The BIG TIME Peter Gabriel "So" Poll

"Sledgehammer" came out a month before the album. I only knew one other hard core fan, and we were both pretty horrified. his smile in the video was just so ludicrous and we wanted to read it as a pisstake so badly (a few months later the video for "Big Time", same smile). the cover of the album also uncharacteristically safe. so the month before the album came out was a little rough, and it was a relief to find he'd pulled it off -- not very weird, but still epic, and still kind of haunted. and the b-sides were reassuring.

anyone watching MTV 1982-1986 on a weekend after midnight, or watching USA's "Night Flights" (i.e. most US suburban teenagers) knew the "Shock The Monkey" video & he was already playing small stadiums. his next album was guaranteed to have a huge amount of attention. it was just a shock to see him come out smiling for it.

No sense of betrayal whatsoever. Partially because dude had so earned it, partially because I'd somehow already managed to turn half my class on circa Plays Live (note: my school was very small), but mostly because the album was really as weird and awesome as any other, barring two monster singles that didn't really sound like anything else (yet) and did sound a lot like Peter Gabriel.

Mostly I just feel betrayed that he's only put out one album a decade since then!

(Though betrayed would maybe be the wrong word for what happens when artists on the edge of pop blow up. I remember kind of letting go of U2 circa The Joshua Tree, and REM circa Out of Time, but I didn't feel as though they'd done my corny indie ass wrong or anything.

I'm playing the album now, and I'm trying to hear Daniel Lanois-esque tics, and can hear little to none. Did Gabriel tame him?

As far as the B-sides go, "Don't Break This Rhythm" almost deserves inclusion on the album.

I would vote the hell out of "In Your Eyes" if the extended version with the extra verse ("Accepting all I've done and said...") and the long, Youssou N'dourrific fade out were on the album.

(That said, I voted for...um..."In Your Eyes." But I would have clicked that little circle harder for the other version.)

In a different mood, it coulda been "Red Rain," "Sledgehammer" or "Mercy Street." I'll shut up now before I badmouth "That Voice Again" or "Don't Give Up."

the extended version with the extra verse ("Accepting all I've done and said...")

The extended version is indeed ultimate win. I still remember the whole damn thing!

& the 10 minute live version that _starts_ with the extra verse, only released on a radio compilation, though the video played on MTV for a while around '92

http://991.com/Buy/ProductInformation.aspx?StockNumber=7155

More like Peter Gabriel's music is better ;)
-- Geir Hongro, Thursday, 14 August 2008 23:23 (Yesterday)

A small victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFQdoLRtENo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgY3jsphHM4&feature=related

http://thegabrielroom.free.fr/memoFilmPov.htm

I'm gonna go for "That Voice Again", though my secret fave is actually Migram's 37" tbh.

big time.

i did have a similar experience as Mark with this, I was in 8th grade at the time but over the next few years this record completely introduced me to Sexton, Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson (who I guess I'd actually already seen on Alive from Off Center on PBS and her bizarre SNL spot). I'd already had "IV" when this came out and around the same time found the earlier Genesis albums but this was a gateway album for me that led me a multitude of music and culture that is still hugely influential to me.

A small victory.

No small victory indeed. Not that I am a huge fan of U2 or solo Sting. But The Police released some fantastic albums back in the day (particularly towards the end of their existence) and U2 have had their moments too. Yes, even Sting did, before he decided to go AOR.

I dunno about Gabriel's dancing in that clip.

This album, especially paired with "The Joshua Tree," marked such a paradigm shift when it came to production. Both albums sounded/sound pretty radical, but they were pop hits, so you have to really concentrate to hear what makes them weird. But "So" is just so strange, pop-glossy but not, novel arrangements, a mix of programmed percussion and real drums (often as many as three drummers on a track, playing different stuff). Ample, excellent use of Tony Levin, even sharper than on "III" (the end of "Don't Give Up" introduces the "Nappy Bass," with his daughter's diapers dampening the strings). Plus, it's often absolutely beautiful.

The only thing that irks me is that the remaster sticks "In Your Eyes" at the end rather than in the middle, where I was used to it. Artistic intent and all that, but I thought the disc ending on "This is the Picture" was just the coolest thing.

The instrumental introductions to "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Street" = best ever. Note how subtly Lanois-Gabriel employ the triangle in "Mercy Street," and the "Looking for mercy!" interjections over the close.

exactly why is Peter Gabriel's social conscience so much more credible than Bono's or Sting's to most ILM'ers?

Peter Gabriel never claimed to be Jesus Christ.

Also, Peter Gabriel generally doesn't speechify or release press releases touting his do-goodery. While those other two use their high profile to get attention, gaining personally in the process, Gabriel seems to prefer working behind the scenes on various initiatives and whatnot. Plus, the guy has a thing for founding intellectual think tanks to help achieve his altruistic goals, which puts him in league with other relatively private folks such as Brian Eno rather than the usual camera hogs.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/75/85/91af810ae7a013a9d742b110.L.jpg

Oh, that reminds me, I got a remix 12" of Sledgehammer, never got round to playing it.

Was it worth the effort?

It's ok.

Wow, this thread is too much. I'm gonna go on a whole reinvestigation of this record now. I don't know if I ever heard the b-sides or not, and damn if I didn't forget all about that extended version of In Your Eyes. I remember the live video that had Youssou N'Dour singing at the end, though. I actually saw N'Dour once live and he was fabulous, though it wasn't my usual type of music.

And yeah, Passion soundtrack - utterly essential at the time, but I really wore that one out.

"This is the picture" is the only one here I'd be inclined to hear again.

I really lurve Passion, maybe tied for his best album: something about the vulgarity of the zealously mixed drum sound atop the "ethnic" melodies.

i was really into gabriel up until this record. sledgehammer was fun until it was played to death, but overall this is where i got off the bus. but i don't begrudge him going for the platinum.

This is totally weird. I've never even heard this extended version of In Your Eyes before, ever. WTF? "Curtains" is also extremely good for a short, sweet, placid b-side. "Don't Break This Rhythm" is a close second with its tension and release.

I'm also going to listen to Genesis' "Selling England By The Pound" in a minute here because this guy I met recently from Japan who's older than me recommended it. I used to have the "Trespass" album, but didn't like it much...had one other old Genesis album I think but I can't remember what it was.

For the past couple of years I have not been able to get away from at least some form of Peter Gabriel. He haunts me at least every couple of months if not weeks. And I still say the Birdy soundtrack is better than the Passion one, but never mind.

Anyone have an opinion on the "Walk Through The Fire" single, which I believe immediately preceded "So"? I remember buying the single, and hearing it again now, I love the synth sound (yes I am a New Order fan, sorry). I crave modernized remixes of that, I think.

Anyone have an opinion on the "Walk Through The Fire" single, which I believe immediately preceded "So"?

Sometime in the late 80s, I remember buying the "Against All Odds" soundtrack because of the title track (the only way to get hold of it back then), and "Walk Through The Fire" was the other song on that soundtrack that I really liked.

Yeah, to be honest I'd forgotten "Walk..." entirely until reading the title of it again last night. I recall buying the single of the title track to Against All Odds as well, though...sorry it wasn't available to you in such a form, but hey you got a good Gabriel song out of it! ;)

Also this post of yours upthread was WAY OTM and I salute you for saying it:

No small victory indeed. Not that I am a huge fan of U2 or solo Sting. But The Police released some fantastic albums back in the day (particularly towards the end of their existence) and U2 have had their moments too. Yes, even Sting did, before he decided to go AOR.

I get tired of people who refuse to recognize that yes, Bono and Sting did do some quality things in their careers no matter how much you hate them as people or think they're arrogant, egotistical, whatever. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but people do this all the time with those guys.

Nobody said that!

Not on this thread, no, I didn't mean that. You seem to be irritated with me, Alfred. I'm not understanding why.

Not one bit, friend.

I'm very glad to hear that, friend.

"we do what we're told" sounds like boards of canada

so i will vote for that

Here's a weird thing. Has anyone ever noticed that, when the polarity of your speakers is not on sync (one of them goes + to -), the drums on "We Do What We're Told" sound uncannily like they are coming from far to the left of left speaker? I used to delight in demonstrating this to people back in the day.

what rogermexico up thread said.

though i also really enjoy hearing Don't Give Up" on the radio, every once in a while.

HI DERE

Excellent, excellent version from Amnesty International.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:23 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Link

thx for that link - made me wonder whatever happened to Manu Katché, the drummer. Turns out he's been active ever since, but not on albums I've been interested in...

Manu Katche plays on just about every album loved by hi-fi-enthusiasts all over the world.

I remember this album as one of the ones in constant rotations on roadtrips, as both my parents were also big solo Peter Gabriel fans (my dad was really into Genesis prior to PG's departure, but mom would never go there). I remember Excellent Birds as one of the weirdest, most fitting things to hear from a back seat, and voted for it happily even though I think my adult mind likes a lot of the other songs more.

It's been fun kind of rediscovering this stuff over the last couple years, because I found a whole bunch of tapes that we used to travel with, including the Kate Bush stuff that I hated as a kid (it was too slow and delicate), and the Laurie Anderson home-made best of that had Excellent Birds on it.

If anyone has a copy of "Walk Through The Fire," I'll appreciate it!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/17199966da2cca81/

Here you go.

Thanks, hoss.

Heard "Big Time" in IKEA today.

Tempting me to buy a snow white pillow for my big fat head.

the drumming on "Sledgehammer" is fucking unbelievable

i wish i could just listen to that as a solo drum track for an hour.

I love how "Big Time" itself should sound terribly dated (the synth bass, drum thwacks, organ breaks) but is really this hybrid of styles and noises which still -- somehow! -- satirizes its subject while reveling in its own opulence.

sOToM

Peter always made those big goofy Fairlights and Prophets sound so much larger than life (ha). All his shit should sound dated, but he pushed that shit so far forward in the mix that that they take a life of their own. It becomes like Tangerine Dream for yuppos or something.

Let's not forget about Jerry Marotta playing Levin's bass with his DRUMSTICKS on "Big Time" :D

Now that I'm in my mid forties "don't give up" makes me cry almost every time I listen to it

The affective shift when he goes "got to waaaalk out of here" is just...

However, I might have voted mercy st for its soundscape

As a kid I used to mishear "Big Time" as "Pig Time" when it played on the radio - still do, actually

Lately I have been mishearing

And I will pray to a big gunt
As I kneel in the big church

Throw this one on, dog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj1JZhk2K34

I've used Sledgehammer in a few DJ sets never had a bad reaction it's just great also it starts off with kind of a good drop

Hi, Kevin!

https://bozelkablog.blogspot.com/2024/02/peter-gabriel-is-okay-and-thats-bad.html

Onion headline: "Why Aren't These Peter Gabriel Albums Any Good? Asks Area Man That Doesn't Like Peter Gabriel"

Was gonna suggest this go into the "... and here's why" thread