Gabriel's solo disc soars By TOM BUTCH Collegian Staff Writer Peter Gabriel “Peter Gabriel” Atco SD 36-147 With his initial solo release, Peter Gabriel proves that his departure from Genesis over a year ago has in no way stalled his creative drive or his ability to write and perform in novative music. “Peter Gabriel” is a polished, musically complex album on which Gabriel and eight backup musicians deal quite capably with a diversity of -musical styles and forms. / In his songwriting, Gabriel is not content to rely on the musical formulae that worked for him as a member of Genesis, but makes a conscious attempt to deal with a spec trum of musical expression. His sharp, intense vocals are .prevalent throughout, often handling difficult transitions between stark power and flowing delicacy. Important* to the album’s successes the sensitivity that the backing musicians seem to have for the musical interaction of voice and instruments integral to Gabriel’s music. Rather than acting as a mere substitute for Genesis, the band possesses a cohesiveness that gives it identity as a unit as opposed to a thrown-together collection of above-average musicians. This exceptional supporting cast includes such musical opposites as guitarists Steve Hunter, hard-rocker ex traordinaire and Robert Fripp, electronic technician of the -now-defunct King Crimson. These different musical forces present within the group work in collaboration to create a musical whole that is the sum of the strengths ot its separate parts. , Each cut,on the album accomplishes what it sets out to do, but two cuts, “Modern Love” and “Here Comes the Flood,” stand out as the album’s exceptional performances. Paul Gil lete's new Penn State novel would make better movie By SHEILA McCAULEY Collegian Staff Writer Pennsylvania-born Paul Gillette has a new novel, 305 East, with “movie script” written all over it. book review The publisher even tells’us so on ' the book jacket. Gillette’s hero, Ted Vassily, springs from Ayn Rand’s, Howard Roark and Harold Robbins' sexual superheroes.. The publisher does not tell us, however, that Gillette recruited Coach 'Paterno’s first-string offense for Vassily, the best quarterback, who ever lived and a Penn State graduate. Vassily is a humanitarian and something of a scholar to boot. He is also the con summate jock. He and his football friend has-been are affectionate. When they greet each other they punch each other in the stomach as hard as they can. - Vassily’s big project is a luxury apartment building, 305 East on New York’s East Side. Vassily the humanitarian, not one to forget his humble Greek origins, provides luxury apartments for poor people in the same building. Vassily’s quest to bring luxury to the rich and -powerful and the poor as well is the plot. It’s rather thin and awfully shallow. The obstacles Vassily encounters are predictable Mafiosi muscljng in on him, building inspectors looking for bribes, banks unwilling to finance the building and the eventual ruin of the project after one of the tenants is thrown from a balcony. That’s why this, book has "movie script” written on it. Don’t miss your chance to be in YOUR yearbook and win some great prizes. “Modern Love” is a straightforward rocker which opens with a shower of bar chords and maintains a moving strength throughout. The hard rock influences of guitarists Hunter and Dick Wagner are evident here, as is the vocal power that Gabriel is able to summon at will. “Here Comes the Flood,” the most technically intricate track on the album, is Gabriel at his musical best. The lyrics display Gabriel’s poetic skills, and the interplay between gentle verses and the powerful chorus are indicative of his sense of effective musical transition. Wagner’s guitar work here is perhaps the album’s finest, building beautifully on the background chord progression towards crescendos that mark the song’s climax. Parallels between this album and Gabriel’s work with Genesis are inevitable, as some of the tracks are undeniably Genesis-influenced. “Moribund the Burgermeister,” the album’s first song, stands out in this regard, as it sdts a tone quite similar to several tracks from “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway," the last album Gabriel recorded with Genesis. The album’s strength, though, lies not in an attempt by Gabriel to recapture the Genesis experience but in what seems a sort of progression towards some logical musical end. The Randy Newman-ish blues of “Waiting for the Big One,” the sheer gaiety of “Excuse Me,” the gutsy rock power of “Slowburn” all represent important aspects of Peter Gabriel that were not able, to emerge as long as he remained with Genesis. “Peter Gabriel” represents a departure from a fantasyland of fairy tales and mellotron, a movement toward a multi dimensional approach to music. Its rich success on all levels is in itself a justification of Peter Gabriel’s exit from Genesis, and establishes for him a musical identity independent of his past performances. It treats all of those subjects people seem to be interested in these days the lives, sexploits and powerplays of big-time spenders. Gillette does not forget his hero’s alma mater in the novel. References to all Penn State landmarks abound. The My-Oh-My (sic), the Nittany Lion Inn, College Avenue, the Wall and the obelisk all get a mention. Vassily extols Penn State coach Pater Noster. In the second scene, Vassily beats a MafioSo trying to bribe him on the mall between Sparks Building and Patee (sic) library. Gillette's fiction is readable, at least. He writes his share of corny “movie" lines, but he usually manages to cover himself. He prevents mass groans with disclaimers such as “Only Eddie Witkowski could pull off a line rv_ Come to 206 HUB, LAVlEoffice, TODAY. like that with a straight face.” The book is touted as a blockbuster by Gillette’s publisher, but he must be referring to the number of pages 412. Even so, this one shouldn’t takg,long to read. About half of those 412 pages are redundant sex scenes Vassily uses the same superstud technique ad nauseum. Some readers who just want to know what ac tually happens in the book will start to skip pages. The ending is easy to predict. Vassily goes back to his football origins for “one more game.” His building in ruins, his life a mess, he finds himself again while on the field. Gillette even throws in a new sex interest just to make things complete. And of course he tells us that the greatest quarterback who ever lived won’t die he’ll Just never grow up. 7(Pl\ M w- Order your copy of the ”78 LaVie and one of these prizes could be YOURS! Order by May 10th and be eligible to win: 1) Nishiki 10 speed bike $140.00 2) Davis Imperial Tennis jet — 540.00 McDonald’s coupons r. : --,V ~. _. ... ■ . ...... , V ... -.•: ■ ’ ‘^ Collegian arts Ullmann tells little of art 'Changing's' style 'foggy 7 By JIM ZARROLI Collegian Staff Writer Liv Ullmann is no writer, but then actors and actresses are never supposed to be. It’s a nice surprise if they can turn out a literate piece, like David Niven’s “Bring on the Empty Horses.” But you read their autobiographies for other reasons. If a star writes about his life,’ there’s a fan magazine appeal. Some thing inside you believes that he or she is speaking to you alone, giving you the inside scpop on all sorts of good gossip. If an actor writes a book, you want to read about his art and about certain scenes In certain movies which electrified you. book review Ullmann doesn’t have to philosophize, but I wish someone had told her that. In “Changing,” she’s fond of making profound statements like “the sea is constantly changing” and “Hollywood’s ‘happy ending’ is a manufactured product which never finds its equal in Miles LP has Corea influence By JOE TORI Collegian Staff Writer Barry Miles, 2200 "Sky Train.” RCA, BGLI- Sometimes his music sounds like Chick Corea, sometimes like Keith Jarrett, and still other times like Maynard Ferguson. But Barry Miles is only influenced by these styles of music. He creates his own style of music. - On “Sky Train,” his second album, Miles presents the listener with con trasts. His music is a mosaic of quickly changing rhythms, complex chords, and tight precision. These contrasts also show up in the different styles of music that he plays throughout the album. The title cut, and the first song on side one, has a fast tempo and a flighty sound with much electronic piano and fast drumming. It sounds like something that Chick Corea would do. With the third cut, "Relay,” Miles’ real life.” The entire book is written in a foggy abstract style which makes Rod MpKuen’s look concrete Of course, “Changing” is simply a book of reflections and there are going to be a lot of people who identify with much of what she says. This type of thing is largely a matter of taste, I think. Here, she is occasionally witty and sometimes capable of great insight. When she at tends a banquet where Richard Nixon is a guest, she writes, “He would have made a fantastic figure in a Bergman film if only he were a better actor.” But overall, I found “Changing” in tolerably dull. Why must she write about the colors and smells and touches she experiences and skip the really im portant details? If I hadn’t known better, I might have been pretty uncertain at first which of her two lovers is the father of her daughter. Her whole relationship with Bergman is reduced to a series of amorphous blurbs about encounters on islands and how “dreams seldom become reality.” How did they meet? Why did they break up? What did they fight about? This would have told us more about their relationship than a hundred flowery passages on the affinity for Corea style music returns. Part of this influence is due to the musicians that he chose to play with him on this album. Eric Kloss, who at 27 already has 15 albums to his credit, plays alto sax with special flair. Some of his own works are reminiscent of Chick Corea and, in fact, he has written a piece dedicated to Corea. Anthony Jackson, an excellent bassist, plays in a style that reminds me of Stanley Clarke from Return to Forever. Jackson has played bass for A 1 Dimeola, also a former RTF musician. Terry Silverlight, Barry Miles’ brother, (Barry’s last name is Silverlight, but he has performed under his middle name since he was a child), drums on a par with Lenny White, and in fact sounds like him. On side two, “A Waltz For You” is a Brubeck type cut, which is followed by a •An Arby’s Sandwich piled high with Tender Roasted Beef • Crispy Potatoes • Cole Slow Arby's announces a sale that'll break your ham burger habit. Dinner for a dollar. The three course meal for one low price. One dinner. One dollar. One place. Arby's. OFFER VALID AFTER 3 PM EVERY WEDNESDAY Break Ihe Hamburger Habil without going broke. The Daily Collegian Wednesday, April 6, 1977 warmth of love. .There is also far too little about her art here. The best, most vivid part of the book is the end, where she’s written a day-to-day record of her experiences while filming “Face to Face.” (We’re never even told the title, though; you have to have seen it to know what she’s talking about). But those sketchy paragraphs are a meager diet to sustain us through the rest of the book. And “Changing” is a dishonest book in many ways. I got pretty sick of reading about the fake glitter of Hollywood, where “smiles never leave the face nor do they touch the eyes.” She at tempts to portray herself as an earthy Alice Adams, drowning in a sea of hypocrisy. It quickly got very tiresome. Early on, Ullmann writes about how much anguish writing the book caused her. She couldn’t seem to get it done; there were too many distractions. Somehow, her attitude shows. I can picture her dashing off paragraphs whenever she had the chance, waiting till she had a good-sized manuscript, then placing it (in a brown paper bag) on her publisher’s desk. From there it went, unedited, to print. relatively long (20 minutes and 30 seconds) and driving work called “Cityscape (The Fusion Suite)". This is the best and most finely orchestrated piece on the record. The piece uses all of the members of Miles’ band plus an orchestra conducted by Phil Woods. Miles wrote the piece and asked Woods to conduct it so that he could play the piano. This work makes use of a large horn section, characteristic of Maynard Ferguson, and also includes a piano solo by Miles, which sounds almost Keith Jarrett-like in nature. Miles’ brother also gets a chance to show off his fast stick handling before the piece ends. The album is well recorded, and, if I am correct, should launch Barry Miles on his way to a long and productive career as a noted jazz musician. Who knows, maybe “Sky Rocket” next. Good Only At: 111 Sowers Street ©1975 Arby's Inc