MoeFOH's Album of the Week... Week #6

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Album of the Week 🎶

Same as the movie thread, each week we're going to spotlight an album... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite tracks, clips, lyrics, experiences if you saw live, etc... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's an album you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #6: So

Peter Gabriel's landmark album So was released in 1986. The album turned Gabriel from a successful cult artist into a mainstream name. Songs such as Sledgehammer, In Your Eyes, Big Time, Don't Give Up, and Red Rain combined with other tracks to make the album a truly complete and accessible piece. For me, I absolutely love this album! It's a long standing favourite of any playlist creation I do, and I can also happily immerse myself into a start-to-finish listen. Another memorable, often parodied, footnote is the John Cusack/Say Anything ghetto blaster moment where the song In Your Eyes was used. Classic pop cinema moment for us 80s' tragics. 

This album was suggested by @riderpride - thanks! 

Who's a fan? How highly do you rate this album?

Thoughts, memories, experiences, favourite tracks...? 

Post em up!

Score it out of 10!

[MoeFOH]

 

[riderpride]

[Cletus]

Great album, 7/10 because I'm not really into 80s pop.   But this version of 'In Your Eyes' is phenomenal (hopefully it's not blocked in your country):

 

[bassistheplace]

8/10 i really respect the creativity of Gabriel, and this album is such a classic and so easy to enjoy. plus tony levin taped metal rods to his fingers to get the bass tones, it's amazing

1

[Ford2112]

6 hours ago, bassistheplace said:

8/10 i really respect the creativity of Gabriel, and this album is such a classic and so easy to enjoy. plus tony levin taped metal rods to his fingers to get the bass tones, it's amazing

1

Tony Levin is an absolute beast!

[JohnS]

The songs were memorable, the production was simply mid-80s bombastic but there's one thing we all remember about this album...the incredible stop-motion music videos!

[Chibearsv]

It's an album with a couple memorable songs, but I think that's mostly because they were overplayed.  I like Sledgehammer since it's got a very unique sound plus the crazy video.  The rest of the album, ho hum at best for me.

[Chas.Alpha]

I always thought the title “So” was in response to Phil Collins going solo and having rather amazing commercial success. Phil is one of my favorite rock drummers, but Genesis wasn’t nearly as great with out Peter Gabriel. Phil turned them into a clever pop band, whereas Gabriel was a little more “carry them up to the palace of old, hang ‘em high, let the blood flow NOW!” I think after PG tasted commercial success with Games Without Frontiers, he figured he could out-do what Phil was doing, So...

It’s a good record, but Foxtrot, The Lamb Lies Down and Nursery Crimes were much more of my kind of Gabriel.

7.5

[JC67]

Some great songs on this album.. Sledgehammer doesn't date... loved the Kate Bush duet as well.

[Ford2112]

I am a fan,but I have to agree . Probably not his most solid album. The 1980 album is my favorite,with Intruder and Games Without Frontiers. But Sledge Hammer as a video is great!

[riderpride]

Sorry for the late response @MoeFOH

This album is a perfect 10 for me and reaches me on a spiritual level. It reminds me of childhood road trips and I continue to appreciate it more as time goes by and has given me two of my favorite songs:

Sledgehammer is absolutely hilarious – the innuendos thinly veiled. The music video was brilliant receiving several awards, though my favorite version of the song was from a tour stop in Milan in 2003 where his daughter was the primary backup vocalist. I crank up the volume, close my eyes, and can feel the relationship he has with the crowd.

 

In Your Eyes – the ultimate test to determine if you’re a sociopath. I’m not sure how one cannot emote and be overcome by the power of this one which was written as a love song to his wife. My favorite version is a concert recording from ~87 in Athens with Youssou N’Dour. I believe a now coked-out Gabriel came out to perform it in his first encore.

Big Time and Red Rain are two other solid tunes and need to be mentioned as well.

 

Cheers!

[BlueRidgeFly]

Cool album, 8/10. I remember being blown away by the Sledgehammer video way back when. Just watched it now for the first time in years, not the same impact but still pretty cool. Hard not to bounce around in the chair watching it again. Big Time was another song I found myself walking around singing at odd moments after it came out. Good pop music.