[Pop art, pop] (1986) Peter Gabriel - So [FLAC,Tracks] [DarkAngie]

(1986) Peter Gabriel - So

Review:
The gist of Peter Gabriel's first four albums was pretty much to find himself as an artist. Sure, their were some hits along the way ("Solsbury Hill" and "Shock The Monkey"), but that was never the whole picture of Gabriel. "So" is where the Gabriel becomes a complete picture. With it's era encapsulating melodies like "Sledgehammer" to its calmer moments, such as "Don't Give Up", Gabriel proved that "So" was where he brought his A-game. The album leads off with "Red Rain", with its creeping doom lyrics and watery piano line it perfectly shows what Gabriel is capable of doing. The rest of the album follows suit with its laid back production, courtesy of Daniel Lanois, and otherworldly compositions. Gabriel's vocals are also noticeably more mature compared to the high pitched yelps of the first two albums. His voice is more suited for the material, making the album near perfect. While it is somewhat of its time, the hammering synthesizers on "Sledgehammer" comes to mind, the album is one of the least dated releases of the 1980's. Even the artwork seems like something that could fit in a store nowadays. Side two of the album is where things get interesting. Its made up of a near schizophrenic bag of songs. The sweeping romance of "In Your Eyes" is paired next to the subtly intimidating and hushed "Mercy Street", which is also placed next to the hammering wails of "Big Time". Very odd indeed, but also very good. Gabriel is a master of balancing large sums of mood and "So" is no exception. The album closes out with "We Do What We're Told", which is a song dealing with the manipulation of people and how it takes just one to stop it. Its quite a powerful way to end the record, but the structure of the song is somewhat muddled. The first two minutes are a repetitive instrumental loop, that continues until a male choir comes in an chants the title phrase. While it is good, a little bit more going on could have helped. All in all, "So" is one of Gabriel's highest achievements. Its a great balance of mood, melody and lyrics. The songs are some of Gabriel's best and Daniel Lanois' airy production gives the songs a considerable boost. When the album finishes it won't leave you saying "So what?"

Tracklist:
01 Red Rain
02 Sledgehammer
03 Don't Give Up
04 That Voice Again
05 Mercy Street
06 Big Time
07 We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)
08 This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)
09 In Your Eyes


Summary:
Country: UK
Genre: Pop art, pop


Media Report:
Source: CD
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Bit rate: ~ 765-1004 Kbps
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits