First I have to say this. Peter Gabriel is a legend. Actually scratch that. Peter Gabriel is God. And as such, he can do whatever the hell he wants to. He also owns his own Real World studio so he can spend however long he wants doing it as well.

Which leads me on to Scratch My Back. When I initially heard about the project I though it sounded very interesting. But when it became apparent that the And I'll Scratch Yours part wasn't going to happen at the same time I felt a tad uneasy as I was looking forwards to hearing sone of the music worlds most respected artists take on some Gabriel classics.

Still there's enough here to get your teeth into as Gabriels taken 12 tunes and recorded them in a stripped down form, just his voice over piano and the occasional orchestration. Obviously this isn't going to be everyones cup of Earl Grey and to be honest it isn't mine either.

Don't get me wrong though, I do like a lot of the tunes on here, and they are beautifully recorded, Gabriels voice still sounds as good now as it ever has. But as a whole it's too laid back and mournful for me, making it an album I'm more likely to dip into now and again, rather than smother myself in. My favourite tracks are Heroes, The Book Of Love and Après Moi. However the cover of Street Spirit leaves me stone cold.

I've also heard some of the reciprocal covers and some of them, Such as Lou Reeds stab at Solsbury Hill is "interesting", to say the most.

Track Listing
"Heroes" (David Bowie)
"The Boy in the Bubble" (Paul Simon)
"Mirrorball" (Elbow)
"Flume" (Bon Iver)
"Listening Wind" (Talking Heads)
"The Power of the Heart" (Lou Reed)
"My Body Is a Cage" (Arcade Fire)
"The Book of Love" (The Magnetic Fields)
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman)
"Après Moi" (Regina Spektor)
"Philadelphia" (Neil Young)
"Street Spirit" (Radiohead)