Pumped to Please

Review Score: (8/10)
No complaints about the tracks assembled for this best of. Gabriel hasn't made a dud album, but I endorse the generous sampling of his third solo work, the closest he came to song cycle cohesion. You're either captivated by the big sound of eclectic electric nuances or left on the other side of the door. The key to it is the positioning of Gabriel's narrator and his steelish rasping voice which can take some acclimatising to. Even then, it's a fairly one-dimensional instrument. No one can accuse Gabriel of lack of ambition as he willing assumes a range of personas; political assassin, disenfranchised working class poor, apocalyptic jockey, ecological doomsdayer or voice of the third world. His identification with the presidential hit man convinces,ranging from nervously anticipating his famous killing to the crumbling, pathetic, regressed infant groping for the affection of lost parents. 'Here Comes The Flood' is given an impressive reading (possibly only surpassed on Rob Fripp's, 'Network' EP). Less successful are 'Don't Give Up', 'San Jacinto' & the hugely brave, but flawed 'Biko'. Where the pumped up orchestration cannot save the sympathetic but jarringly theatrical psuedo consciousness of the author.

More Reviews:

• Good in the car
• For the passing fan, get 'Hit' instead
• better than the new greatest hits
• Almost as good as his 2-disc collection.
• Nice compilation
• Great Gabriel Collection
• Turn Up The Voice
• Flaws are Noticable, But Still an Entertaining Retrospecitve
• A portrait of Gabriel's solo career
• True audiophile sound.
• Missing an important song
• a must have
• Only sixteen greats?
• Why no "In Your Eyes"? Well...
• Unbelievably great CD!
• a solid heads up to you, the consumer
• Sounds much better remastered
• Only for the most casual fans (and, ironically, completists)
• Lots of treasures grow on this tree
• Great Place to Start
• Has Some Minor Flaws But It's Still Magnificent!
• This Is The Picture.
• Shaking The Tree / A great ethnic piece...
• One track short of 5 stars
• Where the HELL is 'In Your Eyes'
• Not bad.
• A Great Retrospective -- well worth it.
• Gabriel's Best on one CD
• Fairly Accurate Solo Career Representation
• A Nice Starting Place
• Essential Listening
• Sixteen of Peter Gabriels's Seventeen Golden Greats
• Peter Gabriel on a Budget
• Good, but not the best way to sum up Gabriel's career
• Good anthology album
• I like about half the songs on this one.
• Not a "Greatest Hits" Compilation
• INCREDIBLE
• Only if you already know you love Peter Gabriel!
• Absolutely essential listening
• It sure was a good decision to buy this one!
• Too Many Unlistenable Songs
• Better than So
• Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats
• This album is a satisfactory.
• Start With This One
• Almost perfect..
• Very Good Collection
• Good Stuff!
• Peter Gabriel is a musical god
• Great Collection, but why leave out "In Your Eyes"?
• Good representation of Peter's albums
• If you're looking for an overview of Gabriel, start here.
• A great compilation from a long career.
• A summation of greatness
• Excellent Peter Gabriel
• Great, all the good ones
• Great CD