Big Blue Ball Participated by Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Karl Wallinger, Various Artists Studio : REAL WORLD by REAL WORLD Release Date : 2008-06-24 Publisher : REAL WORLD Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days EAN : 0884108014523 UPC : 884108014523 Avg. Customer Rating:(based on 35 reviews)
List Price : $17.98 Our Price : $11.95
Editorial Reviews for 'Big Blue Ball'
Product Description
Big Blue Ball is the long-awaited, much-anticipated collection of stand-out tracks culled from the all-star, pan-global collaborations that took place over three years of Peter Gabriel s legendary Recording Week gatherings at his state-of-the-art Real World Studios in the English countryside.
Produced by Peter Gabriel, Karl Wallinger (of World Party, Waterboys) and Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, OMD), it s a nonstop stream of poignant, sterling performances by a truly stellar lineup of artists-- including Gabriel, Wallinger, Sinead O Connor, Natacha Atlas, Iarla O Lionaird and James McNally (both of Afro Celt Sound System), Papa Wemba, Joseph Arthur, Tanzania s late music legend Hukwe Zawose, Hungary s Marta Sebestyen, Tim Finn, Cameroonian starFrancis Bebey, Vernon Reid, Justin Adams, Jah Wobble, Billy Cobham, Rupert Hine, gospel group the Holmes Brothers, flamenco guitarist Juan Canizares, Japanese percussionist Joji Hirota, and many more...in all totaling 75 artists from over 20 countries.
It s like a wall of sound coming at you, listening to the planet from outer space, says Karl Wallinger of the final mix. It s a real world-view of music, a snapshot of the music-making continents at that time. It s a more apt time to release it now than ever before. I think it s actually gathered weight with time, because it s people from all over the world playing together, just getting on together. There s an iconic aspect about that which is probably more important now. Things have become more partisan. It s a timely reminder of how you can cooperate.
Big Blue Ball s songs were created and recorded between 1991 and 1995, but the album has been an active work-in-progress at Real World ever since, a labor of love with ace producer Stephen Hague working closely with Peter Gabriel and Karl Wallinger. Holding the disparate elements in place is the powerful backbone of big drum tracks underpinning many of the songs. Wallinger says, Everyone was in orbit around this groove, and there is a universal language of dance, of dance grooves. That groove is the one bit that s non-denominational on the album.
Says Peter Gabriel, It s a fine wine ready to be drunk. It was the most fun music making I ve ever had. I d love to do it again.
Customer Reviews for 'Big Blue Ball'
Atypical Gabriel
This was disappointing, given the other reviews. It seems quite bland without the idiosyncratic Gabriel sound.
Whole Thing...
Being a fan of PG, I was just glad to have found it. The album exposes one to a variety of world musics, though I like the PG pieces, I kind of wish he would have let himself go more, but maybe I'm mistaking what this gathering was about, or what to have expected from it. I would think anyone who likes PG, what he's involved in, would like this album.
Forget Scratch My Back, order this forgotten gem!
This CD came out very quietly in 2008 and is the result of some sessions Peter Gabriel had at his Real World studios, the tracks have been sitting around for years but have finally come to light. This is a very fine collection of songs featuring Peter and friends. Forget the disappointing Scratch My Back and order this one instead.
Big blue meh
Peter Gabriel sat on these recordings for 18 years, I think, before getting around to having them produced and released properly. This history doesn't match the music inside. Nothing about "Big Blue Ball" feels grand or realized. It's all pretty hasty, underdeveloped, and lacking of a true centerpiece. There's probably a lot of pop/world music mesh ups out there that stand tall against this thoroughly average album. My bad...I liked "Up" so much and I honestly thought this album could compete with Peter Gabriel's best stuff.
It's easy to get excited about the personnel that chipped in to the project. You've got Tim Finn, Vernon Reid, Sinead O'Connor, Deep Forest, the dude from World Party, Gabriel himself, and a smattering of musicians from around the globe of whom I have never heard. Regardless of what you think of these musicians, they are big, notable names. But the sum of these parts only amounts to a curiosity. One song I liked was "Habibe," despite its length. Occasional stabs at pop just don't go anywhere. "Jijy" makes me snicker and the final track is a snore. I listened to this album several times but now I don't have any motivation to go back to it.
It's just too little too late. The reason this album didn't see the light of day for so long has to be the sub-par nature of the material. Why else would it have taken so long? Despite the long gestation period, the album still feels undercooked. I give it a `3' because everyone is keeping a steady beat, staying in tune, and generally playing their instruments pretty well. But at the end of the day, after such a long wait, that's about all I have to say about it.
Vintage Gabriel with a World Twist
The arrival of Big Blue Ball took me back twenty years to the peak of Peter Gabriel and World Party's glory years. Two performers I enjoyed very much have joined forces with the best of World Music to create an amazing, diverse collection of songs. My entire family has enjoyed the virtuoso performances on this album. The synergy between the musicians is evident on many of the tracks, including "Exit Through You", "Everything Comes from You", "The Whole Thing", and "altus silva". Kudos to Stephen Hague for pulling together three weeks worth of jam sessions to compile this piece of music history that sounds as appropriate today as when it was recorded in the early to mid 90's.
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