Initially,
the idea Peter Gabriel set forth was to simultaneously release two albums: one
of him singing songs that other popular artists recommended to him, and another
to have those same musicians cover and creatively interpret some of his own
hits. Now almost three years after Gabriel covered some of todays most popular
acts such as Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and David Bowie in 2010’s Scratch My Back, his follow-up album And I’ll Scratch Yours returns the favor
with those artists interpretation of Gabriel’s musical work. Although there is
a considerable gap in between these albums when compared to the original plan
of a continuous release, it’s often the case that patience can deliver the best
results.
However,
it must be stated that this album of covers seems somewhat empty without the
inclusion of what is arguably Peter Gabriel’s biggest international hit
“Sledgehammer.” More than just that is working against this album, like how two
of the more influential contributors, Neil Young and Radiohead, were scheduled
to appear on And I’ll Scratch Yours,
but are noticeably absent.
Even though
this album didn’t go exactly as schedule with a very pushed back release date
and missing contributors, there is much to be admired here. Starting with Arcade
Fire’s rendition of “Games Without Frontiers,” which gets a vast and strangely
welcoming amplification on the electronic elements. The biggest surprise in
terms of instrumental switch ups and musical creativity comes from the late Lou
Reed’s cover of “Solsbury Hill.” In it, Reed decidedly molds the old acoustic
guitar notes into raging electronic guitar riffs coupled with an overall change
in the composition of the melody. A little less subtle, but equally
entertaining is Randy Newman’s interpretation of Gabriel’s “Big Time,” which brings about a slower, softened down version properly suited in his
typical cabaret fashion. The combination of Bon Iver’s breezy, mellifluous
vocal tone on “Come Talk to Me” delightfully present all the reasons this cover
album came to fruition, which was to showcase how some of the most musically
diverse groups could come together with their signature sound and reinterpret a
pioneer’s biggest hits. Not all of the songs where as expertly pulled off as is
best seen in Joseph Arthur’s take on “Shock the Monkey” since it just seems
lazily thrown together with barely an ounce of creativity or energy.
Some of
the artists took this chance to completely revamp and switch up Peter Gabriel’s
hits while others viewed this as more of an opportunity to simply do a karaoke style
replica version and be down with it. And
I’ll Scratch Yours is not stellar by any means, but when compared to it’s
intertwined counterpart Scratch My Back it
definitely takes the crown.
Grade: C+
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