Background[edit]
During the vocal sessions for Modern Love, producer Bob Ezrin was unsatisfied with Gabriel's delivery of the line oh the pain, modern love can be strain, so he offered the singer three more attempts to sing the line. Once this proved unsuccessful, Ezrin asked engineer Brian Chistian to hoist Gabriel up a ladder and duct-taped his armpits to one of the pillars in the studio. "We rolled the tape and he was up there arms flailing and screaming 'Ahh, the pain, Modern Love' and we got it."[2]
The lyrics detail sexual frustration that include sexual innuendos, Roman mythology, and classical art, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.[3] A music video directed by Peter Medak, who Gabriel selected after watching The Ruling Class. Parts of the music video were filmed at a shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush on moving escalators, which Gabriel thought were "of the future at the time."[4]
Critical reception[edit]
Alan Jones of Melody Maker described Modern Love as a "rousing and highly enjoyable" power pop song.[5] He also stated that "Modern Love" was the only song on the album that evoked the previous production work of Bob Ezrin, an observation that Gabriel agreed with.[6]
In its review of Gabriel's debut album, AllMusic characterised Modern Love as a "surging rocker".[7] NME complimented the guitars and keyboards on "Modern Love", and quipped that the riff was "strong enough to land Concorde on."[8]