Peter Gabriel

Us

Gabriel's Most Personal Album

Review Score:

(10/10)
Even though Peter Gabriel's work has always appeared to be intimate and personal, he really took it a step further on _Us_, probably his most underrated album as well as one of his best. As the liner notes explain, the songs on _Us_ were inspired by and about the relationships that Peter Gabriel had with women (specifically about the break-up of his marriage a few years earlier, and his relationships with actress Rosanna Arquette). Therefore, _Us_ is a deeply emotional album that shows the artist coming to terms with not only the relationships he had with women, but also coming to terms with himself.

The album starts off with the restrained bombast of "Come Talk To Me", which showcases some of Gabriel's most vivid lyrics of his career: "In the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast/With reptile tongue, the lightning lashes towers built to last." From there, perhaps the finest song on the album, "Love to be Loved" displays one of the most honest songs ever about having the need to be with someone: "And in this moment, I need to be needed/With this darkness all around me, I like to be liked/In this emptiness and fear, I want to be wanted/Cause I love to be loved." Altho the instrumentation on the album is very unique - ranging from ambient keyboard textures to more straight-forward "Sledgehammer"-style rock ("Steam") - the best moments on the album occur when Gabriel's voice is pushed to the forefront with very little music behind it. There are moments like these in each of the first three songs - and they are truly spine-tingling and represent the true intimacy of this album. Elsewhere, "Steam" and "Kiss That Frog" are the only 'up' songs on the album, "Digging in the Dirt" is perfectly aggressive and beautiful, and the closing song "Secret World" should appease fans that miss the "prog" days of Gabriel's career.

_Us_ was considered the commercial follow-up to the hugely successful _So_ and therefore it often seemed to be slagged for not living up to expectations, as well as failing at duplicating the success of "Sledgehammer" with "Steam" (the heavily promoted single at the time). However, it's a different beast than _So_ and should be judged on its own terms. It's an album that might not hit you at first, but definitely sinks in with repeated listenings - and once it does, it will be with you forever. Highly recommended.

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