Peter Gabriel: Peter Gabriel 3 (melt face) [REAL WORLD]

Why you'll love it

This Real World edition is a half-speed remaster on 180g vinyl with a hi-res download code. Peter Gabriel 3 became his first UK No. 1 album, and "Games Without Frontiers" reached No. 4 on the UK singles chart.

This edition

• Half-speed master
• 180g vinyl
• Hi-res download card included
• Remastered
• Stereo mix

About the album

Plenty of drummers have a famous sound; very few can point to the record where it was born. On this one, Phil Collins, engineer Hugh Padgham and producer Steve Lillywhite hit on the gated, cymbal-free drum sound that opens "Intruder" and went on to shape the sound of the decade. Gabriel had decided there would be no cymbals on the album at all, which pushed everyone to rethink what drums could do.

Gabriel was writing his most character-driven songs yet: the prowler of "Intruder," the would-be assassin of "Family Snapshot," the restless minds of "No Self Control" and "I Don't Remember." Kate Bush sings on "Games Without Frontiers" and "No Self Control," Paul Weller plays guitar on "And Through The Wire," and the closing "Biko," his tribute to the South African activist Steve Biko, became one of his signature songs.

The sleeve, a photo of Gabriel's face apparently dissolving, gave the album its nickname, and Lillywhite's production keeps everything tense and spacious from first note to last. It's also the easiest way to ask for it at the counter, since his first four albums all share the same name.

Also at Kops: more Peter Gabriel on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Real World (cat# PGLPR3), a reissue of the 1980 album.