This is an updated draft of my review of Peter Gabriel’s landmark 1986 album, SO, an album so few people mention but always seems to be essential no matter the silence is broken or not. Now why is that so…I’ll tell you. I’m revisiting this album, as well as several others, thanks to a recent issue of Rolling Stone checking off the 500 greatest albums of all time. Respectably, SO got into the list, but it wasn’t in the top 100. However, it did land at #187, fitting seeing as how I’d murder somebody just to get my hands on a copy of this album! I’m just kidding. Congratulations Pete to having acknowledged a true masterpiece. This album still remains one of my all-time favorites, and makes my own personal Top 10 without hesitation.

Before 1986, Peter Gabriel seemed to be just a faceless art rock pioneer who helped to provide Genesis with some of their earlier art rock classics. It was Gabriel who had the best voice from the whole British prog rock era (Bryan Ferry is second), able to shift characters as well as carry notes in a voice often brooding and often giggly. From 1970s “Trespass” to 1975’s “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway,” Gabriel developed incredible front man status thanks to a commandingly awesome voice and the shameless ability to take the stage as a druid, a sunflower, a deformed monster (a “slipperman”), or simply don a red dress and fox mask.

But when he left in 1975, things changed for both camps. But by the time 1986 was around, Phil Collins helped steer Genesis in a more commercially acceptable direction and they already scored their first top 10 American hit (1983's "That's All").Gabriel, on the other hand, released four self-titled albums of excellent music, following a more wordly rhythmic and often darker sound. With a sonic ear for multi-cultural backgrounds, he wrote the classic "Biko" and funded a festival which brought world music to the masses. Gabriel finally made his commercial breakthrough with the American Top 40 hit "Shock The Monkey" in early 1983, an incredibly funky track that also got him a Grammy nomination. For three years, he kept his mysterious guise up, scoring Alan Parker's BIRDY and helping out with Stevie Van Zandt's Artists United Against Apartheid musical rally. The costume drama of yore was properly abandoned, even if Gabriel still had a thing for ornamentation, as evidenced by his 1982-1983 period, wearing white make-up in the stirring “Shock The Monkey” music video and going onstage with his face decorated in glistening blue-and-gray tones.

In 1986, Genesis scored their big American breakthrough with INVISIBLE TOUCH, proving their success was eminent without their once costume-crazed frontman Gabriel. But Gabriel also proved himself as a solo force with SO, a wonderfully-crafted, flawlessly-produced, richly diverse collection of songs that helped established Gabriel as a man who could explore any emotion and breathe magnificent life into it. From vulnerability, to shyness, to passion, to love, to depression, to desire and to control, the songs on this album are packed with unmatched commitment to showing the human side yet still keeps its pop sensibilities fresh and thoughtful. It is Gabriel’s most appealing album to date, where the pop songs are blessed with vivid aural touches and the moodier tracks sound haunting even when they seem alluring.

Produced by U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois and Gabriel, SO also contains a wide array of wonderful musicians and guests. Bassist Tony Levin and guitarist David Rhodes continue their excellent streak in bringing Gabriel's music to vibrant life with stellar performances, Levin‘s bottom end bass sticking out highly in the mix. Jerry Marotta drums on a couple songs, leaving space for Manu Katche (his first outing on a Gabriel LP) to show some really talented, brilliant drum work. Lanois plays guitars on several songs, Larry Klein plays bass on a few tracks, Simon Clark does some synth/bass work, and Richard Tee gives some added piano power on a couple tracks.

On a couple numbers, you get a funky horn section courtesy of Memphis Horn trumpeter Wayne Jackson, trombone-player Don Mikkelsen, and saxophonist Mark Rivera. Guests popping up on the album include ex-Police Stewart Copeland, Kate Bush, Nile Rodgers, Jim Kerr (of Simple Minds), Laurie Anderson, violinist Shankar, and the Senegalese talent of Youssou N'Dour.

Gabriel is in top form, however. The man always says that he likes to build his songs from pictures rather than words, and if this be the case, SO is like a museum in itself: nine artistic triumphs that unleash an imagination and craft natural and awesome, whereas other albums around the time felt more like coloring books. Each of these nine songs possesses its own specific charm, even if they are buried within a bleak wall of sound.

Red Rain became a modern rock hit long after the album was released, but as the album’s opening track, it is an uncanny masterpiece that melds a thundering barrage of piano chords, skittering drums, and crashing guitar strums into a wistful arrangement that is soaring in a dark and brooding manner. It chugs along in this stirring manner all up till the instrumentation is stripped away in the end, and it’s just Gabriel and a piano driving the last several lines. Gabriel’s use of ambience is both lulling and jarring at the same time: even when it sounds graceful, like in the chorus, it constantly gets a kick due to the loud chord that rings behind it. And the lyrics impart a longing to be realized with the apocalyptic edge hinted by the music, a red sea a metaphor for the space between, as Gabriel makes it plainly clear where he stands: “Putting the pressure on much harder now/To return again and again...I come to you, defenses down/With the trust of a child.”

While Gabriel has released several videos for songs off this album, I found the “Red Rain” clip, a gorgeously-photographed black-and-white clip where Gabriel is mostly seen with shadows obscuring his face, one of his most underrated videos to date. But when you get to the next song on the album, and you hear three distant flute loops, images of wriggling sperm buzz through your brain. I mean: Sledgehammer.

Sledgehammer, inspired by the musician’s love with Otis Redding and Stax trax, broke Gabriel in the mainstream A-list with its funky soul backdrop, playfully sexual lyrics, and, of course, that vintage animated video showing Gabriel bombarded by fruit, clay, train tracks and moving animals, only to stop-motion dance around a room with 500 other people at the end. This was a song popular during the recording sessions for the album, as it is said that Peter, Daniel Lanois, and engineer artist Kevin Killen would don flower pots and dance wildly to this number. And the inspiration Gabriel sought also brought undeserved accusations that Gabriel was copping Collins’ sound, which is understandably invalid when you realize how much more goes into Gabriel’s recording than compared to something like “Sussudio.” Gabriel skirts Detroit for Memphis, and in the process came up with this classic track.

The brass section is irresistible, the most infectious strip suite in the history of pop, and the rest of the instrumentation all wraps it up in a funky 60's style soul hook, with particular emphasis on Tony Levin’s whirling bass, Gabriel’s organ fills, and Daniel Lanois’ tambourine. There are equally soulful backing vocals by PP Arnold, Coral Gordon and Dee Lewis. The song is chockfull of sexual metaphors to big dippers, bumper cars, fruitcages and steam trains. Gabriel's voice just rocks out here, bursting swaggering wails and fire-packed pitch in such passionately manic bravado that it feels like an exorcism. No wonder it became a number one hit.

Don’t Give Up was Gabriel’s second duet with Kate Bush, having her already sing on “Games Without Frontiers” and “No Self-Control” from his third album. This is a lulling, haunting morality struggle with Gabriel singing in mourning as he outlines the plight of a beaten man: “In this proud land we grew up strong/We were wanted all along/I was taught to fight, taught to win/I never thought I could fail/No fight left or so it seems/I am a man whose dreams have all deserted/I’ve changed my face, I‘ve changed my name/But no one wants you when you lose.” His depression is undercut by a voice of reason and courage, embodied by Kate Bush. “Don’t give up, ‘cause you have friends/Don’t give up, you’re not beaten yet/Don’t give up, I know you can make it good.” And so it goes: Gabriel leers on the edge of surrender, looking down like it’s the only way out and Bush coaxes him into trying to hold on. All the while, a ticking bass rhythm, smooth synths, and piano flourishes in the bridge bring the song to light. The song is easily one of Gabriel’s most memorable album cuts and was at one point a single, complete with music video where Peter and Kate are gripped in embrace on a hill, the sun behind them and their bodies moving in circular motion.

Another great album track is That Voice Again, paced in a soft yet breakneck manner by Gabriel’s piano, Katche’s tricky drum beats, and Shankar’s violin. It’s upbeat yet very earthly, blending twinkling funk with a lite melodic bite as Gabriel points out the voice of judgment that haunts individuals: “I want to be with you, I wanna be clear/But each time I try, it’s the voice I hear/I hear that voice again.” Gabriel’s sincere desperation and vocal delivery (he holds one hell of a note on the line about how “Only love can make love”) are some of the highlights of this song, which I will also mention was written lyrically with help by guitarist David Rhodes.

The haunting centerpiece of the CD, Mercy Street comes after a hushed synthesizer opening. It’s a percussive beat (Djalma Correa plays surdu drums, triangle and conga) and bears a dreamy feel to it, all wooden boat on the sea majesty. Gabriel’s voice punctures lyrics that draw lines between religion and sexuality, written as tribute to late poet Anne Sexton. A whistle-able melody and Gabriel’s layered wailing at the end lead you to a quick, beautiful conclusion: “Anne with her father is out in the boat/Riding the water, riding the waves/On the sea.”

Big Time is the second slice of comic relief used to help show Gabriel’s sense of humor amid the moody pieces pictured throughout. Gabriel had issued this track as the third single in 1987, after “Sledgehammer” and “In Your Eyes,” and it promptly returned Gabriel to the Top 10 charts, hot on the heels of yet another wildly popular MTV-worthy video clip loaded with boisterous animation and cheerful visual imagery.

As like “Sledgehammer,” this number has a wildly upbeat and carnival-like feel, melding funky bass (I can just picture the great Tony Levin with drumsticks for fingers as he plucks away the riff), surf guitar riffs, and a wild organ that rides through the chorus, the same female harmony trio singing the title boast. These backing vocals as well as the brass section of “Sledgehammer” show up here, but Gabriel’s voice is pitched to a low, droned feel, although he does from time to time rise above. The lyrics assure the big time dreams of a man from a small town to become one of the yuppies: “They think so small, they use small words/BUT NOT ME!/I’m smarter than that, I worked it out/I’ve been stretching my mouth to let those big words come right out/I’ve had enough, I‘m getting out/To the city, the BIG, BIG city/I’ll be a big noise with all the big boys/So much stuff I will own/And I will pray to a big god/As I kneel in the big church.”

But by the end of this song, basically everything in this guy‘s life inflates to extraordinary proportions: “My car‘s getting bigger/My house is getting bigger/My eyes are getting bigger/And my mouth/My belly’s getting bigger/And my bank account/Look at my circumstance/And the bulge in my BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG, BIG.”

When Big Time eventually blasts itself out, then along comes the slowly measured yet brief number We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37). Gabriel’s cold kyboard-driven instrumentality is fluid, and backed by shots of angry guitar and drums. Based upon the infamous experiments involving “teacher and student” shock therapy, it explains how we all are programmed by outside forces. A zombie-like chant “We do what we’re told, told to do” is then stalled by Gabriel’s earnest poetry. “One doubt/One voice/One war/One truth/One dream.” It had originally closed the 1986 LP, but then was augmented by another track for CD/cassette releases, and now is the third-to-last track seeing as how the listing was tweaked a bit (I’ll get to that later). It is a much better closing song than others would give it credit for.

The bonus track that ended original releases was originally a 1984 song Gabriel recorded with Laurie Anderson, “Excellent Birds” from MISTER HEARTBREAK. The song has been recycled and remodeled into This Is The Picture, which loops some sinclavier, an expanded rhythm section (Nile Rodgers and Daniel Lanois on guitar, Bill Laswell on bass, and Manu Katche’s talking drums), and rubbery vocals into an artsy little number that still manages to sound more like a Gabriel original than a simple recycling of a non-LP oddity.

Then along comes the song which was originally the album’s centerpiece and another of the enduring Gabriel tracks on the album (I know I said the same thing about the previous songs, but this has to be recognized). I’m talking about In Your Eyes, the song which punctured the highlight scene from Cameron Crowe’s SAY ANYTHING and marked Gabriel’s first true foray into a romantic ballad. Although a spiritual desire passes for love, it also is highlighted by innocence and longing, which makes it all the more genuine than it would have been had Gabriel simply relied on cheap sentimentality. For evidence, I submit verse two: “Love, I don’t like to see so much pain/So much wasted/And this moment keeps slipping away/ I get so tired/Working so hard for our survival/I look to the time with you/To keep me awake and alive.”

The song also mentions instinct (“All my instincts, they return…Without a noise, without my pride/I reach out from the inside”), which hardly ever seemed to have been mentioned a lot in many love songs in the 1980s, and also was the thing which caught Cameron Crowe’s attention so much that he simply had to make do with this one. In a way, the movie did help bring some attention to this song, attention well deserved (damn anybody who considers this overrated) in making this realized as one of the best love songs ever written in history.

Along the way, the piano melody shines like a lost prom ballad that is actually worth the listen, and the melody in the pre-chorus section rolls merrily. The chorus explains the spiritual love felt: “In your eyes/The light the heat/In your eyes/I am complete/In your eyes/I see the doorway to a thousand churches/In your eyes/The resolution of all the fruitless searches.” Just when it seems to let go, Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour pops up with a wonderful solo scat, his introduction to Western pop audiences, and the chanting kicks in to set the song fading out with glory: “Sa bet chi lamp, chi tangaay/ Sa bet maangi ci biir.” The song seems strange being re-sequenced as the last track, but after so much realism and energy, it lets you down easy with a song you can keep in your heart if you had not already done so.

SO the album as been wonderfully remastered to a sound quality that has never been heard on CD before; “Sledgehammer,” in particular, has some new sound effects which you hear in detail. And as extras in the sleeve, you get in-studio photos, rare live shots, behind-the-scenes photos of his acclaimed music videos from that period, and the official lyrics to the songs. Rare limited edition packages come in gatefold digipacks which take away the hassle of plastic cases. And most recently, SACD technology has brought out the best in this album, providing stunning clarity to the album already hinted at by the stellar remastered basic stereo CD.

In the end, SO is one of the most influential albums of the 1980’s and established Peter Gabriel as a true pop star, who later followed his instincts to discover more cultures and textures, as well as do some charity work for Amnesty International along the way. But this is pop music with substance, a sure sign of a musical genius who never ceases to amaze even with the make-up off. There is a reason why this album makes any 100+ Albums Of All Time” list, and that’s because this album, compared with a lot of the more disposable pop records of the decade, provides an underlying wit and emotional breadth that resonates well today, and it also shows an underrated rock legend at the peak of his prowess. Peter Gabriel may have returned to cult status now, but I recommend you pick up SO to discover just how amazing this album was to actually break Gabriel into household status.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving