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Check out my review of New Blood Special Edition....love it http://therepublika.com/2011/10/05/music-review-peter-gabriel-new-blood-special-edition-cd/

"In Your Eyes: A disappointment for me. " "Darkness: One of the newer songs in the album doesn’t seem to mesh well with the rest." "Digging in The Dirt: As i said before, i think this is another big disappointment." You are wrong.

Digging in the dirt was great at the concerts and in your eyes was a show stopper like normal, if you don't like the cd try the dvd in a few weeks.

. .. right, i have to say! I am excited to listening to the cd, more than Dvd, because one thing is view of Peter, another thing is litstening to his voice with Music with new arrangements, so. .. . .. two planets: Peter in our ears or Peter in our ears and eyes, but in both versions he is in our hearts and especially souls. ..

I am listening to New Blood right now. I think it is simply FANTASTIC. I already saw the show with the orchestra in Verona, I knew what I had to expect but this album is leaving me speechless the same. Don't you think that PG's voice is warmer than ever?

I agree with you Andrea, it is WONDERFUL and Peter's voice has more depth and is as expressive and powerful as ever. Some of the arrangements are breathtaking and the I find the whole thing utterly absorbing, especially on headphones in a darkened room! It may have emanated from the same germ of an idea, but it completely outstrips 'Scratch'.

New Blood- can't say I was waiting with baited breath, another re-working of material I have in original format, live cd, live dvd and official bootleg? BUT... this is lovely. Peter's voice is rejuvenated by the challenge, the top end back in place, with an extra richness and expressiveness throughout - welcome back! I would draw a distinction between tracks that are simply transcriptions of the original for orchestra - Solisbury Hill, Mercy Street - and those that are renewed and enhanced - the warhorse Red Rain, Darkness (a great vocal performance as well) - but this is extremely listenable, with orchestral references from Mahler to Stravinsky via Steve Reich. Peter sounds energised and excited, as good as I've heard him since the moment in 1973 when my brother put a record on and a voice I've never forgotten asked 'Can you tell me where my country lies...?' Welcome back Peter, keep challenging yourself, and write some new songs!

I have this on full time rotation right now. To me it makes the songs I loved before seem like sketches for the massive painting that this orchestral treatment is. So much depth and feeling! I know there are people who feel the "originals" are sacrosanct, and that changing anything is bad, but truly to me this feels like what they were meant to be. The only thing I would change is the choice of backup voices; Peter seems to revert to female singers with "interesting" vocal traits that are too much weaker than his own rich and melodious voice. Melanie is good for backup on many of the songs, but I've always believed that Paula Cole was the perfect complement to Peter's voice on songs that require a partner and not a shadow.

I found Digging in the Dirt to be a bit of a disappointment; I don't like the new vocal melody. However as an instrumental, it's fantastic. Red Rain steals the show for me; it's so epic and dramatic. The same goes for Rhythm of the Heat, San Jacinto and Wallflower – I'm tempted to say of the latter two, these versions even surpass the originals, almost like they were always supposed to have been performed this way. Sadly I don't find Melanie or Ane brun's vocals particularly engaging, both a little too quiet at the side of PG's. In agreement with the above comment, it would have been great to have had Paula Cole on this album as the chemistry between her and PG was amazing and their voices went so well together. Downside Up I find a bit pointless, there are so many other songs that could have been done. In contrast, Intruder is absolutely amazing - such a different version, yet so successful. I've been playing the album a lot and I really like it. Peter's vocals are superb, richer with age but as emotive as ever. It's not rock and it's not classical. PG has created something in between, and it's rather special.

I look at the new album almost in the way, that it is a dynamic disput with someone(himself?) and the dynamic songs could not be better: Red Rain, Rhythm of the Heat, wow! The more sensitiv: Wallflower, Mercy Street, San Jacinto, Downside Up: I love him! The ambigious: Intruder: I hate him! because he uses his best male voice for this text! But Darkness: Never heard it better! Don't give up, In your Eyes: Reliable! Digging in the Dirt, Solsbury Hill: not much emotion, perhaps because he knows at a certain point, it is better to create something new, than endless Digging in the Dirt!!! Good Insight, Sigmund!

One of the overlooked aspects of this album is "A Quiet Moment". I found it irritating at fitrst and subsequently skipped over it twice before I finally let it play through. It does create a very zen moment in all of our current "moments of silence" to simply listen to the world around you before the always boyant "Solsbury Hill". To use no sound to focus on sound: brilliant!

Je suis restée sur mon nuage tout le temps d'écoute de ce magnifique album. Pour certaines chansons "Red Rain, Mercy Street, Downside Up"...etc...etc... j'ai fait un bond dans le temps vertigineux avec beaucoup de plaisir, en pensant au seul et unique concert que j'ai pu voir à Bordeaux (France)...il y a des années!...J'ai écouté cet album précieux en me disant "il l'a fait!"Parce que, oui, je rêvais depuis longtemps qu'un grand artiste comme Peter ose ce "mélange" instruments dits classiques et musique "Pop", "Rock"...ou autres, et que se soit une symbiose, pas un enchevêtrement de sons cacophonique! Et Peter a vraiment réussi à rassembler une merveilleuse très grande équipe pour mener à bien son Grand Projet! ! Contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait penser, je trouve que les voix " non-lyriques" s'assimilent bien dans cette atmosphère particulière, et d'ailleurs, j'applaudis très fort Peter pour son travail, il a toujours une voix extraordinaire. Ideazz : D

Darkness is amazing! SO powerful! Mmmmmm I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when Peter does the DEEP voice! I'm not normally an orchestra fan, unless it's mixed with metal, but I'm very pleased with most of the songs. In Your Eyes actually came alive for me, which was really cool. Rhythm of the Heat was primal and profound. The only 2 songs that didn't work for me live and don't work on the cd/dvd either are: Digging in the Dirt and Signal to Noise. Digging just needs to ROCK!!! sorry, I just don't care for this version. It lacks power. And Signal to Noise was already SO powerful before, that now it seems neutered. It just totally lacks any passion. Man, the Growing Up version was so incredible, that this version lacks balls by comparison. It just doesn't work as a soft version, in my opinion. But I love everything else!!! I was in tears for the whole show, in 1st row, and I will always treasure the memory of that experience. SO I hope Peter will forgive me if I prefer the rock version on 2 of the songs!

Agree with others that Darkness & Digging in the Dirt don't work with the orchestra for me. I think the whole project has been least successful when the orchestra tries to recreate the groove of a rock band as they do on Digging and to a lesser extent on Darkness. I'm also less keen on In Your Eyes and agree that Signal to Noise - though I like it - is not a patch on the original.

"In Your Eyes" is the main track that is not working for me.

Maybe it's just not the time for 'In Your Eyes'! Some things can not always stay at that point. But in his explanation to the creation of the songs PG said, it had more to do with religion, not with man-woman,or do I remember wrong? So a bit it has changed it's appeal, as I was always told, this would be theee PG-love-song! Very confusing! Still thankfull for Upside Down and that the introduction is taken as permanent background music on the dvd!! So, if I would fall asleep with the film (nooo..!), I would be well accompanied through the night. Maybe there has to be the next edition of New Blood in a complete new sense. Now I understand , why these new workings on old stuff makes sense. When there is this basic quality, it is always thrilling, what comes out, just as it is with good classic music, that you know very well. Heads can roll, when it is interpretated in a way you don't like! Anyway- next year I will also work more (in my job), so I'm now sometimes more away in my thoughts, but I think, I can hold the ..wool and give concentrated attention in the evening on my couch-position. I'm quite happy with the new job and also have to be grateful to PG, because he did not answer my application e-mails from August.

Well, here's my X cents... I simply don't get it, if your goíng to do a "remake" of anything, especially your own material, it should add something, "New Blood" does not. PG had a full orchestra and a professional orchestral arranger/composer at his disposition, to what awail? Most songs fall into the "London Philharmonics does AC-DC" trap, i.e. poor arrangements bordering on auto-analysis-to-MIDI-conversion. PG material is heavily based on synthesized grooves and timbres, none of which a good-old string orchestra can repoduce. From a musician- and workmanship POV, "New Blood" is impecable, performance and audio is superb. Norwegian vocalist Ane Brun has a very distictive, soulful voice that adds plenty. Melanie Gabriel on the other hand does not, I experienced her vocal talents for the first time in 2003-04 during the UP tour and thought it was good enough but not more. You would have expected her to evolve more as as musician in almost ten years but sadly not, her weak voice actually degrades the performance. PG has a solid cataloguge of beautiful songs, the fact that he wasn't able to rewamp it in line with the excellent "Scratch my back" album is a pity, the only real gem I keep from "New Blood" is the re-discover of "Walllower", that arrangement really moves me, I wish the rest did aswell.. Thé only real Finally, I am a solid fan of PG but not a worshipper, he can do better but needs to figure out how to adapt to the 21t century.

Man, the fact that you can't edit you post is a joke! Get real web master!

Hey, GE, that all does not sound authentic!! That he is on time with this edition, is shown by the good chart-entries. What is the decades music? Seems, that younger groups find more orientation with the older ones of the 70/80ths time than other way round!! To say in New Blood there is nothing remarkable new can not be meant serious, or?? Especially the 'missed' songs are interpretated with a good knowledge of their worth and that was long expected by his followers.