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.

• Summary
• Composition
• Ratings
• Favourites
• Comments
• Your feedback

View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from the 2000s. (Remove this filter)

Sort by

• Overall Rank
• Num. Charts
• Avg. Rating
• Num. Ratings
• Release Date
• Title
• Artist

7. (=)

Up 

 Peter Gabriel

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

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:

476

Rank in 2002:

56

Rank in 2000s:

534

Overall Rank:

3,155

Average Rating:

 74 (179 votes)

Comments:

5

8. (=)

OVO 

 Peter Gabriel

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

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:

301

Rank in 2000s:

3,158

Overall Rank:

17,269

Average Rating:

 70 (38 votes)

Comments:

0

11. (=)

Long Walk Home: Music From The Rabbit-Proof Fence 

 Peter Gabriel

Buy album

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• #Sponsored

Gabriel's 4th soundtrack was developed for the Australian movie 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' and the Aboriginal subject matter was a perfect vehicle for his specialism of moulding ethnic noises into a modern soundscape - break out those didgeridoo's! As you would expect from Gabriel, it all sounds pretty immaculate with pieces to accompany the various moods of the film such as 'dark and menacing', 'fast and exciting', 'sad and mournful' etc. Once again, the nature of soundtracks limits the cohesion of the material when listened to and appraised as an album, but 'Long Walk Home' is a fine example of Gabriel's skill as a arranger and composer of mood inducing soundscapes.
v,k,f&p:Gabriel; g,b,k&p:Evans; v:Lawford/Khan/Thomas/James/Goodji/Jangangpa Group/Blind Boys of Alabama; g:Rhodes/Green; k:Sancious/Norman/Bawol; dd:Giri; vn:Shanka/Wright/Shave/Kukurba/London Session Orchestra/Electra Strings; d&p:Katché/Lynch/Adzido/Kalsi/Ramzy/McNally/Mahut/Hague/Dhol Foundation; Produced by Gabriel [First added to this chart: 10/31/2021]

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

12

Rank in 2002:

939

Rank in 2000s:

9,721

Overall Rank:

51,295

Average Rating:

 71 (19 votes)

Comments:

0

Total albums: 3. Page 1 of 1

Gabriel Albums Ranked composition

Country	Albums	%
	14	100%

Gabriel Albums Ranked chart changes

Gabriel Albums Ranked similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Peter Gabriel: Best Studio Albums	RevolverCB72	Custom chart	2023
Top 11 Music Albums of 1986	DaVGManiac	1986 year chart	2019
Top 12 Music Albums of 1977	Lachapelle	1977 year chart	2020
Top 12 Music Albums of 1989	Red0510	1989 year chart	2020
Top 12 Music Albums of 1985	AwaitingAndrew	1985 year chart	2021
Top 11 Music Albums of 2010	Squonk007	2010 year chart	2022
Wolfgang Van Halen: 11 albums that changed my life	Johnnyo	Custom chart	2022
2000s 65rating (62), #101-200*	paladisiac	Custom chart	2022
Top 12 Music Albums of 1989	Elauqsapid	1989 year chart	2023
Top 11 Music Albums of 1986	RFNAPLES	1986 year chart	2012

Gabriel Albums Ranked similarity to your chart(s)

Other custom charts by emptysquares

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Pink Floyd Albums - Ranked	emptysquares	Custom chart	2021
King Crimson Albums	emptysquares	Custom chart	2021
Radiohead Albums Ranked	emptysquares	Custom chart	2021

Gabriel Albums Ranked ratings

• Related links:
• Top charts

Gabriel Albums Ranked comments

Your feedback for Gabriel Albums Ranked

Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!