Subsequent takes of the song were then put onto the B machine in order for the band to hear what they had played with the demo, as well as the song's new and old takes. During rehearsals, the band would listen to the B machine through headphones and record their output onto the "A machine" parts of Gabriel's demo would also be transferred to the A machine at this stage. Gabriel would record a piano demo on a modified "B machine" and play this to the band. All of So 's songs were made in a similar format. To record vocals a Neumann U47 tube microphone and a Decca compressor were used without equalization. The studio's basic equipment consisted of "two analog 24-track machines, a Studer A80, and a Studer A80 shell that had been modified by a local electronics wizard, with its own audio cards and transport controls". As sessions grew, engineer/mixer Kevin Killen, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Jerry Marotta became significant contributors, and were aided by percussionists Manu Katché and Stewart Copeland and violinist L. This also involved the wearing of construction site hard hats as they had a "turning up for work humour". Consequently, there was a relaxed atmosphere surrounding these sessions and the trio would jokingly refer to themselves as the " Three Stooges".
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Lanois recalled they had "a nice starting point in that kind of scenario, it's not a good idea to have a lot of people around because you get nervous that you're wasting other people's time". Gabriel had begun work on some songs and provided Lanois and Rhodes with chord structures, around which they improvised compositions. Rehearsals began in May 1985 and consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes. He eventually asked his Birdy collaborator Daniel Lanois to stay at Ashcombe and work with him further. Preparing for So, Gabriel considered Bill Laswell and Chic's Nile Rodgers as potential producers.
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He had an inexpensive studio in the adjacent barn consisting of two rooms, one where Gabriel would produce his vocals and work on lyrics, and another where the music would be assembled. Since 1978, Gabriel had composed his music at Ashcombe House, including his album Security (1982) and the Birdy soundtrack (1984). Songs for the album were written and prepared in 1985 at Gabriel's home Ashcombe House, an estate to the north-east of Bath So was remastered in 2002, partially re-recorded for Gabriel's 2011 orchestral project New Blood and issued as a box set in 2012. In 2000 it was voted number 82 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. It has appeared in lists of the best albums of the 1980s, and Rolling Stone included the album in their 20 editions of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. So was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1987 but lost to Paul Simon's Graceland. The album received positive reviews from most critics, who praised its songwriting, melodies and fusion of genres, although some retrospective reviews have criticised its overt commercialism and 1980s production sounds. It was followed by four further singles, " Don't Give Up" (a duet with Kate Bush), " Big Time", " In Your Eyes", and " Red Rain".
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The album's lead single, " Sledgehammer", was promoted with an innovative animated music video and achieved particular success, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and subsequently winning a record of nine MTV Video Music Awards. It has been certified fivefold platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Often considered his best and most accessible album, So was an immediate commercial success and transformed Gabriel from a cult artist into a mainstream star, becoming his best-selling solo release. Gabriel toured So on the This Way Up tour (1986–1987), with some songs performed at human rights and charity concerts during this period. It is Gabriel's first non-eponymous album, So representing an "anti-title" that resulted from label pressure to properly market his music. Nevertheless, Gabriel drew on various musical influences, fusing pop, soul, and art rock with elements of traditional world music, particularly African and Brazilian styles. Initial sessions for So consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.Īlthough Gabriel continued to use the pioneering Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, songs from these sessions were less experimental than his previous material. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project. So is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on by Charisma Records.