Tentative Review #40

Peter Gabriel
I Don't Remember (EP)

(released 1980)

Track:	Rating:
1. I Don't Remember
2. Shosholoza
3. Biko (remix)
4. Jetz Kommt Die Flut

Personnel:

Peter Gabriel: vocals, keyboards
Dick Morrissey: saxophone
Tony Levin: stick
Jerry Marrotta: drums
Phil Collins: drums
Morris Pert: percussion
Larry Fast: keyboards
David Rhodes: guitar

Comments:

"I Don't Remember", from Peter Gabriel (III) (1980), was issued as a 12-inch single shortly after the album appeared. Three bonus tracks were also included with the single.

This version of "I Don't Remember" actually begins with "Start", the saxophone solo piece which precedes it on the album; since the official listings don't bother to quibble with this difference, however, neither shall I. Although essentially the same as the album version of the track, the bass seems to be mixed in a slightly louder manner. As with the album track, however, all of the instrumental performances are quite good, and all still fall behind Gabriel's lyrics as the focal point of the song.

The other tracks are, of course, more vital from a historical perspective. "Shosholoza" includes a lengthy intro and outro sample from a (South, presumably) African chanted piece; notably, the music accompanying this chanted section includes a deep bass tone which later made an appearance in "A Different Drum" (from Passion). Gabriel's throaty vocal tones fit in quite well with the track. Some might quibble that the mixing was done in a rather amateurish manner (the fade-in of the chanted reprise at the end is quite noticeable), but this is a fairly minor problem at most.

The remixed version of "Biko" is longer, rougher and starker than the album version. The crowd chanting in the intro section is entirely different from that of the more famous version, and the musical lead-in is a bit longer; more notable, however, is the fact that the vocal line is much more isolated in this version than the other. There are no vocal overdubs here until the closing section of the work, and Gabriel's naked vocal lines appear in clear contrast to the music around them; this appears to have been an early vocal take for the work. Some fans may also be pleased to know that the snare drum at the end is removed from this version.

The EP ends with "Jetz Kommt Die Flut", a noble but ultimately only partly successful attempt to transform "Here Comes The Flood" (the version that appears on Fripp's Exposure) into German (note that I consider the English version to be a " * * * * * " track). The atmospheric keyboard lines are quite effective; unfortunately, some of the quiet urgency of the song seems to be lost in the translation, and the mere fact that Gabriel is here singing in translation seems to hinder the direction of the song slightly. As has been noted by other critics, the harsher, more aggressive songs from PGIII and Security were usually the ones that best translated to German; being a more quiet number, this is a bit more awkward. This is, however, only a problem in comparison to the more famous version; on its own merits, this track is still fairly good.

This EP is thus a fairly interesting stop for fans of the artist, albeit not an absolutely essential one.

The Christopher Currie

(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 11 September 1997)