VARIOUS ARTISTS
Leaves From The Tree: A Tribute To The Music of Peter Gabriel (Vitamin Records)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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Putting a fresh spin on an artist as accomplished and eclectic as Peter Gabriel, whose career has run from art-rock to MTV pop to film score, seems a daunting task. There are few musical outlets that Gabriel hasn't already utilized to express his characteristically sensual vision. Enter the electronic facelift, Leaves From the Tree: A Tribute To The Music of Peter Gabriel.

The thirteen tracks on Leaves From the Tree run just under 70 minutes and are not only representative of Gabriel's work, but of prominent electronic forms. The collaborators of this project appear to have handled this remix album very carefully, seldom upstaging the original song's essence. Most tracks are appropriately spun, like "Shock The Monkey" which is given a fast house style (Ben Neill featuring Andrew Montgomery) and "Only Us (Chunky but Funky Mix)" in thick hip-hop beats (Julee Cruise and Supa DJ Dmitry). Gabriel purists may cry that in places, the remixes threaten to waylay the original for DJ machismo, but such deconstruction is the thrust of electronica.

Leaves From the Tree is a worthy effort, if only to hear the perennial MTV favorites "Sledgehammer" (Supreme Beat featuring Dave Wakeling) and "Big Time" (Ryeland Allison) twisted, turned and twirled on their heads. Gabriel may already have settled into pop culture lore with his tender, quirky style, but this album ensures that legacy is ever in a state of transformation.

© 2002 - Erick Mertz