Peter Gabriel

So

Emergent popular Gabriel

Review Score:

(10/10)
Although in my opinion So isn't the best of Gabriel's albums, it is one of his best. It is also one of the best pop/rock albums of its time. So is as close as Gabriel has come to an album of pop tunes--and that's still only about half of the contents of the album.

Gabriel feels comfortable with conventional instruments and arrangements on So. A bit peculiar for a man who eschewed metal in drum kits on one album, played steel guitar on another, and used African folk songs and percussion in his music well before Paul Simon did. But in So he's not just content but enthusiastic in his embrace of the Big Pop Sound (with a Big Nod to Motown), this time with Daniel Lanois at the producer's helm.

There's no particular reason for me to enumerate the songs on this album--you've heard most or all of them. Collectors should know there are at least a dozen EPs and single CDs of material from So, many of them containing interesting remixes or alternate versions, as well as some material not on So itself. You should also check out the Laurie Anderson version of "Excellent Birds" (on Mister Heartbreak)--personally, I think hers is better.

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