| "That Voice Again" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Promotional single by Peter Gabriel | |
| from the album So | |
| Released | 1986 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:52 |
| Label | Charisma Geffen |
| Songwriter(s) |
|
| Producer(s) |
|
"That Voice Again" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album So . The song was released as a promotional single and reached No. 14 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Gabriel identified "That Voice Again" as one of his favorite songs on the album. [2]
In 1983, Gabriel was approached by Martin Scorsese to develop the soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ , although the release date of the film was ultimately pushed back to 1988. [3] Under the working title "The First Stone", Gabriel originally incorporated biblical themes from the Old Testament into the lyrics, specifically referencing the line "let him first cast a stone" from John 8:7. [4] He later altered the lyrics to be less religious and more introspective to reflect his attempts at being less judgemental. These lyrics pertained to judgment on a personal and global scale, but Gabriel remained dissatisfied with some of the words. [2]
After attempting three different sets of lyrics, Gabriel solicited the assistance of guitarist David Rhodes, who helped him "loosen a few syllables here and there." [2] [5] He ultimately settled on lyrics that examined "the parental voice in our heads that either helps or defeats us". [6] [7]
"That Voice Again" is about judgmental attitudes being a barrier between people. The voice is the voice of judgment. A haunting internal voice that instead of accepting experience is always analyzing, moralizing and evaluating it. [8]
"That Voice Again" is Gabriel's final song to be associated with his aborted story surrounding the fictional character of Mozo, a "mercurial stranger" loosely based on Moses and the alchemical treatise Aurora consurgens . Gabriel dispersed several songs related to Mozo on his albums up through So in 1986, with "Here Comes the Flood" and "Down the Dolce Vita" first referencing the character on Gabriel's 1977 debut solo album. He intended for his Mozo songs to comprise a complete story when assembled together. Within the context of the Mozo story, "That Voice Again" represented the attribute of judgment. In 1987, Gabriel considered developing a one-hour video revolving around Mozo, but he ultimately never brought this idea to fruition. [8]
Gabriel gravitated toward the 12-string guitar during the recording sessions; the instrument had not appeared on any of his compositions since the 1974 release of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway , which was his final album with Genesis. [9] After his departure from Genesis, Gabriel opted against the use of the 12-string guitar on his solo material, but he later decided that "ten years was long enough". [10]
Gabriel took some musical inspiration from The Byrds when creating some of the song's instrumentation. [10] The song's 12-string guitar was played by Daniel Lanois and Rhodes covered the electric guitar parts. [9] [11] Similar to "Red Rain", the first song on So, "That Voice Again" begins with an instrumental interlude followed by the chorus, which features multitracked vocals overdubbed by Gabriel. [9] For the line "Only love can make love", Gabriel sustained the final syllable for over ten seconds. [6] Following another chorus, the song concludes with a percussion figure and a "sudden chord" as described by music critic Durrell Bowman. [9]
Louder identified "That Voice Again" as a "beautiful, Byrds-like pop song that often gets overlooked amid the album's plentiful highlights." [11] The Quietus called the song "far from subdued" and highlighted the drumming of Manu Katché. [6] Pitchfork said that apart from "Sledgehammer", "That Voice Again" had the strongest chorus on So and the "most biting lyric". [12]
Ultimate Classic Rock thought that Gabriel demonstrated an "exquisite vocal delicacy on the yearning, piano-dazzled 'That Voice Again' — a love song torn apart by self-doubt." [13] Uncut was more critical of the production choices, saying that some of the song's keyboard sounds detracted from the listening experience. [14]
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [15] | 14 |
So is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records and Virgin Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project. Initial sessions for So consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.
Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats is a compilation album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1990 as Gabriel's first career retrospective, including songs from his first solo album Peter Gabriel (1977), through Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ (1989). It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002. The vinyl version of the album is called Shaking the Tree: Twelve Golden Greats.
Manu Katché is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion style.
"Red Rain" is the first track on English rock musician Peter Gabriel's fifth solo studio album So (1986). In the United States, it was initially only released as a promotional single and reached number three on Billboard magazine's Mainstream Rock chart in June 1986, where it stayed for three weeks between July and August. A year later, in June 1987, it was released as a commercial single in parts of Europe, Australia and the United States, peaking at 46 in the UK Singles Chart after entering the chart in July of that year. A live version also charted in the US and the UK in 1994.
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Robbie Robertson is the solo debut album by Canadian rock musician Robbie Robertson, released in 1987. Though Robertson had been a professional musician since the late 1950s, notably a founder of and primary songwriter for The Band, this was his first solo album. Robbie Robertson won the Juno Award for "Album of the Year", and producers Daniel Lanois and Robertson won the "Producer of the Year" Juno award, both in 1989; there were no Juno Awards in 1988.
"In Your Eyes" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth solo studio album So (1986). It features Youssou N'Dour singing a part at the end of the song translated into his native Wolof. Gabriel's lyrics were inspired by an African tradition of ambiguity in song between romantic love and love of God.
"The Knife" is a song by progressive rock band Genesis from their second album, Trespass (1970). The first half of the song was released as a single in May 1971 with the second half as the B-side, but it did not chart. The heavy, progressive rock style of the song was a marked change from previous Genesis songs; it showed the band pioneering a new direction.
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"Blood of Eden" is the third single from English rock musician Peter Gabriel's sixth album, Us (1992), featuring backing vocals by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor. It was written by Gabriel and produced by him with Daniel Lanois. The single was released in March 1993 by Geffen, Real World and Virgin, and narrowly failed to enter the UK top 40, peaking at number 43.
"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. 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".
"No Self Control" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in 1980 as the second single released from his third self-titled album and peaked at number 33 in the UK. The first 30,000 copies of the single were distributed in picture sleeves.
"Here Comes the Flood" is a song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel from 1977. It first appeared on his debut solo album, Peter Gabriel (Car).
"Secret World" is the final song on Peter Gabriel's 1992 Us album. It was released as a promotional single and reached the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and the Canadian Top Singles Chart. Gabriel used the title for his 1993–94 Secret World Tour, where the song served as the final song of his main set. The song appeared on his Secret World Live album and Secret World concert film; it also served as the subtitle for Gabriel's multimedia CD ROM game Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World.
"Kiss That Frog" is the fourth single from English rock musician Peter Gabriel's sixth album, Us (1992). It was written by Gabriel and produced by him with Daniel Lanois. The single was released in September 1993 by Real World, and narrowly failed to enter the UK top 40, peaking at number 46. However, the song did reach the top 40 in Canada, where it peaked at number 36. In the United States, the song missed the Billboard Hot 100 but reached number 18 on both the Billboard Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts.
"Shakin' the Tree" is a 1989 song by Youssou N'Dour and Peter Gabriel from the Youssou N'Dour album The Lion. Released as a single, it reached number 61 on the UK official singles chart on 17 June 1989.
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"Excellent Birds" is a song written by Laurie Anderson and Peter Gabriel. It was first included on Anderson's Mister Heartbreak album in 1984. Gabriel later reworked the song for his 1986 So album with the title "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)". This version was excluded from the original vinyl edition of So but appeared as the final track on the cassette and CD releases. For later editions of So, "In Your Eyes" was placed the last song on So instead, moving "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" earlier in the track listing.