Peter Gabriel
Live Blood
Release Date: Apr 24, 2012
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Album Rock, Art Rock
Record label: Eagle Records / Eagle Rock
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Album Review: Live Blood by Peter Gabriel
Average, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 6/10
Capturing a concert held at London's Hammersmith Apollo in March of 2011, several months prior to the release of his re-interpretive record New Blood, the double-disc Live Blood sounds very similar to the subsequent LP and its 2010 predecessor Scratch My Back...as well it should, as all the performances are based on the same austere arrangements. Gabriel is fascinated by subtleties that lie within an orchestra, so the music on Live Blood doesn't pummel, it creeps, slowly working its way underneath the skin. As such, Live Blood doesn't feel quite as visceral as Gabriel's previous live albums do: it's pitched at the head, not the heart.
Based on rating 6/10
All right. Let’s get this out of the way first. If you happen to be a simple fly-by-night Peter Gabriel fan, someone who turns the the car stereo up a few notches whenever “In Your Eyes” happens to land on a local radio station and refers to him as only “that dude who made that neat video sometime in the ‘80s”, then Live Blood, the recently released double-disc set featuring the former Genesis frontman singing songs in front of a 46-piece orchestra, is probably not something you will take a great deal of interest in.
Based on rating D
Peter Gabriel has worn many hats and countless costumes over his 40-year career. He emerged out of a rising phone booth during his Secret World tour 20 years ago and even rode a bike around the stage during “Solsbury Hill” on his Growing Up tour a decade later. This evidence points to extravagance coupled with invention, without much embarrassment.