Peter Gabriel 3 (Remastered Edition)

Peter Gabriel's landmark third album features the hit single "Games Without Frontiers", and the anthemic "Biko".

A recording of pure brilliance, 'Peter Gabriel 3' is one of Q Magazine's top 100 Greatest British Albums of all time. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, this album of May 1980 features Jerry Marotta and Phil Collins drumming, the guitar of Robert Fripp, David Rhodes, Paul Weller and XTC's Dave Gregory, with vocals from Peter and Kate Bush.

During the late '70s and early '80s Gabriel began to explore world music. Until then, his music had been firmly rooted in the rock 'n' roll tradition of the US and UK. Starting with his stunning third album from 1980, however, Gabriel began to incorporate new sounds and new rhythms into his music from various parts of the world. Somewhat perversely, this album was also called Peter Gabriel. It featured the most striking cover portrait yet-an image of the artist with half his face melting away.

Upon hearing the album, Gabriel's record company reportedly found its tales about perverts ("Intruder") and assassins ("Family Snapshot") to be more than a little disturbing, even wondering if Gabriel himself was suffering from mental illness. Listening to the album, however, it's hard to believe that a mentally unstable person could produce such a focused work. The opener, "Intruder," with its insistent drumbeat (courtesy of Phil Collins) and sinister vocal is certainly unnerving, while the single "Games Without Frontiers" proves to be deceptively cheery. Crowning the album is "Biko", a dramatic, mournful hymn to the murdered South African anti-apartheid crusader. The song could be Gabriel's finest recorded moment and the third Peter Gabriel album proved to be his first masterpiece.