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Peter Gabriel “Modern Love”

If you’re only familiar with Peter Gabriel’s most popular work – “In Your Eyes,” “Sledgehammer,” “Don’t Give Up,” “Games Without Frontiers,” “Biko” – it may come as a surprise that he actually rocked at one point in the late ‘70s. It was certainly a revelation to me, anyway.

“Modern Love” was released on Gabriel’s first solo album in 1977, which came out a few years after he departed from Genesis after touring for their definitive prog masterwork The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I suppose some of that record ~rocks~, but certainly not in the lusty, thrusting, straightforward way that “Modern Love” rocks. It’s hard to imagine that this song wasn’t directly influenced by Led Zeppelin – the main riff feels very Houses of the Holy/Physical Graffiti-era Jimmy Page to me, and those records came out only a few years before this was recorded. The guitar part – played by Robert Fripp, of course! – is offset by an organ part that nods in the general direction of soul music. This all suits Gabriel’s voice very well, so it’s a shame he didn’t really explore this sound more after the late ‘70s.

Gabriel’s vocal performance is about as raw and passionate as he ever got on tape. He’s howling, he’s shouting, he’s rasping like he’s all tapped out but can’t stop going. There’s a lot of self-deprecating humor in this song, with him portraying himself as this grand romantic fool while dropping witty lines about Venus, Lady Godiva, and the Mona Lisa. This is basically a song about being exasperated by sexual frustration, and while that could be played straight, it’s a lot more sympathetic as a farce.

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