a review of Peter Gabriel's **So**, from 1986. So it's an oldie
by now. It's also an album of top-flight quality that still
touches me after all these listens; you should try it, if you
haven't already. By Robert Longman Jr.


Peter Gabriel : So (Geffen Records GHS 24088)


Peter Gabriel is best known for his many years with Phil Collins
as a member of Genesis, and for recording some of those strange
songs people kept hearing on Miami Vice. Since leaving Genesis,
Gabriel has done many solo albums which featured technological
wizardry and a few dazzling moments, but nothing that quite put it
all together. These albums are all the more frustrating because
the album titles are so hard to find on the covers (a situation
Geffen's marketing department corrected for the CD versions
released in 1990). The **So ** album definitely marks Peter
Gabriel as a musical force to be reckoned with.

Gabriel has long since broken the mold of his days with Genesis,
developing a sound very much his own. His keyboard work gives
**So** a full-bodied yet rocking sound with a touch of mystery and
mood. It's more rocking than, say, Jeff Johnson or Mark Isham or
even Simple Minds, yet has a much more polished and musically
complex rock sound than, say, the Call; fans of all of those acts
will probably like **So** because of the feel, the tone, the
atmosphere that Gabriel creates.

'In Your Eyes' is about finding faith (of an unspecified kind) and
answers through love, and the strain of having to be apart from
the one you love to do one's task. Michael Been (of the Call)
and Jim Kerr (of Simple Minds) supply background vocals (or, in
the snobbish manner too common on such records, 'vox'.)

'Big Time' probes the delusion of fame as it acts on a small mind,
turning it into a big head. Not necessarily the yuppie or
preppie (but them too); it might better fit a worker's kid who
somehow found a way to 'make it', and whose small heart speaks big
words.
'My parties have all the big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
... my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door'
Well, heaven for the rich sure is big, but to get through to it
will take passing through the eye of a needle. How much smaller
will the opening be for those of overstretched mouths? (Yea, I
know -- a large-sized gate would *still* be too small.)

'Sledgehammer' is one of those dance-and-lust numbers that exists
to sell the album and get it Vice-type exposure. And it seems to
have worked. Tsk, tsk, Peter; it's so unlike you; it's ..it's...
well, ...... a hit.

Pushed to a breaking point, the dreams are gone, yet those who
love you can still urge hope. Such is the story in 'Don't Give
Up'. Gabriel sings as those beaten down; the ring of defeat
despite one's best efforts fills his voice and saturates the
lyric. Kate Bush sings the plea of those who still care.
Perhaps they themselves are cause for hope; perhaps their love
shines a glimmer of yet another love and hope. It takes place on
the wintry edge of despair. The result is one of the most
haunting and moving songs I can recall being on record.

Such songs make Gabriel's **So** well worth your while.