release date: May 19, 1986
format: cd (1988 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Red Rain" - 2. "Sledgehammer" (4 / 5) - 3. "Don't Give Up" (feat. Kate Bush) (4 / 5) - 5. "In Your Eyes" - 9. "This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" (feat. Laurie Anderson)
5th studio album by Peter Gabriel following nearly four years after Gabriel's most recent studio album Peter Gabriel (1982) is his first not to be a self-titled release. It was originally released on Charisma Records, which had been absorbed by Virgin in '83. It's his second release with Canadian producer Daniel Lanois, who also co-produced Gabriel's soundtrack for the Alan Parker 1985-movie Birdy, and two years earlier, Gabriel also released the live-album Plays Live (1983). On So, Gabriel has gathered some of his usual backing band musicians including guitarist David Rhodes, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Jerry Marotta, but what's more striking is a rather long list of studio musicians as well as featuring artists, which include Manu Katché, Michael Been (The Call), Kate Bush, Jim Kerr (Simple Minds), Laurie Anderson, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Nile Rodgers, Bill Laswell, Richard Tee, P.P. Arnold, Ronnie Bright, Youssou N'Dour... and several others. Artists and musicians from various eras, from all kinds of styles. and from every corner of the world. The song "This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" co-written by Laurie Anderson was orginally included on her '84-album Mister Heartbreak. The album here is without keyboardist Larry Fast, who participated on Gabriel's first four solo albums, and Gabriel himself is then credited for playing keyboards, synths and doing electronic programming - something he initiated doing with the Birdy-soundtrack.
The album continues the stylistic approach he initiated with his '82-album and particular his inclusion of African and Latin American rhythm sections, but where the former album was more experimental and without strong melody structure, So is an even stronger conglomerate of styles but with focus on harmony and melody song structure, which also makes it his so far boldest mainstream pop / rock album.
Alledgedly, the title is Gabriel's small protest to label distributors and directors' idea that albums must have a title, so he came up with the small sarcastic answer: "[So] here it is!". The album is Gabriel's breakthrough, which took him all the way from cult-figure status to stadium arenas, and the album soon topped the charts all over the world with number #1 positions in the UK, Canada, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, a secondplace on the US Billboard 200, and selling multi-platinum in several countries. Music critics also saw it as a groundbreaking album, and in retrospect it's generally seen as his best effort. No less than five singles were chosen for single releases: "Sledgehammer" preceeded the album release and its success - aided by a state-of-the-art music-video (winning 9 awards at the '87 MTV Video Music Award, and winning "British Video of the Year" at the Brit Awards) - made way for "In Your Eyes", "Don't Give Up", "Big Time" and "Red Rain", and all singles made top-10 entries on single charts world-wide.
I recall the "Sledgehammer"-music video on MTV, and although, I wasn't a huge fan, I understood its general appeal. From my perspective, So was mainstream music made for people, who listened to Tina Turner, Springsteen's Born in the USA, Diana Ross, Madonna, Sting, Jean-Michel Jarre, Phil Collins and the like. Basically, music you couldn't avoid, and to me, Gabriel was talented but not an artist I adored. I ended up liking his music more after coming accross The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis at some point around '93/94 and soon after I purchased his Secret World Live album (1994). Yes, So is fine - I do, however, understand why Paul Simon's Graceland won Album of the Year in '86 'cause I like that so much more, but Gabriel's album is nevertheless something you simply need to know of. I don't consider it my favourite Peter Gabriel album, but it's still highly recommended. My favourite track is "Don't Give Up" where Kate Bush simply gives that extra stellar quality to a classic song.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Mojo, Q, Uncut 4 / 5, Pitchfork 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]
