Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gabriel, Peter
Label: Charisma Records
Release: 1986
Length: 46:25
Rating: 5/5
“So” is a monumental moment in the magnificent career of legendary British singer and sonic innovator Peter Gabriel, because its huge commercial success turned him into a superstar on a global scale. The project was wildly ambitious from the very start, using the most advanced recording technology of the day and an army of top-notch guest musicians, but one of the most exciting, innovative and original musical artists of our time had no idea that the album would become a milestone of his career and the record he’s still best known for today. With “So” he pulled off one of the best albums in the history of popular music, diving headfirst into the world of pop rock with everything he had. Unlike his former Genesis buddy Phil Collins, who usually cooked up fairly saccharine, lemonade-sweet kinds of pop, Peter once again proved his knack for incredible sonic sophistication and for blending all sorts of musical elements into the perfect mix of pop rock ambrosia. His intelligent, refined take on pop rock could easily be called art pop.
Not counting the soundtrack for the film “Birdy” (1985), “So” is Peter’s first album without his name in the title. Asked where the idea for the title came from, Peter, contrary to expectations, said it doesn’t mean anything at all. “So” was chosen because he liked how short and direct it sounded. He’d stick to this practice on his future studio releases, too.
More than half of the album is made up of hypnotic pop rock hits, which can be split into two categories. On one side are the fun, socially critical anthems with a heavy dose of English black humor (“Sledgehammer” and “Big Time”); on the other, touching love ballads that leave nobody cold (“Don’t Give Up”, “That Voice Again”, “In Your Eyes” and “Mercy Street”). All of these tracks are among the biggest and most celebrated achievements of his career, especially in his role as a pop rock musician, even though Uncle Gabriel has always been much more than just a central figure on the pop scene. And “So” still has some of the more avant-garde-leaning sonic experiments with darker atmospheres that marked Peter’s early solo career (“We Do What We’re Told” and “This is the Picture”). On top of the compositional brilliance, Mr. Gabriel teamed up with Canadian co-producer Daniel Lanois, with whom he had already worked on the soundtrack for “Birdy”, and delivered outstanding production polish that still inspires with its depth and finesse today.
Peter poured every last bit of his incredible vocal charisma into the whole collection, which has always been his strongest tool for building powerful, deep atmospheres. He stretched his singing range even further, and on top of his usual chameleon-like skills, his voice soaked up a noticeable amount of soul. His loyal band of companions was joined around this time by French drum great Manu Katché, who, thanks to his excellent grasp of world music, soon became Gabe’s favorite drummer. As always, the master’s top instrumental favorite spot was filled by legendary bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson). Besides his usual bass wizardry, Levin this time also used a special technique of his own called “funk fingers”. It’s marked by striking the bass guitar strings simultaneously with special drumstick-like attachments worn on the fingers.
The magnificent opener is “Red Rain”, one of the most touching and emotionally rich compositions of Peter’s career. Gabe’s singing, which carries the main melody, is charged with incredible sensuality and melancholy the whole way through. The superb mood, which in the rhythm section recalls falling rain thanks to the hi-hat work of special guest Stewart Copeland (The Police, ex-Curved Air), easily conjures up the lyrical backdrop of the piece. The inspiration for the title and the lyrics came from a strange dream of Peter’s in which he saw himself floating in the middle of a swimming pool, drinking red wine. It also partly ties into Gabriel’s imaginary character, concept and potential film project called Mozo, which indirectly relates to several songs from his career. That part of the Mozo story supposedly involves a special village where the villagers are punished for their sins with downpours of blood-red rain.
Next up is the smash hit “Sledgehammer”, one of Peter’s best-known and best-loved classics, on which he shines as a charismatic entertainer. This evergreen pop rocker, drawing on world music, soul and R&B, is marked by Peter’s unusually witty singing, paired with feisty horn arrangements, Levin’s “funk fingers” on bass and backing female vocal harmonies. The original intro on Japanese flutes grabs you right away, and after that comes a proper spirited bomb, with cheeky sexual innuendo in the lyrics and dance rhythms. Much of the credit for “Sledgehammer” becoming his most successful hit single goes to the phenomenal video, which was an animation marvel when it came out and won the award for best video of the year. Irony of all ironies, it beat out his former Genesis bandmates right under their noses, as they were up for the award with the video for “Land of Confusion”. That “blow” landed on them shortly after “Sledgehammer” knocked “Invisible Touch” off the top spot on the charts.
The album turns serious from here on with the touching love ballad “Don’t Give Up”, on which Peter and special guest Kate Bush stage one of the best and most influential male-female duets in the history of popular music. In the lyrics, Peter steps into the shoes of a man who has lost faith in the economic system and, as a result, harbors deep pessimism toward human society. In the chorus, Kate Bush answers him with wise, encouraging advice that breaks up his dark thoughts. Thanks to the outstanding interplay between the two singers, this is one of Gabriel’s most beautiful ballads, timeless and open to anyone’s own interpretation. The run of excellent love ballads continues with “That Voice Again”, which features one of Peter’s finest vocal performances ever, both emotionally and technically. The lyrics touch on the theme of lost love in an unpretentious way. The superb backing comes from Levin’s rattling bass lines, dramatic keyboard textures and mighty guitar riffs from David Rhodes.
The dramatic hit single “In Your Eyes”, whose lyrics are about Peter’s ex-girlfriend, well-known American film actress Rosanna Arquette (also very familiar to all Toto fans), is another outstanding ballad, packed with deep vocal emotion and rhythmic elements of world music, or rather African music. Encouraging backing vocals accompany Peter’s wistful singing in the background all the way through. It’s the perfect song for all of you who recently broke up with your partner, since it expresses the singer’s feelings perfectly after his attempt to rekindle things with the famous actress fell through. Of all the ballads on the album, the serene “Mercy Street”, dedicated to American poet Anne Sexton, is by far the most esoteric, with subtle sonic samples and refined percussion flowing along in the background throughout. Peter once again delivers a moving vocal performance, conjuring up the poet’s memory of her happy childhood, and the song can also be taken as a very lovely allegory for “the good old days”.
Later in the album, Uncle Gabe returns to mischievous, humorous waters with the legendary pop rock hit “Big Time”, which could also be called a cousin of “Sledgehammer”. Its lyrics are a sharp jab at petty bourgeois life and the egotistical, materialistic culture that blossomed in full force in the ’80s, and whose consequences we still feel today. Everything about this classic deserves a perfect ten: Peter’s singing, in which he plays a naive, small-minded bumpkin convinced that he’s “bigger than life”; the bouncy rhythms from the feisty pairing of Levin’s “funk fingers” and Copeland’s drums; and the seductive female vocal harmonies. When it came out, “Big Time” was accompanied by a hugely funny video that could be talked about at great length. In terms of the sheer amount of witty animation it stands shoulder to shoulder with “Sledgehammer”, even though it never reached the same popularity.
A big stylistic contrast comes next with “We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)”, easily the darkest and most experimental piece on the album, with melodramatic sonic samples and dramatic vocal harmonies dominating the background. The title and lyrics refer to the grotesque, much-condemned, experiment led by American social psychologist Stanley Milgram. At the university, Milgram used volunteers to run ethically dubious experiments meant to find out how far people are capable of submitting to morally questionable decisions by authority figures. These experiments also involved the use of electric shocks. The closing “This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)”, on which avant-garde/pop rock singer Laurie Anderson joins Peter on backing vocals, I’d call an interesting and standout ambient-avant-garde piece. It makes for a completely unconventional ending to a mostly pop rock album.
“So” is one of the best pop rock albums in the history of popular music, one that catapulted a progressive rock icon into the ranks of music superstars. With it, Peter scored one of his greatest artistic triumphs, thanks to which his creative output up to then could reach wider audiences, too. What I’d call the biggest strength of “So” is that on it he created his own brand of art rock pop, managing to keep or even boost the respect of everyone who hadn’t forgotten his prog rock past with Genesis and the early days of his solo career. On “So” the legendary artist outdid himself and proved that he could use pop rock as an equally successful playground for realizing advanced artistic visions, just like he did on his earlier experiments, which carved out his status as an immortal progressive rock titan.
Lineup
Peter Gabriel – vocals, synthesizer, piano, Synclavier, Linn
Tony Levin – bass guitar
David Rhodes – guitar
Jerry Marotta – drums
Manu Katché – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Kate Bush – vocals (3)
Stewart Copeland – hi-hat, drums
L. Shankar – violin
Daniel Lanois – guitar, tambourine
Wayne Jackson – trumpet, cornet
Mark Rivera – tenor saxophone, processed saxophone
Reggie Houston -baritone saxophone, distorted saxophone
Don Mikkelson – trombone
P. P. Arnold – backing vocals
Coral Gordon – backing vocals
Dee Lewis – backing vocals
Richard Tee – piano
Simon Clark – synthesizer, organ, bass guitar
Larry Klein – bass guitar
Youssou N’Dour – vocals
Michael Been – backing vocals
Jim Kerr – backing vocals
Ronnie Bright – bass vocals
Renard Poche – piccolo trumpet, muted trumpet
Djalma Correa – surdo, congas, triangle
Jimmy Bralower – Linn
Laurie Anderson – vocals (9)
Bill Laswell – bass guitar (9)
Nile Rodgers – guitar (9)
Production
Peter Gabriel, Chris Hughes and Daniel Lanois
Track List
1. Red Rain
2. Sledgehammer
3. Don’t Give Up
4. That Voice Again
5. In Your Eyes
6. Mercy Street
7. Big Time
8. We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)
9. This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
