| "Four Kinds of Horses" | ||||
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| Single by Peter Gabriel | ||||
| from the album I/O | ||||
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| Genre | Art rock | |||
| Length | 6:47 | |||
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| Songwriter(s) | Peter Gabriel | |||
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| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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"Four Kinds of Horses" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in May 2023 as the fifth single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O . The track has been described by Rolling Stone as atmospheric, swirling, and sparkling. [2] The cover artwork was done by Cornelia Parker. [3] [4]
The song was originally conceived when the founder of XL Recordings Richard Russell asked Peter Gabriel to make a song for his project "Everything Is Recorded". While in the studio, Gabriel came up with some chords, melodies and words on top of a groove he was working on, with the help from Russell, it would eventually become "Four Kinds of Horses". [3] [2] [5]
As the track developed, a couple of things would influence the track, such as the Buddhist Parable of Four Kinds of Horses, which explain how a student can approach religious and spiritual practice. The song also shows themes of the "overlap of religion and peace on the one hand and violence and terrorism on the other. There was also a film by Hany Abu-Assad called Paradise Now which shows two young men who end up being trained to become terrorists and it's a real insight into where the head goes." [3] [2]
The track also features Brian Eno, who worked with Gabriel on 1992's Us , [6] composer John Metcalfe on string arrangements, and Gabriel's daughter Melanie on backing vocals. [3]
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [7] | 65 |
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched a successful solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His fifth studio album, So (1986), is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.
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"Princes of the Universe" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by the British rock band Queen, originally released as a single in the United States on March 12, 1986, via Capitol Records. The song was written for the film Highlander, and released on the album A Kind of Magic, which also featured other selections from the Highlander song score on June 2, 1986. In 1999 it was included in Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.
Wrong Way Up is the sole collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and John Cale, originally released on October 5, 1990 on Opal and Warner Bros. Records. The album sits between the electronic, prog-rock and art rock genres and features some of both Eno and Cale's most mainstream work.
Up On the Roof: Songs from the Brill Building, released in 1993 on Columbia Records, is a cover album and also the twenty-first studio album by Neil Diamond. It contains a duet with Dolly Parton, string arrangements by David Campbell, along with re-makes of tracks associated with the Brill Building, where Diamond had worked in the 1960s.
New Blood is the ninth studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 10 October 2011. The album consists of orchestral re-recordings of various tracks from Gabriel's career.
The Justice Collective was a collective of musicians and celebrities. The project is spearheaded by Peter Hooton of the Farm. It was originally established in 2012 as a fund-raising record raising money for the various charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster. It is best known for its charity single "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" in 2012. A closely related collective known as the Peace Collective released the charity single "All Together Now" in 2014.
Nothing to Do with Us was the third LP record released by The Goodies. All songs were written by Bill Oddie. As with their previous albums, the music was performed mainly by session musicians. For this album, The Goodies were signed to Island Records which had worldwide distribution rights except for the United States.
Live at the De De De Der is the name of two live albums by English musician Damon Albarn, recorded by Abbey Road Studios during his two consecutive dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 15 and 16 November 2014, available for sale immediately after each show. The performances feature Albarn's band The Heavy Seas, and include guest appearances by artists such as Brian Eno, De La Soul, Kano, and Albarn's Blur bandmate Graham Coxon. The albums feature songs from a number of Albarn's projects, including songs by Gorillaz, Blur, The Good, the Bad & the Queen, and Mali Music. The albums were released exclusively for sale at the two performances and on the Abbey Road Studios website. Damon Albarn's long-term partner Suzi Winstanley designed the front cover.
"Panopticom" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in January 2023 as the first single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O, his first album of original material since 2002's Up. Two versions of the song have been released: the "Bright Side Mix" on 6 January 2023, and the "Dark Side Mix" on 21 January. The cover features David Spriggs' Red Gravity as the cover art. The single was released on the first full moon of the year.
"The Court" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel. A version of the song mixed by Tchad Blake, titled the "Dark-Side Mix", was released on 5 February 2023. Much like "Panopticom", the single's release date was chosen to coincide with a full moon. The song's "free-form, impressionistic lyric that connected to justice" concerns the balance between the necessity of the legal system and the abuse of power that happens within it. The song was partially inspired by the work of NAMATI, a charity "dedicated to putting the power of law in the hands of people."
I/O is the tenth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel, released on 1 December 2023 through Real World Records. It is Gabriel's first album of new original material in over 21 years since Up (2002), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in his solo career. I/O features 12 tracks, each with two different mixes labeled the "Bright-Side Mix" and "Dark-Side Mix". It is also Gabriel's longest studio album, with both mixes each clocking in at over 68 minutes and the total project lasting over two hours. An additional "In-Side Mix" of the album is available on versions which include the Blu-ray audio disc.
"Playing for Time" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in March 2023 as the third single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. This is his first album of original material since 2002's Up. Two versions of the song have been released: the "Bright Side Mix" and the "Dark Side Mix". The cover art for this track features Annette Messager's Mes voeux . Recorded at Gabriel's Real World Studios in Wiltshire and the Beehive and British Grove Studios in London, "Playing For Time" features regulars Tony Levin on bass and Manu Katché on drums. The single was released on March 7 and the full moon, called the Worm Moon.
"Road to Joy" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in June 2023 as the sixth single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. The track is one of the last tracks to emerge for the album, it had originally been conceived around 2000's OVO called "Pukka", albeit sounding very different to the final rendition of the track. The track was produced by Gabriel and English musician Brian Eno, and features Tony Levin on bass, Manu Katché on drums, John Metcalfe on string arrangements, and the Soweto Gospel Choir.
"Olive Tree" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in August 2023 as the eighth single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. Since August has a blue moon, this is the first of two tracks that was released in August, the other being "Love Can Heal". The track has been described by Louder as "uptempo" and "jaunty". Gabriel said of the song, "I wanted it to have some speed to it but I also wanted some mystery, too. I think it is a celebration in a way and there's a real sense of being alive."
"So Much" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released in July 2023 as the seventh single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. Gabriel described "So Much" as a "simple song" that was "easy to digest but still had a bit of character to it". He claimed in the Full Moon Update that the song was a bit polarizing, that "it will split an audience" "about 50/50" with those who love it and those who don't care for it. According to Gabriel, Tchad Blake called it "the best thing that he has ever done." Gabriel said that the song is about "mortality" and "getting old".
"And Still" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, initially released on 28 October 2023 as the eleventh single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. It is the longest track on the album, clocking in at nearly eight minutes.
"This Is Home" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, released on 29 September 2023 as the tenth single in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O. According to Gabriel, the track is a "love song", and "began with inspiration from some of the great Tamla Motown rhythm sections so we're trying to recreate that in a modern way, complete with the tambourine and handclaps".
"Live and Let Live" is a song by English musician Peter Gabriel, first released on 27 November 2023 as the final single released in promotion of his tenth studio album I/O, four days before the record's release. It is the final track on the record; the dark-side and in-side mixes of the track are also extended by an additional 25 seconds. The artwork for the single was designed by Nick Cave with his piece "Soundsuit".