Birdy (Peter Gabriel album)
Birdy is the first soundtrack and sixth album overall by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, for the movie of the same name, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). The album marked Gabriel's first work with producer Daniel Lanois. It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002.
| Birdy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 18 March 1985 | |||
| Recorded | October–December 1984 | |||
| Genre | Ambient, experimental rock, progressive rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 34:50 | |||
| Label | Geffen Records (US & Canada) Charisma Records | |||
| Producer | Peter Gabriel and Daniel Lanois | |||
| Peter Gabriel chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [2] |
In addition to composing new pieces for the soundtrack, Gabriel also used instrumental themes and sections from earlier works to form the basis of some tracks. There were, however, no songs with lyrics on the album.[3]
Track listing
All songs written by Peter Gabriel.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "At Night" | 2:38 |
| 2. | "Floating Dogs" | 2:55 |
| 3. | "Quiet and Alone" | 2:30 |
| 4. | "Close Up" (from "Family Snapshot") | 0:55 |
| 5. | "Slow Water" | 2:51 |
| 6. | "Dressing the Wound" | 4:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Birdy's Flight" (from "Not One of Us") | 2:58 |
| 8. | "Slow Marimbas" | 3:21 |
| 9. | "The Heat" (from "The Rhythm of the Heat") | 4:41 |
| 10. | "Sketch Pad with Trumpet and Voice" | 3:05 |
| 11. | "Under Lock and Key" (from "Wallflower") | 2:28 |
| 12. | "Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain" (from "San Jacinto") | 2:19 |
Personnel
- Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboards, production
- Jon Hassell – trumpet
- Ekome Dance Company – drums
- Larry Fast – keyboards
- Tony Levin – bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals
- Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion
- David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals
- Manny Elias – drums
- Morris Pert – drums, percussion
- John Giblin – double bass, bass guitar
Technical personnel
- Greg Fulginiti – mastering
- David Stallbaumer – additional engineering
Charts
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[4] | 162 |
In popular culture
The piece "Birdy's Flight" was later used by Hong Kong film director John Woo as part of the score to his A Better Tomorrow films. Other parts of the score were used in Tsui Hark's 1986 movie Peking Opera Blues. The track The Heat was used in 1994 Movie Natural Born Killers.
References
- Demalon, Tom. Peter Gabriel: Birdy at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- "Peter Gabriel: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- Birdy (booklet). Peter Gabriel. Charisma Records. 1985.CS1 maint: others (link)
- "Peter Gabriel Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
