Pop music has always been about the give-and-take. Of course, sometimes the artists doing the taking didn’t bother to give credit to those who were giving, but that’s not a problem anyone has to worry about with Peter Gabriel. The ’80s rock star, who first achieved fame with flamboyant prog band Genesis, announced earlier this year that he’d like to start a “covers” project. It was a simple enough concept: Gabriel was going to record a covers album, putting his own spin on songs both classic and more modern. In return, he hoped that each of the artists he covered would in return write a cover of one of his songs.

Hence the project’s clever name: Scratch My Back. It’s an interesting idea, which should surprise no one, since Gabriel has always been about interesting ideas. And it was also fascinating to see who he included on his list of covers. There were older artists that you would expect, such as Paul Simon (“The Boy in the Bubble”), Randy Newman (“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”) and David Bowie (“Heroes”). But there was also an assortment of more recent indie-rock names that will definitely appeal to younger music fans. The list includes Radiohead’s “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” The Arcade Fire’s “My Body is a Cage” and Bon Iver’s “Flume.” All in all, it seems like Peter Gabriel definitely keeps up with music these days.

But Gabriel wasn’t done playing with the concept. Rather than sticking to a traditional rock format, he decided to cut out the drums and guitars on all these songs, instead working on them with the aid of a classical orchestra and his own unique vocals. Needless to say, this might seem like a baffling decision at first glance. After all, music fans are used to hearing pop and rock tunes in a very particular format: Lead guitar, bass and drums. But Gabriel wasn’t willing to settle for that formula.
Tossing it out the window and working on these songs his own way might have been the best thing he ever did. They end up sounding far more original-far more “Gabriel”-than the originals. And that’s exactly what he intended.

Now, the real question is whether the artists in question are going to be taking him up on his offer and, as he puts it, scratching his back. Gabriel’s original intention was to not stop at just releasing the covers record, but also putting Brand Viagra out an album of the covers of his own songs. It would certainly be interesting to hear the likes of Radiohead or David Bowie taking a crack at, say, “In Your Eyes” or “Solsbury Hill.” It seems pretty likely that a lot of music fans – and not just Peter Gabriel fans – would be interested in picking that up. While there’s no word yet on a disc of Gabriel covers, you can see the artist perform his cover songs live. If you’ve been waiting for this opportunity, get your Peter Gabriel tickets soon online.

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Category: Music
Keywords: Peter Gabriel, music, concert, tickets, entertainment, pop, rock