Albums constructed apart have allowed Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Steve Hackett to explore areas of their songcraft that might have gone undiscovered in Genesis.
Certainly, as we examined these five solo deep cuts, there emerged a deeply personal theme that was rarely there before — and that stretches from the initial Collins recordings of the early 1980s through Peter Gabriel’s confessional 1990s recordings into Hackett’s varied prog-rock efforts in the last decade.
Some would argue (and they’d be right) that there’s much more to be found for those fans intrepid enough to move away from their tattered copies of Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. What about Gabriel’s trio of highly experimental self-titled LPs beginning in the late 1970s? Or Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford’s hitmaking group Mike and the Mechanics? This is just meant to get you started.
You’ve heard the hits, now let’s dig a little deeper …
“MERCY STREET,” PETER GABRIEL (SO, 1986): Gabriel, of course, finally broke into the mainstream with this album, sending “Sledgehammer” and “Big Time” up the charts thanks to a pair of endlessly inventive accompanying videos.
But the darkly mysterious “Mercy Street,” which used the self-destructive life and harrowing confessions of poet Anne Sexton as a theme (right down to the title, which recalls her poem “45 Mercy Street”) hearkened back to an earlier time. In fact, “Mercy Street” seemed to synthesize everything Gabriel had been trying to do since leaving Genesis in the previous decade, deftly blending electronics and world music.
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