So is generally regarded as a peak in Peter Gabriel's recording career, notable both for its solid set of songs and lush production. For Gabriel, who'd been putting his music in theatrical contexts ever since his days with Genesis, the modern sound of So (coproduced with Daniel Lanois) was a dramatic conceit that effectively played off the organic roots of many of its songs. The album's big hit was "Sledgehammer," the English rocker's somewhat stilted take on the Stax/Volt style of rhythm & blues. Gabriel is much more powerful on his own art-rock songs, such as "Red Rain," which evokes nuclear ruin with its cascading rush of guitars and synthesizers. "Don't Give Up" is perhaps Gabriel's best ballad, with Kate Bush's heavenly second vocal enough to give anybody encouragement. But the song that best exploits So's blend of technology and soul is "In Your Eyes," a beguiling rhythmic tapestry in which Gabriel duets with Youssou N'Dour. --John Milward

2009-06-21 -- 5/5:: And I greet them with the wildest smile
We knew Peter was going to deliver something truly awesome after Security.
1987 was a huge year in so many ways for music. The '80s would not have been the decade they were without this record. The production stellar. The musicians were the finest around. The sounds were high tech and world beat. They all came together. I will never forget this record and the tour that followed. peter delivered a blistering Red Rain at Amensty.

2009-02-26 -- 5/5:: Peter Gabriel's biggest rock solo album is still one of the best albums in rock history 20 plus years on
Former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel released his fifth studio solo rock album entitled So in May of 1986.
The year 1986 was the year of Genesis past and present. Whilst Peter released So, his former Genesis bandmate guitarist Steve Hackett released his hit collaboration with Yes guitarist Steve Howe called GTR's self-titled album. Also, Hackett and Gabriel's ex-colleages the rest of Genesis (singer/drummer Phil Collins, keyboard player Tony Banks and bass player/guitarist Mike Rutherford) released the hugely successful Invisible Touch (see review).
A month before Invisible Touch, Gabriel released So which was a year in the making but was well worth the time it took to create this now classic to rock history. It was four years since his last solo album (1982's fourth self-titled album which was released with the title Security here in the US at the request of his US label Geffen).
This time, Gabriel and his supreme team of session players, including the reliable Tony Levin on bass and Chapman Stick plus David Rhodes on guitar are joined Police drummer Stewart Copeland and drummers Manu Katche and Rick Marotta.
The thunderous "Red Rain" is a stellar opener to this album and is possibly one of his best solo tracks of the 1980s. Next is the smash hit "Sledgehammer" (with Gabriel going a bit funky on the R&B thing) and was rightfully a #1 hit. In a strange twist of fate, it KO-ed his ex-bandmembers' "Invisible Touch" single out of #1 in the US. Also this track's video was groundbreaking with its animation effects. Next is the excellent duet with British singer/songwriter Kate Bush called "Don't Give Up" which is a stellar song and one of the best duets I ever heard. We end the first half with the atmospheric sounding "That Voice Again" which was a rock radio hit in the US yet didn't get released to pop radio.
"Mercy Street" starts the second half off (it was "In Your Eyes" but Gabriel changed the CD tracklisting for the remaster) and is a nice piece. We follow with another big hit called "Big Time" which featured Stewart Copeland on drums and was also known for its classic video (similar to "Sledgehammer" with his effects and Claymation). The original vinyl album's closer "We Do What Were Told" is reminiscent of Gabriel's darker late 1970s material. It's brief, lyrically simple, but very, very haunting. The original CD and cassette closer "This Is The Picture" is a terrific, light-groove collaboration with avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson which combined singing with spoken word, and the funky guitar of Nile Rodgers. The original album's second half opener and now album closer "In Your Eyes" is the album's most well known hit. This track was a #1 on US rock radio and is a nice love song and featured The Call's Michael Been and Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr on backing vocals plus African singer Y'oussor N'Dour helping out at the end.
So became Peter Gabriel's biggest selling solo album reaching #2 on the Billboard album charts and has sold FIVE million copies to date in the US alone. The album was nominated for the Grammy for Album Of The Year, but it lost to Paul Simon's arguable masterpiece Graceland. However, Gabriel did win the MTV Video Music Award Video of the Year for "Sledgehammer" which ironically beat his old Genesis mates' "Land of Confusion" video. Aside sales, So proved Peter Gabriel was a force to be recoked with.
RECOMMENDED!

2008-08-31 -- 5/5:: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So!
So, Peter Gabriel's 1986 album, his fifth official studio record, is probably my favourite Peter Gabriel album. There's a great blend of textures, feelings and moods, and I feel it's the most consistent Gabriel solo album I've heard.

There are a lot of talented guest musicians on this album. There's Stuart Copeland's distinctive hi-hats in "Red Rain", Tony Levin's often quirky bass on tracks like "Sledgehammer", a gentle Kate Bush in the reassuring "Don't Give Up", a spirited Laurie Anderson on "This is the Picture" (I must get into her stuff one day). There's even a backing vocal by world musician Youssou N'dour on the vividly emotional "In Your Eyes".

The textures of the tracks, though produced in a similar way, evoke different things. "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time", with their slick poppy production, for me evoke the skyscrapers of the big city, while tracks like the soothing "Mercy Street" conjure up an earthier quality, mainly thanks to Peter Gabriel's vocals. His singing is top notch here, big and bold and yet vulnerable when it needs to be.

The lyrical subject matter focuses a great deal on relationships, particularly in times of trouble, in a variety of ways. There are other subjects covered too. There is the story of the man who wants everything bigger and better in "Big Time" and the tribute to troubled poet Anne Sexton in "Mercy Street", plus the image rich "Red Rain" and "This is the Picture".

As with all the 2002 remasters, the booklet comes with a booklet filled with photos, this time of the So Tour, behind-the scenes of the Sledgehammer video and of the recording of the album. There's also, as always, full lyrics and a list of who plays what (though I think some people are listed as doing things on the wrong tracks, like it says that Laurie Anderson does a guest vocal on track 9, which is "In Your Eyes", rather than on "This is the Picture").

It's probably Peter Gabriel's most accessible album, so I'd recommend it to anyone who is curious about his solo career, though all of his material is worth checking out to a greater and lesser extent.

2008-08-31 -- 3/5:: favourite positions
anyone know Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush were in a sexual relationship between 1980 and, say 1984??
Anyone seen their 'Favorite Positions' VHS?? eh?

2008-03-08 -- 5/5:: Pete Gabriel's best
I know it's very 1980's but still, this CD has long lasting depth. I noticed the reviews on the first page are all by guys. I can't understand it since I believe "In your eyes" to be one of the most heartfelt love songs. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic. But if a girl sang this song to me, my knees would no doubt buckle.

I was lucky enough to see Peter Gabriel live in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park at a WOMAD concert in around 1998. He energized the whole park. He brought out surprise guest Sinead O'Connor and they started immediately into a song. She got some boos because of her recent protest of the pope on SNL. He stopped the song and scolded someone near the stage saying, Don't do that here man! That's not cool." The boos stopped and then he counted "on four", and they got right back into it where they left off!

I think this CD will go down as one of his best. It's hard to top.