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So (album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Q
PopMatters(very favorable)[2]
Robert Christgau(B-) [3]

So is the fifth studio album (and seventh album overall) by British rock musician Peter Gabriel, released in 1986. Many of its songs reflect a more conventional pop-writing style and became radio hits, others still retain Gabriel's dark, brooding sense of experimentalism.

It is Peter Gabriel's second album produced by Canadian artist Daniel Lanois. The previous year, the two of them had worked together on Birdy. Lanois had been previously known for his ambient collaborations with Brian Eno as well as producing U2 since 1984. As he had with the soundtrack to the film Birdy, Lanois brought many of his own ambient sensibilities to this recording.

It ranked at number #14 on Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 Albums of the Eighties

Songs

The album begins with "Red Rain". Inspired by a recurring dream which Gabriel had of swimming in a sea of red water, its lyrics vividly depict dream imagery that reflect a sense of vulnerability. The song is one of the works in the story of Mozo, a wandering stranger who appears in several Gabriel songs. Of all the tracks on the album, Gabriel considers "Red Rain" one of his favourites.[4] Other Mozo works include "On the Air" and "Exposure".

The second track is Gabriel's most popular single, "Sledgehammer". "Sledgehammer" is a piece with Motown and world music influences, from its famous use of the shakuhachi. The video for "Sledgehammer" won MTV's 1987 Top Music Video Award. Directed by Steven Johnson, it features stop motion animation by Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame. The dancing chickens were animated by Nick Park. The video ends with Gabriel dancing in silhouette, covered with lights taped on his suit by a runner who later became a producer for the Wallace and Gromit films. While performing the song on his 2002 tour, Gabriel recreated this image by wearing a jacket covered with LED lights.

Tracks 3–6 include a duet with Kate Bush titled "Don't Give Up", "That Voice Again", and hit single "In Your Eyes". "Mercy Street" is dedicated to poet Anne Sexton and takes its title from her 1969 play, Mercy Street (Sexton also posthumously released a book of poetry, 45 Mercy Street). "In Your Eyes" was used in the famed boombox scene from the film Say Anything... (1989).

Track 7 is "Big Time". This song is a send-up of the narcissism of the 1980s and was also accompanied by a video in the same vein of "Sledgehammer", although to less popularity. The next track is titled "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)". The title refers to the 37 out of 40 compliant subjects of Milgram Experiment 18.

The album ends with "This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)". This song features vocals with co-writer Laurie Anderson. This track is not included on the original vinyl release of the album, but was added to the audio cassette and CD editions. Anderson had previously recorded a different arrangement of the song entitled "Excellent Birds" for her 1984 album, Mister Heartbreak, which also featured vocals by Gabriel. A video rendition of the song featuring Anderson and Gabriel was included in the 1 January 1984 TV satellite broadcast Good Morning, Mr. Orwell. Anderson also performs the song in her concert film Home of the Brave, released around the same time as So.

Title

This was Gabriel's first studio album to bear an official title from its inception. His previous regular albums were simply titled "Peter Gabriel," including 1982's Security, which was retitled by Gabriel's US label at the time, Geffen Records. Peter Gabriel said in a interview with Smash Hits in 1986 the title "doesn't mean anything. We just liked the form of the word and the two letters. That's all."

Notes

When the album was remastered in 2002 with most of Gabriel's catalogue, the song "In Your Eyes" was moved from the fifth song to the ninth song. This was what Peter Gabriel originally intended, but because of the limitations of the vinyl release format it was moved up to be the first track on side two. Oddly, the credits in the booklet were not changed to show the change in order (so, Youssou N'Dour, instead of being credited with backing vocals to "In Your Eyes" is given credit for backing vocals on "Mercy Street").

The songs Red Rain, Sledgehammer, Don't Give Up, Mercy Street, and We Do What We're Told were featured in episodes of the T.V series Miami Vice.

In 1998, Q magazine readers voted So the 81st greatest album of all time. In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 91. Rolling Stone magazine places the album at 187 on its list of 500 greatest albums of all time [5] and #14 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums of The 80's survey.[6] It was also included in College Music Journal's list of "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time" [7] and ranked #1 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1986".[8] The album came fifth in Kerrang! magazine's Albums Of The Year 1986.

The success of the album earned Peter Gabriel two awards at The Brit Awards in 1987: Best British Male Solo Artist and Best British Video for "Sledgehammer".[9] The album also received four Grammy Award nominations: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, Record of the Year (all for "Sledgehammer"), and Album of the Year.

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Gabriel except as indicated.

Side one

  1. "Red Rain" – 5:39
  2. "Sledgehammer" – 5:12
  3. "Don't Give Up" – 6:33
  4. "That Voice Again" (Gabriel, David Rhodes) – 4:53

Side two

  1. "In Your Eyes" – 5:27
  2. "Mercy Street" – 6:22
  3. "Big Time" – 4:28
  4. "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" – 3:22
  5. "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" (Laurie Anderson, Gabriel) – 4:25†

†Not included on original vinyl release.

Remastered CD Track Listing

  1. "Red Rain" – 5:39
  2. "Sledgehammer" – 5:12
  3. "Don't Give Up" – 6:33
  4. "That Voice Again" – 4:53
  5. "Mercy Street" – 6:22
  6. "Big Time" – 4:28
  7. "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" – 3:22
  8. "This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" – 4:25
  9. "In Your Eyes" – 5:27

Personnel

The track numbers only correspond to the original release, not the remastered version.

Additional personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1986 UK Album Chart 1
1986 U.S. Billboard 200 2

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1987 "Big Time" UK Singles Chart 13
1986 "Big Time" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 3
1986 "Big Time" The Billboard Hot 100 8
1986 "In Your Eyes" The Billboard Hot 100 26
1986 "In Your Eyes" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1987 "Red Rain" UK Singles Chart 46
1986 "Red Rain" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 3
1986 "Sledgehammer" UK Singles Chart 4
1986 "Sledgehammer" The Billboard Hot 100 1
1986 "Sledgehammer" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1
1986 "Sledgehammer" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 3
1986 "Sledgehammer" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 61
1986 "Sledgehammer" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1986 "That Voice Again" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 14
1986 "Don't Give Up" UK Singles Chart 9
1987 "Don't Give Up" The Billboard Hot 100 72

Certifications

Organization Level Date
BPI (UK) Silver 4 June 1986
BPI (UK) Gold 4 June 1986
BPI (UK) Platinum 1 July 1986
BPI (UK) 2x Platinum 26 February 1987
BPI (UK) 3x Platinum 13 July 1989
RIAA (USA) Gold 22 July 1986
RIAA (USA) Platinum 13 August 1986
RIAA (USA) 2x Platinum 21 July 1987
RIAA (USA) 3x Platinum 4 December 1991
RIAA (USA) 4x Platinum 9 December 1994
RIAA (USA) 5x Platinum 25 October 1996

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen T. (2011 [last update]). "So - Peter Gabriel | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ Baum, David R. (2011 [last update]). "Peter Gabriel: So < PopMatters". popmatters.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ Christgau, R. (2011 [last update]). "Robert Christgau: CG: peter gabriel". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ^ Peter Gabriel's website, So album
  5. ^ Rolling Stone article on Peter Gabriel's So album
  6. ^ Rolling Stone, November 1989.
  7. ^ College Music Journal, (1/6/03, p.14)
  8. ^ College Music Journal, (1/5/04, p.18)
  9. ^ "The BRITs 1987".
Preceded by UK number one album
31 May 1986 – 13 June 1986 		Succeeded by
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