Customer Reviews
Amazingly coherent mish-mash - By: Marchespie, 28 Oct 2008 
A surprise release from Peter Gabriel, & an unexpected pleasure. Some of Gabriel's output over recent years has been patchy at best (like Ovo & the Rabbit Proof Fence soundtrack) & it seemed too much to hope that this collective effort could be as good as his most recent studio album Up. Ok, it's not as good as Up, & it's not a Gabriel solo effort, featuring a great many musicians & composers, but this compares very well with the music on Gabriel's Passion & Us.
It opens with Gabriel's Whole Thing, which begins relatively modestly & gently builds to a crescendo of layered vocals & percussion - worthy of inclusion on a PG solo album &in my opinion at least, better than anything on Us. The album abruptly changes tone with the eastern-influenced Habibe, which could have been taken from Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman's excellent Minarets & Memories album. The album continuesin a variety of world music styles, veering from Papa Wemba's fast-paced African pop to the Celtic flavour of Sinead O'Connor's Everything comes From You. Gabriel pops up all over the place, leading the vocal of the original version of Burn You Up, Burn You Down - a far looser & more entertaining take on the dancey one that was omitted from the UK release of Up. The album closes with Karl Wallinger's lovely title track - whatever happened to him after World Party?
Despite the huge variety of performers, singers, styles & compositions on the album (and sometimes within the same song), it actually works very well as a coherent album that can listened to from end to end. The production is also excellent. The only question it begs is why on earth has it taken 13 years to mix & master the material? Come on, PG, get your skates on, you'll be 70 before you release again at this rate!
Big Blue Ball - By: Spider Monkey, 31 Aug 2008 
'Big Blue Ball' is a true world albumin every sense of the word, with a hugely diverse & inspiring collection of artistsin one place. From the wonderful album opener 'Whole Thing' you know you'rein for a real treat. This song sounds strongly like a Peter Gabriel solo track, which is no bad thing at all. 'Habibe' has a beautiful Arabic feel, 'Shadow' is reminiscent of the Gypsy kings & 'Altus Silva' has heavenly celtic influences. Just some of the world influences on show here. There are haunting & moving lyrics on 'Everything Comes From You' & I could sit back & immerse myselfin this track over & over. 'Burn You Up, Burn You Down' was originally heard on Peter Gabriel's 'Hit' CD & this alternative version is just as good nestledin the middle of this album. The sessions for this album became a hot bed of creativity & poetry & it is evident on every track. As Peter Gabriel described it, the sessions became like a musical dating agency with many artists coming together & writing & recording, & you can see that this album is the wonderful result of all those collaborations. The offspring of all those various musical liaisons. 'Rivers' has moving vocals & brooding emotion throughout & although my least favourite, the rap of 'Jijy' shows just how diverse & varied this album actually is. Finally you get the excellent & uplifting album closer 'Big Blue Ball' which tops off an evocative & stirring musical journey. It is rare for me to give a virtual track by track run down of an album but this offers so much variety, passion & beautiful music that every song here warrants a mention. A superb album & as you may have guessed, one I highly recommend.
A big blue world of talent and great musicianship - By: Sotrondog, 28 Jul 2008 
Big Blue Ball is not a Peter Gabriel solo album, but a collection of tracks recorded at Gabriel's Real World Studios throughout three recording weeksin 1991, 1992 & 1995. It is the culmination of the work of musicians from all around the world, & it's nice to finally hear the results, albeit well over a decade later, whichin Gabriel time is quite a fast turnaround.
Gabriel does take lead vocals on a couple of tracks, the first of these is opening number "Whole Thing" (as featured throughout Ewan McGregor's Long Way Down series), which is a wonderful song with one of the finest Gabriel vocalsin a long time. The Gabriel & Karl Wallinger partnership really shines throughout this collection of songs, but most prominently on this track & the original version of "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" - the third version of this particular song, which differs from both the 2003 single release & the heavily synthesised version on Gabriel's Hit compilation.
The highlight for me though, is the Joseph Arthur/Gabriel duet, "Exit Through You", featuring a typical Gabriel groove, distorted drums & a wonderful performance from Peter. I was however, left craving for an all-Gabriel version, as this could have easily been a classic.
Nowadays, music making seems to be the last thing on Gabriel's list of priorities, & although as a visionary & ideas man, he's untouchable, there are still some of us who are craving for some new music from him, so for now, this is as good as it gets. Gabriel doesn't dominate the album though, only featuring heavily on the above three tracks, leaving a wealth of talent from across the globe, shine throughout the rest.
Other highlights for me include Natasha Atlas' wonderful performance during "Habibe", with her silky-smooth vocals working perfectly alongside an Egyptian string band flowing with eastern atmosphere. Sinaed O'Connor takes the lead on "Everything Comes from You", Papa Wemba gives a rather distinctive performance with Juan Cañzares on the summery "Shadow". Joseph Arthur appears again with members of Deep Forest & Iarla O' Lionáird (who sung on Gabriel's Ovo album) on the rather lovely "Altus Silva", & there's more skilled musicianship & great melodies on tracks such as "Forest" & "Rivers", with only the rap of "Jijy" sounding out of place. The album closes with Karl Wallinger's title track.
Overall Big Blue Ball is an upbeat, eclectic mix of musical styles, languages, instruments & atmospheres, & a perfect model of what Peter Gabriel set out to achieve with his Real World Studios.
Worth the wait! Peter Gabriel at his best - By: A. Hill, 17 Jul 2008 I heard about this project some time ago & thought it destined to never make it out of the Real World Studios. Well here it is & it's been well worth the 14 year wait. Classic Peter Gabriel with collaborators including Sinead O'Connor, Natacha Atlas & Papa Wemba.
This album is an absolute must have for both World music & Peter Gabriel fans.
Big Blue Ball - Holland - By: Nico Sier, 28 Jun 2008 This is a real.... Realworld-Records item.
If you know the Peter Gabriel sound like the 'Us' album & the 'Secret World Live' cd then this cd bring that same feeling/vibe.
You'll hear songs sung by Peter Gabriel..but also from his RW-partners & guests like Sinead O'Conner & Tim Finn & the african (I guess) Papa Wemba, an also hearable sound from the 'Secret World Live' album.
The songs on the ablum are composed by many writers. Songs like 'Whole Thing' & 'Exit Through You' are the songs coming close to the Gabriel style. 'Shadow' is a song by the Papa Wemba band. A african style song that's really cheerfull (although they're not singing English)
The song 'Everything Comes from You' sung by Sinead O'Conner is a more Celtic/Japanese like sound with the flutein the background & the heavy drums beating through. 'A nice mix of mood & culture'
Although this cd was createdin a weeks time. The project wasin production for almost 18 years.
Big Blue Ball is a fine cd of differents sounds, cultures & moods.
Fans of the Gabriel sound will be satisfied of to purchase this disc
Nico Sier
Holland
