The aim of this blog is to properly listen and rate my entire collection of music; a process by which at a rate of 2-3 a week is going to take well over 20 years and seeing as I’m adding to the collection all the time...well it will basically end when I do. Now I accept that there will be a continual emphasis towards recently purchased stuff but I’m going to tackle ‘The Library’ with serious intent and in order to keep it interesting I plan to do that on a random basis. However....for the first entry let’s just start at the very beginning....Peter Gabriel’s ‘So’ album was the first CD I bought. Peter Gabriel playing live at Earls Court in 1987 was my first gig. Allowing for the inevitable nostalgia induced favouritism, I’m happy to say that to this day they remain both a favourite album and one of my best ever gigs. ‘So’ is sadly under-championed I think, but then for such a big selling record I suppose that’s bound to be the case. Let’s get one other thing straight from the outset: success doesn’t always mean artistic decline or compromise. It does in many cases I know but any artist or band who just want to reach as many people as possible by recording a brilliant album full of classic songs won’t get knocked down on ‘The Essex Boy Review’. You won’t find any of that sad indie snobbery round here!
I know that there are elements to the sound here that surrender it to the 80s. That doesn’t really matter though because it’s not a thin, tinny sound; it’s deep, big and bold as much as it’s got that crisp 80s sheen. Then there’s Gabriel’s voice; his greatest asset if the truth be told. I doubt very much he’ll ever gain wider recognition as a soul singer but that’s basically what he is. There’s such resonance in that slightly croaky voice; a real ache in the Otis Redding style of delivery that it’s no surpise to learn it was Redding on tracks like ‘Respect’ that Gabriel was channelling for ‘Sledgehammer’. He pulled it off too; the ground breaking video deflected everyone’s attention away from what a great piece of soul-pop this actually was. A deserved hit.
So too is ‘Don’t Give Up’ with Kate Bush. This song features one of my favourite moments on the album in the bridge where the gospel-syle piano chords come in and Peter sings “got to walk out of here, I can’t take anymore”. It’s one of those rare moments in his back catalogue where Gabriel really pulls his punches in a straightforward manner and just lets the song and voice do their thing. It’s not just the hits though; ‘Red Rain’s’ crashing electric piano chords are as strong and emotive as a non-acoustic keyboard has ever sounded. ‘In Your Eyes’ has a groovy African rhythm and again another great hook while ‘Mercy Street’ is minimal, slow and graceful.
Back in the day me and my mate, the one who came to the Earls Court gig, bought this album again on cassette because the vinyl version didn’t have ‘This Is The Picture’ on it. I remember us both listening to this extra track for the first time and going “well that wasn’t up to much”. I’m not going to knock it now though; in fact I’m glad Gabriel still put out a couple of tracks on his most commercial release that required a bit of ear and head work from the listener. Besides that didn’t stop ‘So’ becoming my first CD purchase in 1989 or even stop me from buying it a ridiculous fourth time a few years ago after it was remastered. That’s the release I’ve listened to today and the source of my only moan comes from that because the running order is altered slightly. ‘In Your Eyes’ doesn’t close the album on any previous issue so I don’t think it should here, even though it does make a bit more sense and is a great upbeat end to the album now. Also, there should have been some bonus material surely? I remember a much better, longer version of ‘In Your Eyes’ on a 12” single back in the day and a really good b-side called ‘Curtains’. Still, that’s a fans gripe really isn’t it? This is one of the all time great albums and if you don’t like this....well you probably won’t like my blog. Top marks PG.
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