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"So" is one of my favorite 1980s pop albums. It was released in 1986 and has some great songs. It received four Grammy nominations and is often considered Gabriel’s best and most accessible album. The album has a quintessential mid-eighties sound, with plenty of synthesizers. A lot of 1980s music has not aged well, but this still sounds relevant because there are a lot of real musicians as well. "So" is Gabriel’s best-selling album, having sold 5 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Peter Gabriel’s first four albums all had the same title: Peter Gabriel. Gabriel set out in early 1985 to make a record that was more commercial than his previous music. He recorded the album at his home near Bath. He used a cowshed that had been converted into a home studio. The album took ten months and cost $260,000 to make.
"So" was a fusion of rock, pop, funk, avant-garde, and African influences. It also sounded like a pop album. It contains nine-songs. "Sledgehammer" reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed by four further singles, "Don't Give Up" (a duet with Kate Bush), "Big Time", "In Your Eyes" and "Red Rain."
“In Your Eyes” would feature in the Cameron Crowe film "Say Anything" in 1989 and would become one of Gabriel’s most popular songs. John Cusack plays the song on a boombox outside his girlfriend’s bedroom. “Mercy Street” is written about the American poet Anne Sexton who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book of verse Live or Die. Sexton had long suffered from depression and sadly committed suicide in 1974.
"So" has an eclectic array of guest artists that includes Kate Bush on vocals. Gabriel recruited world-class musicians for this recording. They included: French-Ivorian percussionist Manu Katché; King Crimson’s Tony Levin on bass; Indian violinist L. Shankar; Stewart Copeland on drums; Simon Clark (Be Bop Deluxe) on keyboards; New York session legend Richard Tee on piano; Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour; Laurie Anderson on vocals; Bill Laswell on bass; Simple Minds' Jim Kerr; soul singer P.P. Arnold; American session drummer Jerry Marotta; Nile Rodgers on guitar; and Joni Mitchell’s husband, Larry Klein.
David Rhodes has been Gabriel's principal studio and touring guitarist since 1980 and he co-wrote the song "That Voice Again." "Sledgehammer" was partially inspired by the music of Otis Redding, and Gabriel sought out Wayne Jackson, whom Gabriel had seen on tour with Redding in the 1960s, to record horns for that track and for "Big Time."
It seemed strange to hear some of these people on a pop album. I own solo records by Katché, Shankar, and Laswell and I would classify them as jazz/experimental. The album opened the doors for Katché who would later play on records by Sting, Joni Mitchell, Jeff Beck, Jan Garbarek, and many others. His solo albums on the ECM label are very good but they are really jazz records.
Daniel Lanois is a brilliant producer and his work with U2 increased his profile in the 1980s. I own several albums he produced in the late 1980s. Particular favorites include Power Spot – Jon Hassell; The Joshua Tree – U2; Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson; and Oh Mercy – Bob Dylan. Lanois also played guitar on a few "So" tracks.
Gabriel had been the lead vocalist of Genesis during the band's progressive rock phase of the early '70s. I still like Genesis's prog albums, but this isn’t prog. Unlike most pop from the 1980s, including anything recorded by Genesis after 1977, this album still sounds great.
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Amazing CDs with some great songs. For the audiophiles out there the sound stage is wonderful. I was very please I remembered this album and made the purchase of the CD. Too much money for vinyl! Highly recommend this CD, fo get it!
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English Gent
The inimitable Peter Gabriel.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2023
