16 of Peter Gabriel's 17 greatest hits, but not his best one

For those of us who remember Peter Gabriel's solo career all the way back to "Solsbury Hill," this album is an excellent compilation of his work with one glaring exception. While this album includes "Sledgehammer," "Don't Give Up," "Red Rain," and "Games Without Frontiers," for some reason it does not include "In Your Eyes." Many of Gabriel's fans consider this to be his best song, which means that if you pick up this hits collection you still need to own "So" or the soundtrack for "Say Anything" to make sure this is part of your music library. With that caveat, one of the things I most appreciate about this collection is that the songs are not simply arranged chronologically; there is an attempt to mix and match the songs to form a cohesive album. Certainly you do not want to hear another song after the haunting last track "Biko."

Eighties rock from ex-Genesis singer

When Peter left Genesis in 1975 (his role as lead singer being taken over by their drummer, Phil Collins), critics predicted the end of Genesis. They were wrong, as Genesis thrived while Peter took some time to establish himself as a solo artist. He eventually did so, as this compilation of his solo music up to 1990 proves.



Games without frontiers and Sledgehammer both peaked at number four in the UK, with Sledgehammer going all the way to number one in America. An outstanding duet with Kate Bush, Don't give up, also made the UK top ten - it was later covered by Willie Nelson and Sinead O'Connor - their duet can be found on Willie's album, Across the borderline.



Some of Peter's less successful hits are particularly noteworthy. Solsbury hill (a top twenty UK hit) is based loosely on the story of his split from Genesis. Biko (only a minor UK hit) is about Steve Biko, the murdered South African activist. It may not have made much impact on the UK singles chart but it became an anti-racist anthem. Peter's interest in world music led him to record Shaking the tree, a duet with Youssou N'Dour, a renowned Senegalese singer.



There are many other excellent songs here. A more recent double CD, hits, includes some of his later hits, but this is a great compilation in its own right.