Available in three stunning high-quality digital formats including 16-bit ALAC (compatible with iTunes) and 24-bit FLAC, Half Blood has been created by Peter Gabriel specifically for Society of Sound members.
New Blood is a continuum of Peter’s previous album, Scratch My Back, a song-swap project where he covered the songs of others, all to an orchestral backing. “He really liked what he was discovering,” explains his engineer Richard ‘Dickie’ Chappell. “As soon as we started do the covers, there was talk of applying it to his own songs. It was always an ongoing thought.”
As his pianist, Tom Cawley, notes, “you know with Peter there’s going to be maximum integrity about it. He’s not going to produce something for the sake of it or to someone else’s brief.”
Peter has chosen five tracks from New Blood for Half Blood and exclusively supplied the instrumentals to these tracks so members can fully appreciate the precise arrangements. Half Blood is only available to Society of Sound members
The New Blood Orchestra’s energetic conductor Ben Foster agrees that the boss’s instincts remain sharp. “The orchestra is not a tack-on. These aren’t just strings on top of a rock band. This is something rebuilt from the ground up. That’s why it’s so successful.”
And in front of orchestra, taking centre stage when necessary, retreating into the shadows when not, is Peter’s rich voice. Retaining its trademark emotive power, it returns to lyrics written 20 or 30 years ago, reinvesting them with new meaning and heightened poignancy.
- Both albums will be available from October 10th, Half Blood will only be available via Society of Sound.
Chomping at the bit, when will the download be available? Can’t wait!
Posted: Monday, 10 October 2011Sounds excellent. So now when do we get New Blood in 24bit? I can only see 320K MP3 or Apple Lossless on WOMAD
Thanks
Andy
Posted: Monday, 10 October 2011I’m disappointed that I can’t get the whole album in 24-bit FLAC. I don’t mind paying for that outside of the Society of Sound membership. My download of Scratch My Back is probably the most frequently played recording that I own.
Posted: Tuesday, 11 October 2011Amen to David’s comment!
Posted: Tuesday, 11 October 2011Hi there, So I got the email announcing the release of this piece, but I can’t for the life of me find it anywhere on here. The blog says it was released on the 10th. ??
Posted: Tuesday, 11 October 2011Agreed. I would love to download this in 24bit. From what I’ve heard so far, it’s a stellar album.
It’s a real disappointment it’s not on here.
Posted: Tuesday, 11 October 2011I see that Half Blood was to be made available 10/10/11. This being 12/10/11, where is it ?
Posted: Wednesday, 12 October 2011Hi Andy, David and RGA,
There is a 24-bit download version of New Blood, it is only available if you buy the special edition version: http://petergabriel.com/
I hope this helps,
Kind regards
Posted: Wednesday, 12 October 2011Susanna
Hi Rob and Richard,
You can find details of the album here:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/Society_of_Sound/Society_of_Sound/Music/Peter-Gabriel_Half-Blood.html
It is available to all Society of Sound members and can be downloaded via the Download Manager.
Kind regards
Posted: Wednesday, 12 October 2011Susanna
this album is awesome. I like Scratch My Back but the whole production felt rushed to me, like it was not quite ready, needed more rehearsal or something. Everything about this recording is just stunning. The arrangement and orchestration is amazing, production and sound are simply breathtaking. Everything about is just tight and pretty much perfect. I know Peter said in his interview his next work will be electronic but I wish he would do just one more of these!
My only complaint is there isn’t more music on it! Love it, keep it up B&O.
Posted: Thursday, 13 October 2011Always an inspiration, I am a true PG fan and this video shows what an incredible view we can have now of the creation progress…. I’ve shared this with numerous people in my artist community, and isn’t that goal of our endeavors today with technology. I have always loved this song and its vision. Bravo !
Posted: Friday, 28 October 2011Having bought the deluxe book with CDs and BluRay disc I did not receive any option to DL the album in high quality 24bit FLAC……is this option available does anyone know??
Thanks
Posted: Saturday, 29 October 2011Thanks SoS! This achievement is really amazing. Sheer magic
Posted: Saturday, 29 October 2011Just to update my last post – I didn’t realize that the album that was released has 14 awesome songs and half blood has 5! What’s up B&W. I feel ripped off now and want to know how to get a high res version of the entire album.
Any chance this well be released to the members later?
Posted: Saturday, 29 October 2011I think that Half Blood is a much more succesful album than Scratch my Back. And I was Pleasantly surprised to find that I most enjoyed tracks which traditionally would not have made my top-15 PG tracks (San Jacinto, Rhythym of the Heat, Mercy Street). Perhaps it was going to be impossible to better Wallflower or In Your Eyes.
It is a shame that the excellent Signal to Noise is only available thru I-Tunes.
Posted: Monday, 7 November 2011Yes, I was disappointed too with Half Blood. I wanted the whole thing !
Posted: Tuesday, 8 November 2011Com’on Society of Sound, hear the call and make us audiophiles and PG fans very happy
Posted: Tuesday, 8 November 2011