Back To Front
Peter Gabriel
Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Review Date: June 22, 2014

It’s hard to believe that Peter Gabriel’s historic, landmark album, So conquered the world twenty-eight years ago. For many of us, I’m certain that many of the huge hits from that album still conjure up memories from the mid-eighties whenoever we hear those songs.
 
To commemorate the twenty-five plus years since the release of the album, Gabriel embarked on a world tour.  Performances from its stop at the O2 in London on October 21st and 22nd of last year were captured on video and is offered to fans simultaneously on DVD, Blue-ray (as well as on DVD/Blue-ray Deluxe Editions) by Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Entitled, Back To Front, it includes classics such as the aforementioned “Sledgehammer,” as well as “Solsbury Hill,” “Don’t Give Up,” “Shock The Monkey,” “Big Time,” “Digging In The Dirt,” “Mercy Street,” “No Self Control,” “In Your Eyes,” “Biko,” and many more.  The stunning DVD / Blu-ray Deluxe Editions offer a 60-page hardback photobook which includes a second disc containing the theatrical version of Back To Front, featuring additional interviews and montage versions of “Solsbury Hill” and “Sledgehammer” utilizing footage from live shows across the years.  The Deluxe Editions also contain a double CD of the complete Back To Front show making it most definitely worth the extra couple of bucks.

This spectacular live concert, filmed at London’s O2 using the latest Ultra High Definition 4K technology, captures Peter Gabriel’s celebration of So. To mark the event Gabriel reunited his original So touring band from 1986/87 and for the very first time fans saw them play the multi-platinum selling album in its entirety.  As a bonus, Back To Front includes ‘The Visual Approach’, a fascinating feature on the creation of the live show, the track “This Is The Picture” as filmed by fans on the night, and a montage version of “In Your Eyes”.

While the core of the performance is the So album, there is so much more to this spectacular concert offering. Opening with the then (and presumably still) unfinished “Daddy Long Legs”, Gabriel continues with previously unreleased and re-imagined songs sitting effortlessly alongside classic hits reflecting what a multi-dimensional artist he is. With innovative lighting and staging, Back To Front – Live In London offers a visual and narrative feast that puts the viewer inside a concert like never before.