# Peter Gabriel (1978 album)

Peter Gabriel is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 2 June 1978 by Charisma Records. Gabriel started recording the album in November 1977, the same month that he had completed touring in support of his debut solo release. He employed former King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who was part of Gabriel's early touring band, to produce the album. Fripp used his Frippertronics effects on the co-written song "Exposure".
The album's cover artwork by Hipgnosis led to it becoming known as Scratch to differentiate it from Gabriel's other eponymously titled albums. Some music streaming services refer to it as Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch.
The album reached No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 45 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart.

## Background

Gabriel briefly considered working again with the producer of his first album, Bob Ezrin, but ultimately decided against it. Gabriel instead selected Robert Fripp. Compared to Ezrin, who was more insistent on dictating the arrangements, Fripp favoured a more spontaneous work process that allowed Gabriel to contribute his own musical ideas. Gabriel credited Fripp with creating a studio environment that was conducive to creativity.
   Robert's approach to the process of recording was very good. He likes situations to happen rather than make them happen. On the first album I wasn't confident of my own ability in arrangement, whereas on the last one I was a lot more confident and had definite ideas.
Fripp utilised his Frippertronics technique on the track "Exposure", which he and Gabriel co-wrote. He later recorded a version of the song as the title track of his 1979 solo album Exposure. Fripp also pitch shifted Gabriel's vocals with an Eventide Harmonizer, which created a "slightly off key" vocal effect according to Stephen W Tayler, who served as an engineer for the album. Stephen Short was originally tasked with mixing the album at Trident Studios after previously serving as a tape op at the facility. Tayler recalled that Short was a relatively recent hire at Trident Studios and observed that he encountered difficulties in managing disagreements between Fripp and Gabriel over the album's production. The remainder of the album was mixed by Tayler, who described the album as "very dry sounding". He partially attributed this to Fripp's preference to minimise the use of reverb. "He had a concept called 'secret reverb,' which meant if you could hear it, then it was too loud."
During the assembly of the album package, Fripp wanted to express his belief that he abdicated too much creative control to Gabriel by including the phrase Produced by Robert Fripp for Peter Gabriel in the liner notes. Gabriel said that Fripp suggested this credit "because some of the style of the sound was not altogether what he wanted. He didn't want people to think that was exactly how he would have interpreted the music".
In a 1980 interview with Smash Hits, Gabriel stated that he failed to attain the results he desired on his second solo release in part because of his creative differences with Fripp. Gabriel believed that Fripp lacked an understanding on how to effectively record synthesisers and said that the two "spent too much time on theoretical arguments." He also expressed his opinion that "On the Air" and "White Shadow" were the only songs on the album that received sufficient attention in the recording studio. Larry Fast, who played synthesisers on the album, thought that Fripp's production choices did not adversely impact his contributions and felt that the drier and more intimate arrangements dictated which "sonic colors and textures and spaces to work with."

## Artwork

The cover depicts an image of Gabriel with several vertical grooves gouged into it that end at his fingertips. He stands with hands raised, palms facing himself, and fingers bent to simulate the appearance of tearing the image. The effect was achieved by gluing strips of torn paper onto a photo of Gabriel in the appropriate pose, taken by photographer Peter Christopherson, then using Tipp-Ex correction fluid to touch up the spots where they met his fingers.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Chicago Sun-Times | |
| Classic Rock | 7/10 |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Uncut | 7/10 |
| The Village Voice | B− |
In NME, Nick Kent wrote that the album's "brazenly left-field veneer left me cold at first, and it's only now that its strengths are starting to come across ... once past the disarming non-focus veneer, there's a quietly remarkable talent at work – quiet in the manner of the slow fuse burn of 'Mother of Violence' with Roy Bittan's piano work outstripping anything he's turned out for either Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie. Closer to the root of the album, there's a purity, a strength to the songs individual enough to mark Gabriel out as a man whose creative zenith is close at hand."

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Peter Gabriel, except where noted.
* On original LP pressings of the album, the audio of "White Shadow" (the last song on side one) continued into a locked groove.
* Some editions of the cassette release had a different running order. "A Wonderful Day in a One-Way World" was track 11, "Home Sweet Home" was track 5, and "White Shadow" was track 4.
* The original B-side of the single "D.I.Y." is a longer version of "Perspective" edited for the album and all subsequent releases.

## Personnel

* Peter Gabriel – lead and backing vocals; Hammond organ (11), piano (2), synthesizer (5, 7)
* Robert Fripp – electric guitar (1, 3, 5, 10), acoustic guitar (5), Frippertronics (8)
* Tony Levin – bass guitar (1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11), Chapman stick (2, 4, 9), string bass (6), recorder arrangements (6, 9), backing vocals (1, 4, 7, 10, 11)
* Roy Bittan – keyboards (1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11)
* Larry Fast – synthesizer and treatments (1, 2, 5, 7, 10)
* Jerry Marotta – drums (all except 3), backing vocals (1, 4, 10, 11)
* Sid McGinnis – electric guitar (1, 4, 8–11), acoustic guitar (2, 3), steel guitar (3–6, 9, 11), mandolin (2), backing vocals (7)
* Bayeté (Todd Cochran) – keyboards (2, 4, 6, 7)
* Tim Cappello – saxophone (10, 11)
* George Marge – recorder (6, 8, 9)
* John Tims – insects (3)
The electric guitar on 7 is uncredited.

## Charts

| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 50 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) | 46 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 48 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 2 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 49 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 24 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 10 |
| US Billboard 200 | 45 |