For his fifth solo record, Peter Gabriel wanted fervently to switch gears and record a “proper” pop album. He had already made a big name for himself as an intensely experimental artist – and he wanted to try something different. Thus, So was born.
Produced by Daniel Lanois and featuring an impressive largesse of guest musicians, So is like a magical time capsule, and the overall mood is one of jubilance.
“Don’t Give Up”, accompanied with Kate Bush’s ethereal vocals, is a stunningly gorgeous and tender piece – life-affirming, even.
The smash hit “Sledgehammer” finds Gabriel deep in Motown territory and having a smashing good time, full of vim and vigour and clever wordplay,
The inimitable Laurie Anderson comes aboard on the beguiling “This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)”. With enigmatic synths and Nile Rogers providing a minimalist wash of guitar over the two iconoclasts’ spoken-word call and response, this track is most reflective of Gabriel’s experimentalist leanings.
“Big Time” is a joyfully satirical skewering of avarice and excess. Surf guitars, heavy bass lines, and The Police’s Stewart Copeland on drums? Yes, please. “I’ll be a big noise with all the big boys/So much stuff I will own,” yelps Gabriel, in a rollicking narrative from “that guy” we as a society find so utterly obnoxious.
No track on So has stuck in the public imagination more than “In Your Eyes”. “All my instincts, they return,” croons Gabriel over spindly guitars, talking drums, and African rhythms. Words can hardly do this song justice – it’s really become a piece of humanity’s fabric. And it’s been said that this song is absolutely perfect for boom-box serenading.
This is what happens when a noted genius in the musical world decides to deliver “proper” pop. Spellbinding, to say the least.
