Peter Gabriel came to the attention of rock fans at the turn of the 60s and 70s as the guy who sang and told strange stories to the music of Genesis. At the time, Gabriel could even shock his bandmates by unexpectedly wearing a red dress and a foxmask in a concert. Genesis soon became too restrictive an environment for Gabriel, who always went his own way, and he left the band after The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974).
In the late 70s, Gabriel slowly began his solo career. His first four albums were full of original and often very innovative art rock. They were appreciated by the music press and enthusiasts, but they were not the music of the masses and Gabriel could be described as a relatively high-profile cult artist.
This all changed in 1986.
The So album, with its imaginative music videos, made Peter Gabriel a big star and a rich man. Usually, after a huge hit, the normal pattern is to make another similar album, tour the world, make another similar album and tours ad infinitum. However, against expectations, Gabriel slowed down his release pace and instead invested his new wealth in the state-of-the-art commercial studio complex Real World, set up his own record label Real World Records, revived his ethno-music festival WOMAD and became involved in a wide range of charitable activities.
Director Martin Scorsese had been in talks with Gabriel about making a film about the life of Jesus since 1983 and finally, after many obstacles, filming began in October 1987. Gabriel jumped on board.
Scorsese’s controversially received film The Last Temptation of Christ finally premiered in August 1988, but Gabriel’s album was not released until June the following year. Which is of course very unusual for a soundtrack album. But in fact, that’s not really what Passion is about. Gabriel, known as a perfectionist (and at times a very slow worker), didn’t stop making music when the film was finished, but continued to work on it until he finally had what could be called an album inspired by the film instead of a soundtrack.
Gabriel made the final recordings for the album in March 1989, just over six months after the film’s premiere. A significant part of the music heard on Passion is therefore not heard at all in the film. The title chosen for the album, Passion, was the working title of Scorsese’s film and the choice shows that Gabriel clearly wanted to separate the music into a distinct work that could stand on its own merits.
Passion is not Gabriel’s first soundtrack album, as he scored Alan Parker’s film Birdy back in 1985. However, the Birdy soundtrack consisted mainly of new instrumental versions of Gabriel’s old songs. With Passion, he is doing something completely new.
Most film music in the late 80s was still orchestral instrumental music that owed a lot to Western classical music. These orchestral scores generally did not seek to reflect a geographical location or historical period but commented on the emotions of the characters and emphasised events and actions. Gabriel’s Passion takes an interesting new direction as he constructs the instrumentation of the score to roughly resemble the geographical setting in which Jesus was influenced at the time. And since there are also a lot of traditional instruments from that region, it’s easy to imagine that even some of the timbres are the same as those heard at that time. Of course, this is only an illusion and the music of Passion has nothing to do with the music that was heard in ancient Palestine more than 2000 years ago. But that’s not what matters, it’s that the illusion of authenticity is strong enough.
It is tempting to call Passion’s music instrumental, but in fact this is not the case as the human voice is used extensively and at best very effectively as part of the music. So there are vocals on the album, but all the singing is done without lyrics. As on Gabriel’s third and fourth solo albums, rhythms are again given a central role, perhaps even more crucial than ever before.
I’m no expert on world music so I could be wrong about this, but even though Gabriel draws on music from different regions, the resulting mix doesn’t sound like ethnic music from any particular region. And this is the power of Passion; Gabriel managed to create something completely new from old ideas.
Passion is made with a wide range of musicians. Many of the musicians have played at Gabriel’s WOMAD festivals or on ethnic albums released by Real World Records and come from North Africa or the Middle East. Among the best known are vocalists Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’Dour and violinist L. Shankar. There are also some Western rock and jazz musicians in the line-up, some of whom are Gabriel regulars such as guitarist David Rhodes, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Manu Katché. New names in the Gabriel line-up include drummers Manny Elias (who has played extensively with Peter Hammill) and Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra), bassist Nathan Elias and trumpeter Jon Hassell.
Gabriel’s secret weapon on the album, however, is the Fairlight, a cross between a keyboard and a computer, and the Akai S990 sampler. Using these devices, Gabriel chops and pastes musical elements to his heart’s content, building something entirely new from the sounds his musicians make. Organic and technological sounds meet seamlessly and it’s often impossible to tell if a sound comes from a real instrument or if it’s been played or at least reworked with Fairlight. In this sense, Passion sounds at times a little like Mike Oldfield’s chilling 1984 film score released on The Killling Fields. Gabriel’s Passion, though, sounds more organic than the music Oldfield created on Fairlight.
Read also: Review: Peter Gabriel – i/o (2023)
A few comments on some of the best tracks on the album:
”The Feeling Begins”
The melancholic doudok melody of ”The Feeling Begins” kicks off the album in a reverent way until Manny Elias’ octoban drums (tubular shaped toms) raise the energy levels in a thunderous way. Other percussionists join in with a variety of ethnic percussion and the result is a fascinating polyrhythmic swirl with two doudocs and Gabriel’s synthesizer weaving their magic. At the end, the rhythms take over the music in a similar way to ”Rhythm Of The Heat” on Gabriel’s fourth studio album.
”A Different Drum”
”A Different Drum” brings Peter Gabriel’s vocalization to the surface so powerfully that I don’t think this song was heard in the film, at least not in this form. The effect would probably be disturbing in the context of the film. The song, carried by a simple West African backbeat, alternates between Gabriel’s steadier vocalisation and Youssou N’Dour’s more intensely striking voice, attacking here and there.
”Zaar”
”Zaar” is probably the most famous single song on the album, as it was included on Gabriel’s popular best of compilation Shaking The Tree. I first came across the song myself on that compilation. In ”Zaar”, a playful synthesizer melody floats richly over screeching percussion. David Rhodes’ electric guitar buzzes in the background and L. Shankar plays short snippets of melody on his violin.
”With This Love”
The gentle, hymn-like ”With This Love” is a rather exceptional song among Passion’s material. It combines the melody of Robin Canter’s oboe and English horn with low synthesizer pads and L. Shankar’s violin. The song represents the Western musical tradition at its clearest in Gabriel’s pseudo-ethnic music. This creates an exciting contrast with the rest of the material and ’With This Love’ also plays an important role dramaturgically, of course, representing a certain divine sanctity amidst the uncertainty of all the rhythmic pulse. Admittedly a rather Western-centric view from Gabriel, but one has to take into account that film music has to play within certain conventions sometimes in order to get its message across.
”Troubled”
Based almost entirely on percussion, ”Troubled” relies especially on Billy Cobham’s rolling drum beat with at least two separate percussion loops pulsing alongside. Gabriel plays minimal melodic snippets here and there on Fairlight, and the two wordless vocalists create a disturbing atmosphere that fits the title of the song well. ”Troubled” is a good example of how well small elements can be used to build a strong, captivating atmosphere.
”It Is Accomplished”
The celebratory and grandiose ”It Is Accomplished” is the only song on the album that would have worked pretty much the same way on Gabriel’s previous solo albums. The song is supported by a fanfare-like keyboard riff, rock rhythms and modern production compared to the rest of the material.
The above descriptions only offered a small glimpse of Passion’s many musical treasures. It is a truly inspired album.
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Wrapped in Julian Grater’s stunning artwork, the 67-minute Passion is a long album and perhaps not all of its individual tracks are all that amazing in themselves, but even at its weakest, the album retains a strong and mysterious atmosphere that holds the listener firmly in its grip from start to finish.
In 1990, Gabriel won a Grammy Award for Passion in the somewhat dubious category of ”Best New Age Album”. Gabriel’s score also received a Golden Globe nomination, but was ignored by the Oscars. The album sold over half a million copies in the US which says a lot about Gabriel’s status as a superstar at the time.
Passion, for its part, significantly raised the profile of world music, along with the numerous ”real” ethnic albums Gabriel released through his Real Word Record label. As far as Gabriel’s own catalogue is concerned, Passion does not pale in quality in comparison to his ”normal” albums but on the contrary contains music that belongs to the best of his career. Indeed, Gabriel succeeded in his goal of making his film music a work that can be listened to separately from the film.
Best tracks: ”The Feeling Begins”, ”A Different Drum”, ”Zaar”, ”With This Love”, ”Troubled”, ”It Is Accomplished”
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Read also: Review: Genesis – Foxtrot (1972)
Tracks
- The Feeling Begins (4:00)
- Gethsemane (1:23)
- Of These, Hope (4:05)
- Lazarus Raised (0:36)
- Of These, Hope (Reprise) (1:06)
- In Doubt (2:07)
- A Different Drum (6:05)
- Zaar (4:44)
- Troubled (2:46)
- Open (3:18)
- Before Night Falls (2:16)
- With This Love (3:36)
- Sandstorm (2:55)
- Stigmata (2:24)
- Passion (7:36)
- With This Love [Choir] (3:19)
- Wall of Breath (2:25)
- The Promise of Shadows (2:12)
- Disturbed (3:07)
- It Is Accomplished (3:30)
- Bread and Wine (2:23)
Musicians
Peter Gabriel: vocals, synthesizers (Prophet 5, Fairlight, Roland D50), samplers (Akai S900, Emulator), piano (12,20), flute (2), whistle (3,5), percussion, bass guitar (3,5), double bass (21), computer generated sound effects (6-8,12,18) Baaba Maal: vocals (5) Youssou N’Dour: vocals (7,15) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: vocals – qawwali style (15) Julian Wilkins: vocals – choirboy (15) David Rhodes: guitar, ebow (17,21) David Sancious: synthesizer and synth arrangements (12), Hammond (20), backing vocals (7,9) David Bottrill: tambourine (18,20), slide guitar (20), sound engineer and mixing. Antranik Askarian: Armenian doudouk (1) Vatche Housepian: Armenian doudouk (1) Kudsi Erguner: ney (11,17) Jon Hassell: trumpet (15) Richard Evans: tin whistle (21) Robin Canter: oboe (12), English horn (12,16) Nile musicians: arghul (17) Lakshmir Shankar: violin (1,3,5,7,8,10), vocals (10) Mahmoud Tabrizi Zadeh: kemenché (6,8,13,14) Manny Elias: surdo & octobans (1) Hossam Ramzy: tabla (1,8,11,13,19), tambourine, triangle, finger symbals, dufit. Nathan East: bass guitar (8,20) Fatala: percussion (5,7), African percussion (19) Manu Katche: percussion (13) Billy Cobham: percussion (9,20), drums (9,18) Djalma Correa: Brazilian percussion (15) Massamba Diop: talking drums (3,5) Said Mohammad Aly: percussion (19) Mustafa Abdel Aziz: arghul (3,5,20), percussion (19) Doudou N’Daiye Rose: percussion (7)
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