The cinematic technique Peter Gabriel thinks he was the first to convert to music
Peter Gabriel’s third, self-titled studio album, often referred to as Melt, saw the peak of his art rock approach reach new heights.
Channelling an inventive spirit that had long existed since his progressive rock pioneering in Genesis, Gabriel approached the writing of his 1980 album with a “rhythm first” mentality. Drum machines became central to his work, writing his songs around the rhythms he composed, and he employed two drummers, Jerry Marotta and his former bandmate Phil Collins (who replaced him on lead vocals in Genesis), to join the recording sessions, with one warning: “Artists given complete freedom die a horrible death.”
In turn, the use of cymbals was banned, forcing Collins and Marotta’s creativity to expand, and this led to Collins and Gabriel inventing the first prominent use of a gated reverb drum sound on record, on the song ‘Intruder’. Unconsciously, they defined one of the most recognisable sounds in pop production throughout the 1980s. Evidently, Gabriel’s preference for sonic expansion and lack of fear in the unknown would pay off, fashioning his album from a collection of songs into a consumptive experience.
In anticipation of the album, Gabriel referred to its themes as “the history of a decaying mind,” speaking on Capital Radio in 1980. He continued, “State of mind was definitely an area of interest at the time of writing it, but I never really set out with a concept.”
Politics and mental disarray were common across Gabriel’s lyrics, circling back to the question of why humanity resorts to extreme behaviours. ‘Biko’ is named for South African activist Steve Biko, written as a eulogy for his murder, becoming an anti-apartheid protest song. ‘Games Without Frontiers’ comments on the horrors of war, likening international diplomacy to a childlike activity.
Such thematic storytelling conflates on ‘Family Snapshot’, where Gabriel recounts the story of Arthur Bremer, a convicted criminal who, in 1972, attempted to assassinate United States Democratic Party politician and presidential candidate, George Wallace. Inspired by Bremer’s 1973 book, An Assassin’s Diary, Gabriel’s song tells the story of the assassination from the perspective of the gunman.
“An Assassin’s Diary was a really nasty book,” Gabriel recounted to Sounds magazine in 1980, “but you do get a sense of the person who is writing it.” The musician was particularly struck by Bremer’s fixation with fame, going so far as to perfectly time his attack so that it would gain maximum coverage. Gabriel’s writing was taken from Bremer’s mind, as well as the events occurring with the assassination of John F Kennedy.
‘Family Snapshot’ is composed to reflect the dramatic swells of the killer’s plotting and carrying out of the assassination. Beginning slowly, as the killer conducts a final recount of the plan, the song builds into guitars and saxophones that mirror the search for his target. The climax, played with a full band, relishes in the infamy that he will obtain. In the final section, the song turns from a chaotic narrative to a solemn flashback, a technique that Gabriel purposefully employed.
“It is a film device, but I don’t think I’ve seen it done in a rock song before,” he tells Sounds. The story circles back to slowness, shifting to a more sombre tone as the killer begins to reflect on his childhood, one filled with loneliness and detachment. “As to the psychology of it, all that I can say is that some clichés are true,” Gabriel reflects, “patterns of behaviour begun in childhood do carry through. I see that in my own life.”
Gabriel’s cinematic approach amplified the terrifying ordeal, crafting a compelling reflection of political violence that personified the instrumentation beyond mere soundtrack, each instrument becoming a character of its own.
