Peter Gabriel

So is the fifth studio album (and seventh album overall) and first non-eponymous studio album by British rock musician Peter Gabriel, released in 1986. Many of its songs reflect a more conventional pop-writing style and became radio hits, while others still retain Gabriel’s dark, brooding sense of experimentalism. As Gabriel explained in 2011: “I’d had my fill of instrumental experimenting for a while, and I wanted to write proper pop songs, albeit on my own terms.”

It is Peter Gabriel’s second album produced by Canadian artist Daniel Lanois. The previous year, the two of them had worked together on Birdy. Lanois had been previously known for his ambient collaborations with Brian Eno as well as producing U2 since 1984. As he had with the soundtrack to the film Birdy, Lanois brought many of his own ambient sensibilities to this recording. Many of the tracks also continued to showcase Gabriel’s interest in world music, with Gabriel commenting: “I think this album is nourished by so many varieties of black music, and not just soul and blues: there’s stuff from Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica.”

So is the best-selling album of Gabriel’s career and charted at number 1 in the UK Album Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US. It is certified triple platinum in the UK, and five times platinum in the US. So ranked at number No. 14 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “Top 100 Albums of the Eighties” and at No. 187 on the 500 greatest albums of all time. It is included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Side one

1. “Red Rain” – 5:39
2. “Sledgehammer” – 5:12
3. “Don’t Give Up” (featuring Kate Bush) – 6:33
4. “That Voice Again” (lyrics: Gabriel, Rhodes; music: Gabriel) – 4:53

Side two

5. “In Your Eyes” – 5:27
6. “Mercy Street” – 6:22
7. “Big Time” – 4:28
8. “We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)” – 3:22