Most of the time, when I write music reviews, I try to remain
impersonal, unbiased, and clinical in how I approach the music, at
least at the beginning. I’m going to utterly fail on this one;
because for anyone who grew up in the rock era and listened to
popular music, there are certain albums that become personal icons.
I can’t be unbiased about Peter Gabriel’s landmark 1986 release,
So, any more than I can be unbiased about Alan Parsons’
Eye In The Sky, October Project’s
October Project, Marillion’s
Misplaced Childhood, or Eric Clapton’s
Rush. They are so tied into portions of my life that they
transcend music and become history for me.
In 1986, I was a senior in high school — somewhat of a
miserable misfit, trying to get by. I don’t know how many times I
listened to
So, but I can tell you it was a lot. I wore out two
cassettes; this was long before I switched to CD. I was stuck in a
house I hated with a stepfather and mother who seemed a million
miles from where I was; in short, I was eighteen. I won’t be so
histrionic as to say that Peter Gabriel saved my life, but
So sure as heck made it easier.
It doesn’t hurt that it’s a great album. Impeccably produced by
Daniel Lanois and Gabriel, this was the album where Gabriel came
full circle, bringing his interest in African soul and pop music
together with his art rock roots. So is alternately brooding,
jubilant, crisp, gentle, rhythmic, mysterious, complex, simple, and
in the end more than all these things.
Everyone who was around back then knows the singles:
“Sledgehammer”, “Big Time”, and “In Your Eyes” — the latter of
which gets my vote for best love song of all time. However, there’s
some gems on here you might not remember. The portentous “Red
Rain”, the wistful and mist-shrouded “Mercy Street”, and the
brilliant duet with Kate Bush, “Don’t Give Up”. There’s not a bad
track on
So, and a whole lot of excellent ones.
Perhaps
So won’t become history for you; we all have our own
internal soundtracks and memories, and we all have our own emotions
when we hear music we love. But for me,
So is one of a very few CDs that is an integral part of who
I am.
