GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS ALL PART OF THE PETER GABRIEL PLAYGROUND

In terms of progressive rock, the third outing for PETER GABRIEL, officially self titled, unofficially given the title of MELT by many of his hardcore fans because of the album cover which displays a picture of Gabriel with one side of his face melting off, is up there with the best of them - like WISH YOU WERE HERE by the Floyd and ABACAB by Genesis. However, like anything Gabriel served up in his distinguished solo career, this album wont appeal to everyone - not even close. Musically it's muscular and challenging, and with the addition of KING CRIMSON guitarist ROBERT FRIPP and his old Genesis bandmate PHIL COLLINS for three songs a piece, among other guest appearances including KATE BUSH on backing vocals, it makes for a very authentic english progressive rock album that was the complete antithesis of early 80`s pop. The barbed anti-apartheid message contained in the song BIKO, written in memory of the late STEVE BIKO, won Gabriel a lot of fans in South Africa and is considered by some to have been the original catalyst for Gabriel creating his very own record label REAL WORLD RECORDS, which over the past two decades has given many obscure african musicians oppurtunities that no major commmercial label would ever provide them. ROBERT FRIPP is the standout performer on the album, no offence at all to the stage genius of Gabriel. The three songs he plays on - I DONT REMEMBER, NO SELF CONTROL and NOT ONE OF US all bear that unmistakably looped and head deadening drone of the legendary KING CRIMSON guitarist. I DONT REMEMBER was covered eight years later by australian pop rocker DARYL BRAITHWAITE on the album EDGE, actually it's a fairly good cover but not having ROBERT FRIPP made it terminally inferior to the real thing. The big hit single off the album GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS was wildly rumoured over the years to be a song about sibling incest, the more likely explanation is that the lyrics were an attack on nationalism and the machinations of war.