Re-watching The Last Temptation of Christ last night, I told myself that Peter Gabriel's score is maybe the best thing this ugly studio rat's ever done: it's certainly the liveliest thing he's committed to tape since his rerecording of that Laurie Anderson number on So. I bought the cassette in the summer of 1990, and, as it was for most people, it was for a few years my gateway to "world music." The years have revealed Gabriel's very real passion for Linn drums mixed loud and prominent, and some of his keyboard work is equally strident; but, still, this is the rare fusion that honors its sources while perfecting the artist's obsessions (how you feel about the artist's obsessions is up to you). Especially touching is my realization that the music and images often collide, never more so when Scorsese aims for a Tarkovksy kind of reverent contemplation; the vulgarity of a few of the pieces is what I'd expect from an English introvert with too many keyboards and a studio at his disposal. Nevertheless, it's best to appreciate Passion as a stand-alone album: a purer listening experience, let's say, if against the creator's wishes.