287: Passion, by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel (United Kingdom, with a worldwide cast)
Passion (1989)
21 tracks, 67 minutes
Spotify ∙ iTunes

Passion is Peter Gabriel’s not-quite soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s film The Last Temptation of Christ. It’s not-quite because he actually continued to work on the music for months after submitting it for the film, adding extra tracks and developing the material to make sure that the experience of listening to it as an album was an artistic encounter all of its own.

Gabriel’s aim for the sonic setting of the music was to root it in the oldest sounds of the Middle East and North Africa, the folk and classical styles of that region. As such, there are musicians and samples from Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Armenia, Iran and Kurdistan. From that basis, he adds many ambient textures and small flavours of his own brand of prog rock. He also uses influences, musicians and samples from a wide range of other cultures too, from Pakistan, India, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia and Ghana, in beautiful and inventive ways. With this album containing many impressive guest stars – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Youssou N’dour, Baaba Maal, L. Shankar, Billy Cobham and Kudsi Erguner to name just a handful – it’s possibly more accurate to credit Gabriel as composer; this is much more than a ‘Peter Gabriel album.’

That probably plays a big part in why I enjoy this album so much. As much as I deeply respect his work in the promotion and recognition of music from all across the world with WOMAD and Real World Records, I have never really been able to dig his own music. Here, though, the atmosphere is very different. The scope is epic – and cinematic – but the performances themselves are very intimate. For every intense, percussion-driven section, there is a solemn and introspective section, periods of quiet reflection led by flutes or bowed strings. In bringing in music from across the world, he is very respectful without being overly reverential, allowing the different styles to mingle and create new possibilities.

More than most, I think this album benefits from being heard in one go, from beginning to end. I had heard tracks from Passion before, which gave hints as to its beauty, but the first time listening to it all the way through was a revelation. It was helped by the fact that it was at the WOMAD Festival, remastered and on specially-cut vinyl, played on one of the world’s most intricate surround-sound systems on a warm morning as I ate my breakfast. To not only listen to the music and the amazing quality of sound, but to do it together with about 100 other people was a very special experience. The engaged and focussed listening of the album as a whole really brought out its magnificence and highlighted its status as a complete and self-contained work of art.

In a nice touch, this album was released alongside Passion Sources (Bandcamp ∙ Spotify ∙ iTunes), a compilation album of music that was used in Passion (whether as samples or recorded especially) or that provided inspiration during its creation. It’s a great companion piece, and a great way to begin to delve into the roots of this wonderful music.