Recorded between October and December 1984 and originally released in 1985, Birdy marks the first occasion that Peter worked with French-Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lanois who was fresh from working on The Unforgettable Fire with U2. Lanois went on to co-produce the So and US albums with Peter. Birdy is the soundtrack to the Alan Parker movie of the same name – the tale of a Vietnam vet who harbours Icarus-like ambitions to fly – it finds Peter flexing his creative muscles free of any commercial pressures. “I’ve always loved film music and at age seventeen I had the choice to go to the London School of Film Technique or following a career as a musician, and it was quite a difficult decision for me. Ever since, I’ve always wanted to work more in film, not so much at the acting end of it, but more in the creating side. When I had an invitation from Alan Parker to work on ‘Birdy’ that was very exciting for me. Both he and Scorsese, who I worked with on ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’, are musical directors who really care and feel the music they work with." "... the mastering is extraordinary, the sound incredible, truly putting many of the other releases this month, however good the music, into sonic perspective." - The Arts Desk "For him , soundtracks have always been epic projects, which he can dive into and paddle around in for years. Often he'd spend more time on them than on his multi-million-selling albums, meeting collaborators and developing methodologies that would have a profound effect on the rest of his music." - 8/10 Reissue of the Month, Uncut Magazine. "There's something very different about these three vinyl reissues of Peter Gabriel's movie soundtracks. Because the fact is you might actually play them an revel in their expanded artwork... is out-there and experimental, yet melodic and absorbing." - 9/10 Long Live Vinyl
