive dark beauty, whilst the openers 'On the Air' and 'D.I.Y.' are examples of Pete at his best.
v&k:Gabriel; g:Fripp/McGinnis; k:Fast/Bittan/Cochran; b:Levin; s:Cappello; d:Marota; Produced by Robert Fripp [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1978

Appears in:

137 charts

Rank Score:

495

Rank in 1978:

56

Rank in 1970s:

537

Overall Rank:

3,036

Average Rating:

 73 (201 votes)

Comments:

5

4. (=)

Peter Gabriel (1977) 

 Peter Gabriel

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Fresh from leaving Genesis, Gabriel decided to make the most of his new-found artistic freedom by trying out a selection of different musical genres for size. Producer Bob Ezrin does his usual job of making everything sound like a big-budget blockbuster which annoyingly largely obliterates any nuance or subtlety. But overall, bolstered by the hit 'Solsbury Hill', this album was perceived as a strong start to Gabriel's solo career - although a producer more 'in-tune' with Gabriel's mojo could of made a lot more of this material.
v,k&f:Gabriel; g:Fripp/Hunter/Wagner; k:Fast/Chirowski; b:Levin; d:Schwartzberg/Maelen; London Symphony Orch; Produced by Bob Ezrin [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1977

Appears in:

295 charts

Rank Score:

1,199

Rank in 1977:

30

Rank in 1970s:

279

Overall Rank:

1,411

Average Rating:

 77 (374 votes)

Comments:

14

5. (=)

So 

 Peter Gabriel

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By 1985, whilst Gabriel had established a strong reputation for original and pioneering music, the 'edginess' of the first four albums meant that large scale mass appeal had passed him by. So when the poorly attended inaugural WOMAD festival left him close to financial ruin - he was forced to ask his now 'super-rich' ex-bandmates to bail him out in the form of a hastily arranged one-off Genesis re-union. This rankled with Gabriel and for the first time he became determined to produce something truly commercial and to his credit, with 'So' Gabriel achieved this without sacrificing (too much) artistic integrity as songs like 'Red Rain' and 'Mercy Street' were powerfully original and even the hits 'Sledgehammer' and 'Don't Give Up' had more than a touch of class. Nevertheless, the new audience and large pile of cash has left its mark on Gabriels output ever since and consequently the pioneering musician of the first 4 albums has long since left the room.
v,k&p:Gabriel; k:Clark/Tee; g:Rhodes/Lanois/Rodgers; b:Levin/Klein/Laswell; v:Bush; d&p:Marotta/Katché/Hughes/Copeland; Produced by Daniel Lanois & Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

814 charts

Rank Score:

7,017

Rank in 1986:

4

Rank in 1980s:

28

Overall Rank:

226

Average Rating:

 80 (936 votes)

Comments:

62

6. (=)

Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ 
Soundtrack

 Peter Gabriel

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Gabriel's second soundtrack was developed for Martin Scorsese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ' and was an altogether more full-bloodied affair compared to his previous attempt for 'Birdy'. Drawing on a host of influences and musicians from his work with WOMAD, the music sets out to create an unrelentingly weighty and poignant tone. Gabriel continued to work on the music for some months after the film was complete in an effort to make this album stand up on its own without the visuals. It's a worthy attempt and some of the soundscapes are impressive, although for me despite the brilliant instrumentation, many pieces lacked the form or structure required to make the album truly compelling.
v,k&p:Gabriel; g:Rhodes; k:Sancious; b:East; vn:Shankar; t:Hassel; o&ca:Canter; d&p:Cobhan/Ramzy/Katché/Correa; Produced by Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

148 charts

Rank Score:

879

Rank in 1989:

24

Rank in 1980s:

294

Overall Rank:

1,891

Average Rating:

 76 (207 votes)

Comments:

5

7. (=)

Up 

 Peter Gabriel

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For all Gabriel's undoubted talents, you can't really describe him as prolific - after all, this was only his seventh studio album of original material (excluding soundtracks) since the 1970's. Ten years since the last one, it would be understandable if followers began to lose interest a little. As he gets older, brevity also seems to be an increasing issue - 'UP' lasts over an hour with most songs in excess of 7 minutes as Gabriel relentlessly builds intricate unfolding structures into even the simplest of compositions. Most of these tracks would've benefited from trimming which in turn would have made the album easier to digest. Despite these quibbles, 'Darkness', 'Sky Blue', 'I Grieve' and 'Signal to Noise' are all beautiful and unique compositions - I just wish he'd get a shift on.
v,k,g,b&p:Gabriel; g:Rhodes/Evans/Green/Lanois/Brion; k:Sancious; b:Levin/Thompson; vn:Shanka/London Session Orchestra; br:Black Dyke Band; v:Khan/Blind Boys of Alabama; d&p:Katché/Lynch/Gadd/Kalsi/Ramzy/Mahut/Hague/Greensmith/Power/Thiam/White/Dhol Foundation; Produced by Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

112 charts

Rank Score:

477

Rank in 2002:

56

Rank in 2000s:

533

Overall Rank:

3,137

Average Rating:

 74 (179 votes)

Comments:

5

8. (=)

OVO 

 Peter Gabriel

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As the UK approached the new millennium, the ambitious 'Dome' construction and proposed exhibition was widely perceived by the British public as an expensive 'white elephant' primarily designed to appease the vanity of London-centric politicians. The fact the Gabriel stepped forward to compose the soundtrack for the exhibition centre-piece show was either brave or foolhardy - but whichever it was, 'OVO' was fated to become one of the least loved of Gabriel’s works, no doubt in part due to a negative association with a perceived 'turkey'. When it finally arrived, the Millennium exhibition was largely a vacuous exercise in corporate sponsorship and promotion reflecting the Blairite governments 'greed is good' ideology of the time. But against all odds, I remember the centre-piece show as being rather spectacular and Gabriel's eccentric and diverse soundtrack perfectly captured the country's rich cultural heritage as well as its multi-cultural future.
v,k,f&p:Gabriel; v:Cherry/Rasco/Havens/Ó Lionáird/Buchanan/Fraser; g:Rhodes/Chappell/Transeau; k:Evans/McNally; b:Levin/Barr; dd:Giri; vn:Shankar/Gordon; br:the Black Dyke Band; d&p:Katché/Adzido/Dzikunu/Gadd/Kalsi/Ramzy/Emmersson/the Dhol Foundation; Produced by Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

2000

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

63

Rank in 2000:

303

Rank in 2000s:

3,172

Overall Rank:

17,241

Average Rating:

 70 (38 votes)

Comments:

0

9. (=)

New Blood 

 Peter Gabriel

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This album of orchestral versions of a selection Gabriel's material is much more worthwhile than the dire collection of covers on 'Scratch My Back'. Most effective are the more left-field of Gabriel's creations such as 'Intruder', 'Darkness' or 'Rhythm of the Heat' whereas the more mainstream songs like 'Don't Give Up' or 'In Your Eyes' are nice enough but don't veer too far from the original.
v:Gabriel/M.Gabriel/A.Brun/Cawley; New Blood Orchestra; Produced and Arr:Metcalfe/Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

2011

Appears in:

38 charts

Rank Score:

149

Rank in 2011:

176

Rank in 2010s:

1,615

Overall Rank:

8,258

Average Rating:

 71 (54 votes)

Comments:

2

10. (=)

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Birdy 
Soundtrack

 Peter Gabriel

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Gabriel had always shown interest in mixing music and visuals so it was no surprise when he took the chance to create his first soundtrack for this Alan Parker film. As well as writing new material, he also 're-cycled' fragments from both PG3 and PG4 collaborating with producer Daniel Lanois and the brilliant trumpeter Jon Hassell. It worked well with the movie - but judged as an album, like so many soundtracks without the visuals it sounds a little fragmented and uneven.
k:Gabriel; t:Hassell; k:Fast; g:Rhodes; b:Levin/Giblin; d&p:Marotta/Elias/Pert/Ekome Dance Co.; Produced by Daniel Lanois & Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

143

Rank in 1985:

110

Rank in 1980s:

1,240

Overall Rank:

8,544

Average Rating:

 69 (54 votes)

Comments:

1

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Total albums: 14. Page 1 of 2

Gabriel Albums Ranked composition

Country	Albums	%
	14	100%

Gabriel Albums Ranked chart changes

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