Peter Gabriel (1978 album)

Peter Gabriel is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 2 June 1978 by Charisma Records. Gabriel started recording the album in November 1977, the same month that he had completed touring in support of his debut solo release. He employed former King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who was part of Gabriel's early touring band, to produce the album and incorporated his use of Frippertronics effects on the co-written "Exposure".

The album was released in the US as Peter Gabriel II. It later became known informally as Scratch, referring to the album's artwork by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services refer to it as Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch.

The album reached No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 45 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Background
The influence of producer Robert Fripp is evident in the use of Frippertronics on the track "Exposure", which Fripp and Gabriel cowrote. Fripp recorded a version of the song as the title track of his 1979 solo album Exposure.

Artwork
The cover depicts an image of Gabriel with several vertical grooves gouged into it that end at his fingertips. He stands with hands raised, palms facing himself, and fingers bent to simulate the appearance of tearing the image. The effect was achieved by gluing strips of torn paper onto a photo of Gabriel in the appropriate pose, taken by photographer Peter Christopherson, then using Tipp-Ex correction fluid to touch up the spots where they met his fingers.

Critical reception
In the NME in 1978, Nick Kent wrote: "Its brazenly left-field veneer left me cold at first, and it's only now that its strengths are starting to come across ... once past the disarming non-focus veneer, there's a quietly remarkable talent at work – quiet in the manner of the slow fuse burn of 'Mother of Violence' with Roy Bittan's piano work outstripping anything he's turned out for either Bruce Springsteen or David Bowie. Closer to the root of the album, there's a purity, a strength to the songs individual enough to mark Gabriel out as a man whose creative zenith is close at hand."

Personnel

 * Peter Gabriel – vocals; Hammond organ on 11; piano on 2; synthesizer on 5, 7
 * Robert Fripp – electric guitar on 1, 3, 5, 10; acoustic guitar on 5; Frippertronics on 8
 * Tony Levin – bass guitar on 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11; Chapman stick on 2, 4, 9; string bass on 6; recorder arrangements on 6, 9; backing vocals on 1, 4, 7, 10, 11
 * Roy Bittan – keyboards on 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11
 * Larry Fast – synthesizer, treatments on 1, 2, 5, 7, 10
 * Jerry Marotta – drums on all except 3; backing vocals on 1, 4, 10, 11
 * Sid McGinnis – electric guitar on 1, 4, 8–11; acoustic guitar on 2, 3; steel guitar on 3–5, 6, 9, 11; mandolin on 2; backing vocals on 7
 * Bayeté (Todd Cochran) – keyboards on 2, 4, 6, 7
 * Tim Cappello – saxophone on 10, 11
 * George Marge – recorder on 6, 8, 9
 * John Tims – insects on 3