Peter Gabriel: Play: The Video's DVD Review:

Although they are a fairly new creation, music videos have found a place in pop culture and can not be ignored as an art form. Even still, watching videos on any of the cable channels can prove to be a trying task. Many of the videos are more of a showcase for the band rather than the music, and often the emphasis seems to be placed upon popular rather than art. If one artist has worked very hard to make each of his videos an interesting viewing experience, even when the song is not accessible to non-fans, it would have to be Peter Gabriel. Gabriel’s videos have been compiled in this fantastic DVD which seems to have a little bit of everything. Good music, bad music, strange video, touching video, it cannot be said that there is any shortage of creativity invested in this body of work.

Play begins with a tender and moving video, Father, Son, which is one of the more traditional videos in the collection. This video based on the song Gabriel wrote about his father features black and white footage of the two of them along with simple performance footage of Gabriel at the piano. While this video may seem remarkably normal, all of that changes with Sledgehammer, the next video on the DVD. Because the DVD has the videos set up in a seemingly random order, there are strange moments such as this, where viewers are forced to adjust from one of Gabriel’s more recent and more serious pieces to an upbeat eighties song. This can be somewhat shocking at points, but nowhere near as shocking as some of the images within the videos. There are popular hits such as In Your Eyes, as well as many songs which I had never heard before.

Throughout Gabriel’s career he has attracted some fantastic directors for his videos, such as Stephen Johnson, Matt Mahurin, John Downer, Sean Penn, and Glenn Marshall. Some of these videos gave the opportunity for everyone involved to be more creative than they may find themselves able to be normally. Glen Marshall’s The Drop is a perfect and beautiful example of this.

The picture quality on these videos is fantastic, but it is nothing compared to the audio, which was mixed to be 5.1 surround sound for this DVD. The special features include a live performance video of Games Without Frontiers, which has a great deal of coverage, a few extra music videos, and three trailers for related films. A great perk of this DVD is the booklet which is inside the colorful cardboard DVD case. The booklet has a forward by Peter Gabriel and photos for each of the twenty-three videos.

There is also a Father’s Day card available with a DVD of Father, Son on it. Considering that this may be one of the most touching songs for a father that has been written, it is a wonderful purchase just in time for Father’s Day. (A Father's Day card is available HERE.)



Ryan Izay