Scratch My Back

About

Scratch My Back is the eighth studio and fourteenth album overall by the English musician Peter Gabriel, his first in eight year. It was released on 12 February 2010 in Australia and Germany, on 15 February in the UK and on 2 March in the U.S. The album, recorded at Air Lyndhurst and Real World Studios during 2009, consists of cover versions of twelve songs by various artist, using only orchestra and voice. It is produced by Gabriel himself with Bob Ezrin.As one reviewer described it, "covers albums don’t get any more idiosyncratic or high concept than Scratch My Back." The album performs well on the album charts around the world. Since its release it has peaked at #1 in Belgium, #2 in Germany and Canada, and #3 in the Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland.It also reached the top 5 in France and Sweden. In Gabriel's native U.K. it peaked at #12 on the UK Albums Chart on 21 February 2010. Background The idea behind the Scratch My Back project is a song exchange where each artist would cover one of Gabriel's songs in return for his covering one of theirs; the other artists' renditions of Gabriel's songs will appear on a later album entitled I'll Scratch Your. “ If you’re going to reinterpret something, then really do something. Nail your colors to the mast and say, ‘This is different, and it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. ” —Peter Gabriel, on Scratch My Back. According to Gabriel, although he and arranger John Metcalfe had talked about Arvo Pärt and Steve Reich as inspiration, it was the work that Metcalfe did on "Heroes" that "gave us the confidence to be bold in the way in which we were going to approach the record." "Heroes" became the opening track because "without any of the drive of guitar and drum...it builds an enormous tension that bursts open." Cover art The cryptic image on the album cover is actually a micrograph of two red blood cells folding over each other, or, depending on your point of view, colliding with each other.The image was shot by photographers David Hiscock and Nadav Kander. Not coincidentally, the name of Gabriel's supporting tour for the album was "The New Blood Tour". Track listing # Title Original artist Length 1. "Heroes" David Bowie 4:10 2. "The Boy in the Bubble" Paul Simon 4:28 3. "Mirrorball" Elbow 4:48 4. "Flume" Bon Iver 3:01 5. "Listening Wind" Talking Heads 4:23 6. "The Power of the Heart" Lou Reed 5:52 7. "My Body Is a Cage" Arcade Fire 6:13 8. "The Book of Love" The Magnetic Fields 3:53 9. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" Randy Newman 2:34 10. "Après moi" Regina Spektor 5:13 11. "Philadelphia" Neil Young 3:46 12. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" Radiohead 5:06 Special Edition bonus disc # Title Original artist Length 1. "The Book of Love" (Remix) The Magnetic Fields 3:40 2. "My Body Is a Cage" (Oxford London Temple version) Arcade Fire 6:03 3. "Waterloo Sunset" (Oxford London Temple version) The Kinks 3:49 .

via Last.fm

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