Plays Live is the first live and fifth album in a series released by Peter Gabriel. It was his first untitled solo album. The album was originally released as a double LP and longplay cassette in 1983, featuring sixteen songs. It was re-released in 1985, as a CD titled Plays Live (Highlights) with only twelve songs, some of which had been changed from their original version so that the album could fit on a single CD. It was finally re-released in its entirety as a double CD set in 1987. In 2002, a remastered version of the Highlights edition was re-released. In 2019, the full double LP version of the album was released for the first time on music streaming platforms.

The “Plays Live” concerts were recorded at:

– Braden Auditorium, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, December 3, 1982
– Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, on December 4, 1982
– Chick Evans Field House, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, December 6, 1982
– SIU Arena, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, December 7, 1982

The notes from the album’s “producers” however admit that although this album was created from four concerts in the mid-western United States, some additional recordings took place not so many thousands of miles away from the artist’s home. On the album, care has been taken to keep the essence of the concerts intact, including any human imperfections.

A previously unreleased track, “I Go Swimming” gained airplay and charted in the US in 1983. The song was originally recorded for Gabriel’s third album and was heard on the 1980 tour.

“I Don’t Remember” was released as a single, with an accompanying music video, in the US.

Most of Gabriel’s greatest hits and key tracks on the album are played in tight, inspired performances, with the album liner notes admitting that some of the tracks here are sweetened compared to their studio renditions, but in no way lose their immediacy of live performances. It’s this emotional edge and intimacy that gives songs like “Solsbury Hill”, “I Don’t Remember” and “Shock The Monkey” a sharper and deeper resonance than their studio performances.

And the band on the other hand, with Tony Levin (bass, vocals), Jerry Marotta (drums, vocals), David Rhodes (guitar, vocals) and Larry Fast (keyboards), is also in great form.

Through this excellent live I select the amazing performance of “Shock The Monkey”.
 
Tracklist

A1. The Rhythm Of The Heat 6:23
A2. I Have The Touch 4:37
A3. Not One Of Us 5:00
A4. Family Snapshot 4:00
B1. D.I.Y. 3:59
B2. The Family And The Fishing Net 7:14
B3. Intruder 4:34
B4. I Go Swimming 4:29
C1. San Jacinto 8:15
C2. Solsbury Hill 4:31
C3. No Self Control 5:03
C4. I Don’t Remember 4:03
D1. Shock The Monkey 7:10
D2. Humdrum 3:54
D3. On The Air 5:14
D4. Biko 6:30