Peter Gabriel - Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ (1989)

1) The Feeling Begins; 2) Gethsemane; 3) Of These, Hope; 4) Lazarus Raised; 5) Of These, Hope (Reprise); 6) In Doubt; 7) A Different Drum; 8) Zaar; 9) Troubled; 10) Open; 11) Before Night Falls; 12) With This Love; 13) Sandstorm; 14) Stigmata; 15) Passion; 16) With This Love (Choir); 17) Wall of Breath; 18) The Promise of Shadows; 19) Disturbed; 20) It Is Accomplished; 21) Bread and Wine

Arguably the most prominent display of Gabriel's love for regional world music. The usual film soundtrack caveats apply, but Gabriel at the very least does something unique here in terms of scores.

Key tracks: "Of These, Hope", "A Different Drum", "With This Love"

At one point I made it a point that absolutely, definitely had to own everything officially released by any artist I liked. I’ve long since relaxed my rules, but that period of joyous collection with abandon has led me to some potentially inspiring purchases like this album: a soundtrack to a film I’ve never seen, performed in a style intentionally different to usual sound of the artist.

Passion was Peter Gabriel’s second soundtrack, recorded for Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, and it was the first to comprise of fully original work (the prior soundtrack to Birdy extensively sampled Gabriel’s past solo albums). As a project it’s incredibly more ambitious than anything Gabriel had done before. The Last Temptation of the Christ is obviously biblical as per its name and Gabriel decided that the score should match its context: using it as a launching pad for his endeavours to raise the profile of world music, he utilised local musicians and area/era-appropriate instruments as much as possible and incorporated melodies and rhythms from local folk songs and hymns into the music. The modern touch is there with Gabriel’s favoured synthesizers showcasing their signature sound across the disc and his regular band members make appearances throughout, but all the modern instruments contribute more to background texture than melody. Passion, in addition, goes further than just the film – the soundtrack was released months later after extensive reworking by Gabriel to expand on the themes he had scored for the film and to make it a more powerful standalone experience. It has the feel of a passion project (appropriately) for Gabriel that he found a change to indulge in with the soundtrack request: that he backed it up with a companion album highlighting the folk music of the region that served as the inspiration says as much. As far as Hollywood film scores go, Passion is quite unique.

It’s still a film score, though. Film scores, perhaps more than any other type of soundtrack, are made to be hidden in the background, to underline rather than stand out. Gabriel continuing to expand these tracks bears little effect on this apart from a few obvious cases like “A Different Drum” which utilises (wordless) vocals so heavily that it would come across distracting in the film. Whether it does, I don’t know – I still haven’t seen the film, and given I’m not much of a film buff it’s unlikely I will either. That obviously means I lack the context that might be necessary to really unlock the power of the music: the knowledge of the scenes and events they were meant to emphasise, which would then in turn make the music more impactful. But if Gabriel wanted to make this an album more fit for standalone consumption, it’s not particularly great at it outside a few given moments: the powerful “A Different Drum” (which features Gabriel himself the most), the eerie “Of These, Hope” (and in particular its reprise), the triumphant “It Is Accomplished” (which wouldn’t need a lot of extra work to turn into a ‘real’ Gabriel anthem) and “With This Love”, which hosts the most beautiful melody of the album. Most of the album ends up blending together rather more non-descriptively: it’s all excellently atmospheric and mood-setting, but bereft of stand-out moments.

That mood is Passion’s greatest feat. It’s an album with a wonderful soundscape: the atmospheric synthesizer work mingling with the traditional instruments, often gorgeous and haunting on their own, is an enchanting combination. Gabriel’s also a masterful arranger who knows how to utilise rich instrumentations and this is another showcase for his knack. There is a lot to enjoy and admire in Passion’s sound and the 2002 remaster I own further highlights it: like all of the albums in Gabriel’s remaster series at the time, the sound has been updated into pristine perfection. Still, even with its aural charms it doesn’t feel as rewarding as it probably should when looking at the parts it does well. It sounds good but it doesn’t grip, and that’s something I look for in soundtracks when outside their primary context. In conclusion, it is perhaps an album that highlights its creator’s skills than it is one for active listening.

Rating: 6/10