Scratch My Back

The idea behind the Scratch My Back project is a song exchange where each artist would cover one of Gabriel's songs in return for his covering one of theirs; the other artists' renditions of Gabriel's songs were to appear on an album titled I'll Scratch Yours.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/960832/peter-gabriel-goes-orchestral-for-covers-album |title=Peter Gabriel Goes Orchestral For Covers Album |author=David J. Prince |date=2 January 2010 |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=21 January 2010}} Initially planned to be released simultaneously with Scratch My Back in 2010, several artists were late in delivering their songs or ultimately declined to participate, necessitating changes to the companion album's concept. With several new artists aboard, the slightly retitled And I'll Scratch Yours was released in September 2013.

According to Gabriel, although he and arranger John Metcalfe had talked about Arvo Pärt and Steve Reich as inspiration, it was the work that Metcalfe did on "Heroes" that "gave us the confidence to be bold in the way in which we were going to approach the record."{{cite magazine | url= http://thequietus.com/articles/03628-peter-gabriel-on-new-album-scratch-my-back-review | title= Track-by-track: Peter Gabriel Guides Us Through New Album Scratch My Back | magazine=The Quietus| date=28 January 2010| accessdate=5 March 2010}} "Heroes" became the opening track because "without any of the drive of guitar and drums...it builds an enormous tension that bursts open."

{{cquote|If you’re going to reinterpret something, then really do something. Nail your colours to the mast and say, 'This is different, and it isn’t everybody's cup of tea.|4=Peter Gabriel, on Scratch My Back.}}

Stephin Merritt, who wrote "The Book of Love", commented on Gabriel's cover of his song:

{{cquote|At first I thought, "How hilarious, he's got a completely different take on the song." But after a few listens I find it quite sweet. My version of the song focuses on the humour, and his focuses on the pathos. Of course, if I could sing like him I wouldn't have to be a humourist.}}

The cover artwork is a micrograph of two red blood cells folding over each other.{{cite web |url=http://www.sciencephoto.com/images/imagePopUpDetails.html?id=802420342 |title=P242/342 |publisher=Science Photo Library www.sciencephoto.com |accessdate=30 March 2011}} It was shot by Steve Gschmeissner and was included in the cover by Marc Bessant.{{cite web |url=http://www.marcbessant.com/portfolio/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back/ |title=Peter Gabriel – Scratch my Back / Marc Bessant |publisher=Marc Bessant www.marcbessant.com |accessdate=30 March 2011}} Not coincidentally, the name of Gabriel's supporting tour for the album is "The New Blood Tour". The album's graphic design concept is credited to Marc Bessant and Peter Gabriel.

Gabriel originally intended to release Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours simultaneously. However, as completion of the latter dragged out, it was instead decided to release a series of double A-sided singles with one song from each album every new full moon during 2010 on iTunes.{{cite news |first=Neil |last=McCormick |title=Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back, CD review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/neilmccormick/7212676/Peter-Gabriel-returns-every-full-moon.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215030839/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/neilmccormick/7212676/Peter-Gabriel-returns-every-full-moon.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 February 2010 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |date=11 February 2010 |accessdate=19 February 2010}} The first, "The Book of Love" – Gabriel's cover of a Magnetic Fields song, together with "Not One of Us" – Stephin Merritt's (The Magnetic Fields' frontman) cover of a Peter Gabriel song, was released on 30 January 2010.{{cite web |title=The Magnetic Fields: Realism |url=http://www.petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/01/23/The_Magnetic_Fields:_Realism |publisher=Petergabriel.com |date=23 January 2010 |accessdate=6 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129044716/http://www.petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/01/23/The_Magnetic_Fields:_Realism |archive-date=29 January 2010 |url-status=dead }} Gabriel's version of "The Boy in the Bubble" coupled with Paul Simon's version of "Biko" was the second, released on 28 February 2010.{{cite web|title=The Boy in the Bubble and Biko on iTunes today |url=http://petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/02/28/The_Boy_In_The_Bubble_and_Biko_on_iTunes_today |publisher=Petergabriel.com |date=28 February 2010 |accessdate=18 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419164647/http://www.petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/02/28/The_Boy_In_The_Bubble_and_Biko_on_iTunes_today |archive-date=19 April 2010 }} The third in the series, Gabriel's take on "Flume" paired with Bon Iver's seven-minute long version of "Come Talk to Me" was released on 30 March 2010.{{cite web |title='Come Talk To Me' and 'Flume' released today on iTunes |url=http://www.petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/03/30/%27Come_Talk_To_Me%27_and_%27Flume%27_released_today_on_iTunes |publisher=Petergabriel.com |date=30 March 2010 |accessdate=18 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402184733/http://www.petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/03/30/%27Come_Talk_To_Me%27_and_%27Flume%27_released_today_on_iTunes |archive-date=2 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}

On 17 April 2010 "The Book of Love" / "Not One of Us" as well as "Flume" / "Come Talk to Me" were also released on 7" vinyl to independent record stores.{{cite web |title=2 'Scratch' 7-inch singles for Record Store Day |url=http://petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/03/10/2_%27Scratch%27_7_inch_singles_for_Record_Store_Day |publisher=Petergabriel.com |date=10 March 2010 |accessdate=13 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230181405/http://petergabriel.com/news/archive/2010/03/10/2_%27Scratch%27_7_inch_singles_for_Record_Store_Day |archive-date=30 December 2010 }}

{{Music ratings

| MC = 67/100{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/scratch-my-back|title=Scratch My Back|publisher=Metacritic|accessdate=17 April 2009}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite web |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |title=Scratch My Back > Overview |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0001961806|pure_url=yes}} |accessdate=6 June 2014}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = B{{cite magazine |first=Simon |last=Vozick-Levinson |title=Scratch My Back Review |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20346564,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307051227/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20346564,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 March 2010 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=5 March 2010 |accessdate=7 June 2012}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |first=Alexis |last=Petridis |title=Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back, CD review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/11/peter-gabriel-cd-review |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 February 2010 |accessdate=19 February 2010}}

| rev4 = The Observer

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Spencer |title=Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back (Virgin) |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/24/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back |newspaper=The Observer |date=24 January 2010 |accessdate=27 January 2010}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5score = 4.5/10{{cite web |first= Mark |last=Richardson |title=Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back (Virgin) |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13935-scratch-my-back/ |work=Pitchfork | date=16 February 2010 |accessdate=16 February 2010}}

| rev6 = Robert Christgau

| rev6score = {{Rating-Christgau|cut}}{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Christgau |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=CG: Peter Gabriel |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=peter+gabriel |publisher=robertchristgau.com |accessdate=7 June 2012}}

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/32243146/review/32254533/scratch_my_back |title=Scratch My Back : Peter Gabriel |first=Mark |last=Kemp |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=1 March 2010 |accessdate=7 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407002825/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/32243146/review/32254533/scratch_my_back |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=dead}}

| rev8 = Slant Magazine

| rev8score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine |first=Jesse |last=Cataldo |title=Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back/2018|magazine=Slant Magazine |date=1 March 2010 |accessdate=1 March 2010}}

| rev9 = The Times

| rev9score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite news |first=Pete |last=Paphides ogwood |title=Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article7020663.ece|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709222627/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article7020663.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 July 2012|newspaper=The Times |date=13 February 2010 |accessdate=20 February 2010}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |first=Alastair |last=McKay |title=Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back, CD review |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/peter-gabriel/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back-review |magazine=Uncut |accessdate=19 February 2010}}

}}

Scratch My Back received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 67 based on 21 reviews.

Scratch My Back was album of the month in the March 2010 issue of Mojo. Reviewer Mat Snow writes: "He [Gabriel] and his top-of-the-range collaborators (...) have created an album of great insight into the untapped potential of familiar songs, a profound re-imagining made manifest in an orchestral soundworld as rich and thrilling as ever recorded at Air (...)". He gave special mention to the reinterpretations of David Bowie's "Heroes" ("the song’s underlying despair rises to the top"), Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble" ("the song it might have been had not the writer been so determined in 1986 to bring the joys of South African township jive to the Western pop charts") and Talking Heads' "Listening Wind" ("Gabriel shines a soft light into the song's inner desolation"). On the downside Snow describes the version of Lou Reed's "The Power of the Heart" as "a misstep" and Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" as "superfluous". He concludes the review on a positive note by saying: "An album to make you happy feeling sad, Scratch My Back gets better with each play; it might just turn out to be the best surprise birthday present of the year."{{cite journal |last=Snow |first=Mat |title=Fair trade – review of Peter Gabriel: Scratch My Back |journal=Mojo |issue=196 |date=March 2010|page=88}}

In Metro, Arwa Haider awarded the album 3 stars out of 5 and commented: "Its most impressive quality is sensitivity; these are elegant orchestral arrangements … It’s sporadically successful; Gabriel saps the life from Paul Simon’s The Boy in the Bubble and somehow over-eggs Arcade Fire's My Body Is a Cage" and concluded "this is exceptionally classy karaoke."Arwa Haider Metro, 15 February 2010.

In The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote: "Covers albums don’t get any more idiosyncratic or high concept than Scratch My Back."{{cite news | title= Peter Gabriel Says, 'I'll Sing Yours, You Sing Mine' | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/arts/music/02gabriel.html | newspaper=The New York Times| first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles| date=1 March 2010 | accessdate= 5 March 2010}}

Pitchfork reviewer Mark Richardson was less enthusiastic: "Every song on Scratch My Back, regardless of its original tone or meaning, is flattened out and turned into this one melodramatic and depressing thing (...)"; although the album "sounds earnest [and] professional", it consists of "ponderous, dull, and ultimately pointless versions of songs that sound much better elsewhere."

{{Track listing

| headline = Scratch My Back track listing

| extra_column = Original artist

| title1 = Heroes

| length1 = 4:10

| extra1 = David Bowie

| writer1 = David Bowie, Brian Eno

| title2 = The Boy in the Bubble

| length2 = 4:28

| extra2 = Paul Simon

| writer2 = Paul Simon, Forere Motloheloa

| title3 = Mirrorball

| length3 = 4:48

| extra3 = Elbow

| writer3 = Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter, Pete Turner, Richard Jupp

| title4 = Flume

| length4 = 3:01

| extra4 = Bon Iver

| writer4 = Justin Vernon

| title5 = Listening Wind

| length5 = 4:23

| extra5 = Talking Heads

| writer5 = David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth

| title6 = The Power of the Heart

| length6 = 5:52

| extra6 = Lou Reed

| writer6 = Lou Reed

| title7 = My Body Is a Cage

| length7 = 6:13

| extra7 = Arcade Fire

| writer7 = Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, Sarah Neufeld

| title8 = The Book of Love

| length8 = 3:53

| extra8 = The Magnetic Fields

| writer8 = Stephin Merritt

| title9 = I Think It's Going to Rain Today

| length9 = 2:34

| extra9 = Randy Newman

| writer9 = Randy Newman

| title10 = Après Moi

| length10 = 5:13

| extra10 = Regina Spektor

| writer10 = Regina Spektor

| title11 = Philadelphia

| length11 = 3:46

| extra11 = Neil Young

| writer11 = Neil Young

| title12 = Street Spirit (Fade Out)

| length12 = 5:06

| extra12 = Radiohead

| writer12 = Thom Yorke, Ed O'Brien, Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Phil Selway

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Special edition bonus disc

| extra_column = Original artist

| title1 = The Book of Love

| length1 = 3:40

| extra1 = The Magnetic Fields

| note1 = Remix

| writer1 = Merritt

| title2 = My Body Is a Cage

| length2 = 6:03

| extra2 = Arcade Fire

| note2 = Oxford London Temple version

| writer2 = Butler, Chassagne, Parry, Kingsbury, Butler, Gara, Neufeld

| title3 = Waterloo Sunset

| length3 = 3:49

| extra3 = The Kinks

| note3 = Oxford London Temple version

| writer3 = Ray Davies

| title4 = "Heroes"

| length4 = 4:06

| extra4 = David Bowie

| total_length =

| note4 = Wildebeest mix

| writer4 = Bowie, Eno

}}

• Peter Gabriel – production, arrangement ("The Book of Love"), design concept
• Bob Ezrin – production
• John Metcalfe – arrangement (except "The Book of Love" and "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), mixing (except "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), orchestration (except "The Book of Love"), additional "Oxford" recording
• Nick Ingman – arrangement ("The Book of Love"), orchestration ("The Book of Love")
• Will Gregory – arrangement ("The Book of Love")
• Randy Newman – arrangement ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today")
• Richard Chappell – mixing, engineering (except "The Book of Love"), Air Studios sessions recording
• Tchad Blake – mixing ("My Body is a Cage", "Après moi")
• Pete Sené – assistant engineering (except "The Book of Love")
• Mark Claydon – assistant mixing (except "The Book of Love")
• Kurina Támas – recording ("The Book of Love")
• Kölcsényi Attila – recording ("The Book of Love")
• Steve Orchard – Air Studios sessions recording
• Olga Fitzroy – Air Studios sessions recording assistant, Pro Tools editor
• Laurence Greed – Pro Tools editor assistant
• Melanie Gabriel – vocals ("The Book of Love")
• London Scratch Orchestra – orchestra performance
• The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – choir ("My Body is a Cage")
• Hungarian Orchestra – orchestra performance ("The Book of Love")
• Tony Cousins – mastering
• Marc Bessant – graphic design, design concept
• Nadav Kander – photography
• David Hiscock – photography

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Scratch My Back}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|award=Gold|artist=Peter Gabriel|title=Scratch My Back|access-date=18 April 2014|type=album|relyear=2010}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Poland|award=Gold|artist=Peter Gabriel|title=Scratch My Back|type=album|relyear=2010|certyear=2010|access-date=20 April 2021}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite magazine | url= http://thequietus.com/articles/03628-peter-gabriel-on-new-album-scratch-my-back-review | title= Track-by-track: Peter Gabriel Guides Us Through New Album Scratch My Back | magazine=The Quietus| date=28 January 2010}}

{{Peter Gabriel}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Peter Gabriel albums

Category:2010 albums

Category:Real World Records albums

Category:Virgin Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Bob Ezrin

Category:2010s covers albums

Category:Albums recorded at AIR Studios