14 Comments
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Dan Epstein's avatar

I confess that I've never been a big Gabriel fan; I have a lot of respect for him as an artist who marches to his own beat, but (with a few early exceptions) that beat generally leaves me pretty cold. That said, I have a very fond memory of a high school friend of mine (a massive Gabriel fan) trying to get me into him via this track; since I was a huge Jam fan, he knew I would HAVE to listen to the entire thing because of Weller's presence. It still didn't take, but I appreciated his effort (and the guitar riff).

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Friends like that are the best!

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Graham Strong's avatar

I'm going to assume that you've heard of the podcast "Discord and Rhyme" but realize that it's a big, big metaverse out there and allow for the outside chance that you haven't. They featured "Melt" in one of their episodes. It gave me a new appreciation for it, though it still doesn't quite resonate with me as much as it should. (I call it the "Pink Floyd Effect" -- music that I should like, but for some reason, don't...)

You can check out the episode here:

https://discordpod.com/listen/138-peter-gabriel-peter-gabriel-iii-1980

(And if you haven't heard of the podcast -- like, you could be one of the hosts, that's how much I think you'll like it...)

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

I’ve heard of it, but haven’t listened. Will change that ASAP, and thanks for the link! Maybe I should send ‘em my resume. 😀

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Graham Strong's avatar

Yeah - I think you'd fit right in...

It's a great podcast, and one you'd really appreciate I think. It's made me like albums I didn't like, and it's made me love albums I already love even more.

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Christopher Manson's avatar

A masterpiece if ever there was. And thanks for singling out that track.

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

You bet! I’m glad you liked it.

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Chris Bro's avatar

Brilliant album. Brilliant track! Thank you

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Of course! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

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dunkie's avatar

YES! YES! YES! 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍

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Norman's avatar

This is my favourite Peter Gabriel album, out of his impressive discography. Games Without Frontiers and Biko are the tracks that excite my music neurons. I listened to And Through the Wires again to see if any of your enthusiasm for the song rubbed off. It didn't. I won't dis the song, but it isn't my go-to cut.

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Andres's avatar

Great post. I love his vocal distortion technique, especially when he sings “wire”. That hook would certainly not hit the same way without!

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Dave Purcell's avatar

Great take on a great song. And if I go forward with a publication here (yeah, I know, I keep waffling on this), the song will inspire its name. ;-)

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Kristin DeMarr's avatar

Somehow, I managed to get the German version of this album. I think it was entirely for Schock den Affen.

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