Search - Peter Gabriel :: So

So, brought to life

James E. Hartman | Pflugerville, TX USA | 04/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While this is not Peter Gabriel's finest album, it is certainly his most accessible, with hits "Sledgehammer," "Big Time," "In Your Eyes," and "Red Rain." Also features a re-do of Laurie Anderson's "Excellent Birds," retitled "This is the Picture." In keeping with the remastered CD collection, lyrics and photographs are included in a very nice booklet. Also in keeping with the CD reissue, "In Your Eyes" closes out the album, which is Gabriel's preferred order.The difference in audio quality to the standard CD release is not as striking as some SACDs I've heard, but there is still enough difference to make the purchase worthwhile, especially if you haven't purchased the remastered CD version.Please note that this is a stereo-only SACD, and requires a SACD-capable player."

Who's getting ripped off?!?! Buy this disc if you have an SA

Steven Burke | Earth | 11/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Do not listen to Bill Bennett's reviews of Peter Gabriel's re-released SACD albums. The SACD releases are head and shoulders better than the CD releases.



Despite the rather odd change in the running order I am continually impressed by this disc which has been in my collection for some time now.



I remember looking forward to hearing Mercy Street in SACD and it did not disappoint. The quality of this recording is excellent from start to finish. The bass lines in Sledgehammer, That Voice Again and In Your Eyes feel like Tony Levin is right there in your living room.

Cymbals and high end are crisp and have great resolve. There are no issues with cranking this recording, it is clean and clear, an excellent example of stereo SACD.



My only fault with this recording is that they did not make a multi-channel mix of it. The SACD multi-channel mix on "Up" is brilliant. On "Play The Videos" Daniel Lanois and Peter Gabriel did some excellent 5.1 mixes and every video is presented in DTS 96/24, but to put it in persepctive if I'm going to listen to In Your Eyes I'll take the 2 channel stereo version over the DTS 96/24 version because the fidelity is noticeably better."

Gabriel's greatest achievement!

Distant Voyageur | Io | 05/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After so many years and only two albums since then, Peter Gabriel's artistic and commercial pinnacle "So" remains my favorite album of his on so many levels. Many seem to have labeled this album as a sellout album but those people couldn't be more wrong on that. This album is miles away from being a sellout and almost more like someone who has found his place at home. This album to me is the best example of how an artist can actually go pop, if you can call it that, but actually benefit both artistically and commercially. This album has a much earthier and much easier style to digest than his previous two albums especially his third album from 1980. It is also his most accessible album of his entire career although not necessarily his happiest album even though his most joyful and happiest songs are on here. The only really bright and sunny songs on here are "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time" but we've heard them many times so there's no need to go into them. Most of these songs have now made it onto the "Shaking The Tree" and "Hit" collections but with the exceptions of "Red Rain" and "Big Time", they are butchered which doesn't work too well for them and thus the originals are much better. "Red Rain" is the best track on this album. For such a straight-out popular track "Red Rain" completely throws all of it's peers right into the trash can. The song is a powerful, passionate wash of synthesizers, deep melody, intense mood and a very dramatic backdrop bringing to mind images of a massive rainstorm and the sun breaking out when the song ends. To me, this song is commercial pop at it's absolute best. No one has made popular music sound so good. "Don't Give Up" is one of the most encouraging songs that I've ever listened to. Having been going through some very emotionally turbulent times recently, this song has great meaning to me. "That Voice Again" is one of the most unique sounding songs ever done, especially by 1986 standards. I really love the lyrics too plus the really unique chord changes too. I still get some chills when listening to this track. "In Your Eyes" is one of the best love songs Gabriel has ever composed and remains so to this day. I have a lot of fond memories of hearing this track a lot back during my childhood and today it's still one of my favorite songs of his. It's an absolutely amazing song with amazing keyboards and showcases the increasing African influence which has been a part of Gabriel's music for a long time even by this point and towards the ending features Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour. In certain ways, it's nice that this track, being at the ending ends the album on a positive note but it just feels weird being at the end. I liked it much better in the middle but that's just my opinion. "Mercy Street" is arguably one of the sexiest songs that has ever been written. Forget "Sledgehammer" MS is the best sex-song ever written even if it's not explicit at all. The song is a very hauntingly beautiful quiet storm-like track with a very dark but calm atmosphere and really amazing lyrics. The song is a tribute to the late Anne Sexton and the song is a masterpiece. I'll never forget listening to this song once during a walk many years ago.

There are two mysterious tracks that truly are just exquisite. "We Do What We're Told" spooked the daylights out of me when first listening to it. The song is a ghostly track with a dark and damp kind of "Birdy" like atmosphere like as if one were walking on the streets on a damp foggy night by the blue-white streetlights and then seeing spirits drifting overhead. This song evokes such images especially with the distant chorus singing "We Do What We're Told" and the song growing more dramatic and intense. Peter Gabriel's lines when they come in are just haunting and amazing. "This Is The Picture" also as "Excellent Birds" is a very odd and peculiar track with a slightly industrial sound and an eerie feel. In some ways, this song has a lot of the sounds that would've come from the "Birdy" soundtrack and in fact could've fit on that soundtrack too. The remastered edition of this album cuts both ways in my opinion. The sound quality of the original older CD edition was already great to begin with especially for an album recorded in the mid 1980s but this remastered edition makes it sound even better and much better detailed too. For the SACD edition though, you need a CD player that can play SACDs because if you don't then it won't work. If you don't have one though, the regular remastered edition will do just fine. The downside unfortunately to this re-issued edition is that I for one wasn't too thrilled with "In Your Eyes" being moved to the last track position. I feel that I'm in the minority on this but I enjoyed this album ending on a mysterious note with "We Do What We're Told" and "This Is The Picture" both of which are eerie and haunting reminiscent of the darkness of "Birdy". WDWWT I feel really suffers from the track re-shuffling. This song in its new position robs this chilling classic of much of it's power. I enjoyed it in it's original position. While I take back my old comment about not wasting one's time on this remastered edition, I would NOT recommend throwing the old edition out for the two mysterious tracks I mentioned really are the best as the closer songs on this album. At the same time though, I can now appreciate the new track listing even though the original listing remains superior in my opinion. Aside from the blunder done with the re-issuing, "So" is one of the greatest albums that has ever been put out and deserves a place in any true music fans collection. No one has ever toyed with pop music in such a sophisticated style the way Gabriel did on here."