Intruder (song)

Last updated
"Intruder"
Song by Peter Gabriel
from the album Peter Gabriel (Melt)
Released30 May 1980 (1980-05-30)
RecordedLate 1979
Genre
Length4:54
Label
Songwriter(s) Peter Gabriel
Producer(s) Steve Lilywhite

"Intruder" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was the first to use the "gated reverb" drum sound created by Hugh Padgham and Phil Collins, with Collins performing the song's drum part. [3] The gated drum effect was later used in Collins' own "In the Air Tonight", and appeared frequently through the 1980s, on records such as David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and the Power Station's "Some Like It Hot".

Contents

Recording

In its demo form, "Intruder" was centered around a drum machine pattern rather than live drums. He originally conceived the song as having a fuller arrangement at this stage of development. [4] The working title for the song was "Marguerita", although Gabriel later changed it to "Intruder" once further elements were added. [5]

The gated drum sound – which features heavily throughout the song – was achieved by Hugh Padgham and Phil Collins while working with an early SSL console at The Townhouse, which had noise gates and compressors built into every channel. The console had a reverse talkback feature that allowed the musicians to communicate with the producers in the control room. Pagham recalled that "one day, Phil was playing the drums and I had the reverse talkback on because he was speaking, and then he started playing the drums. The most unbelievable sound came out because of the heavy compressor." [6]

Gabriel was excited by this development, saying that it would "revolutionise drum sounds", and subsequently built "Intruder" around the drums. [7] He then instructed Collins to remove the cymbals from his kit and repeat the drum pattern throughout the entire song. [4] During the song's run-through, Collins kept intuitively striking the air where his cymbals were previously situated, so Gabriel suggested that they place additional drums in those locations. The removal of these cymbals allowed Padgham to place microphones closer to Collins' drums. [5]

At the request of Collins, Gabriel gave him a credit for coming up with the drum pattern. [8] Gabriel contended that the gated-reverb sound had already been used on an XTC album, where the effect was used as more of "colouring agent". However, Gabriel wanted to utilize the gated-reverb drum sound to a greater extent than earlier uses of the effect by making it the focal point of "Intruder". [4]

The drum pattern encompasses a one bar figure with six drum strikes: the third and sixth drum hits are played on a snare drum and the remaining drum hits occur on tom-tom drums. David Rhodes created the creaking noises heard during the intro and outro by scraping the lowest string of an acoustic guitar. A series of dissonant and percussive guitar and piano chords follow, which later segue into a descending melodic pattern accompanied by processed vocalizations. [9] Melodically, Gabriel structured "Intruder" around flattened fifths on his piano to give the song "a sense of menace". [10] The song's subject matter relates to a burglar breaking into a house and is told from the intruder's perspective. [11]

Personnel

Other versions

The song was often performed live by Gabriel in the early 1980s, and is included on his first live album, Plays Live (1983). It appears also on Gabriel's ninth studio album New Blood (2011) in symphonic version. Gabriel stated that the song's New Blood arrangement was inspired by the work of film director Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann. [12]

In 1992, the band Primus recorded a cover version of the song and included it as the opening track to their Miscellaneous Debris EP. The band later covered the song again in 2018 with Brann Dailor of Mastodon at a live performance in Sterling Heights, Michigan. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ Roberts, Christ (11 October 2010). "The Quietus | Features | Anniversary | Peter Gabriel 3". The Quietus.
  2. ↑ Zaleski, Annie (17 August 2018). "Peter Gabriel Comes To TIDAL: Brush up on a Legend". Tidal .
  3. ↑ How a recording-studio mishap shaped '80s music. Vox. 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2021-01-15– via YouTube.
  4. 1 2 3 Doran, John (19 September 2011). "An Invasion Of Privacy: Peter Gabriel Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  5. 1 2 Easlea, Daryl (2014). Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel. London, UK: Overlook Omnibus. pp. 192–193. ISBN   978-1-4683-0964-5.
  6. ↑ Flans, Robyn (1 May 2005). "Classic Tracks: Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight"". Mixonline. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Fielder, Hugh (16 August 2020). "Peter Gabriel: My Life Story". Louder. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  8. ↑ Blake, Mark (26 February 2016). "Phil Collins: from Genesis to Resurrection". Louder. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 76–77. ISBN   9781442252004.
  10. ↑ Elder, Bruce (5 July 1980). "Gabriel Without Frontiers". Melody Maker . p. 27. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  11. ↑ Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 24. ISBN   978-1-78952-138-2.
  12. ↑ O'Hare, Kevin (8 October 2011). "Peter Gabriel interview: 'New Blood' flows on disc and film". MassLive. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Lindquist, Andy (11 June 2018). "Primus and Brann Dailor of Mastodon Cover Peter Gabriel's 'Intruder'". Mxdwn Music. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
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