Big Blue Ball

Often when a musician becomes so accomplished in their career, the art of creating an album becomes less about art and more about using their celebrity to make a quick buck (see Neil Young’s 2006 album Living with War…I know it got nominated for 3 Grammys but I stand by my convictions on this one. Trust me, it sucks). It seems to me that sometimes a band or solo artist, who has put out a countless number of studio albums, all of a sudden stops making an effort to try something new and be creative. Or perhaps they have just run out of things to say. Fortunately, this is not yet the case with Peter Gabriel.

Today, Gabriel will release a side project of his that he has named Big Blue Ball. The album features musicians from all over the world; musicians that were flown in during the early 90’s to record at Gabriel’s “Real World Studios” in Wiltshire, England. Helping him out with the project is World Party musician Karl Wallinger (also in the band The Waterboys). Some of the more recognizable names on the album include Tim Finn, Sinead O’Connor, Joseph Arthur and The Holmes Brothers.

Describing the experience of recording with talent from all over the world, Peter Gabriel discusses the experience in the liner notes of the new album: “There’d be a studio set up on the lawn, in the garage, in someone’s bedroom as well as the seven rooms we had available. …We had poets and songwriters there, people would come in and scribble things down, they’d hook up in the café…. Then they’d disappear into the darkness and make noises- and we’d be there to record it.”

The years were 1991,1992 and 1995. So why has it taken so long to release the recordings? Apparently, disorganization is the price you pay for doing things in such a free and untraditional way. It has taken nearly eighteen years to sort the whole mess out, says Gabriel. The result however, would have been worth the wait, even if it had taken thirty years.

The album opens with “Whole Thing,” a song Gabriel describes as being hypnotizing. This is also one of the strongest tracks on the album and features Karl Wallinger, Tim Finn and Francis Bebey (an artist, musician and writer who passed away in 2001, but released more than twenty albums in his time).

Other highlights on the album include “Shadow,” a song featuring Papa Wemba on vocals, one of Africa’s most popular musicians, and “Burn You Up, Burn You Down,” which includes Gabriel, The Holmes Brothers, Wallinger and Jules Shear (whose biggest claim to fame might be the creation of MTV’s Unplugged series).

The album ends with what is the most straightforward, acoustic pop song on the album, “Big Blue Ball.”

This could be a contender for “Best World Album” in next year’s Grammy awards. If he wins it will be Gabriel’s first Grammy win in this category… surprising for an artist that has sold millions of records and has had a prominent interest in world music for years.