Us
	Produced by Peter Gabriel and Daniel Lanois
	Released on September 29, 1992
	UK CHART POSITION #2 . . . US CHART POSITION #2 . . . PLATINUM RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
GEFD 24473 cover

T he atmospheric, understated Us may have come as a disappointment to some following the upbeat So, but anyone who picked up Passion will anticipate the mix-heavy melange of third world sounds and electronic effects present here. Coproduced by Daniel Lanois, Us did feature a few singles that sought to cultivate the audience developed with So: “Kiss That Frog,” “Digging in the Dirt,” and especially “Steam.” And more groundbreaking videos were in the offing for each, giving the impression that little had changed over the years. And yet much had changed; Peter Gabriel and Rosanna Arquette (yes, it’s nice to be a rock star) had split, and Gabriel seems to have plumbed the experience to its depths in a post-mortem examination of their failed attempt to connect. More indicative of Us are the moments when Gabriel exposes his wounds, such as “Love To Be Loved,” “Secret World” and “Blood of Eden” (one of several tracks to reference Adam and Eve as aliases for the parties involved). The album does take time to appreciate, slowly working its way under the skin with subtle melodies and exotic soundscapes. Although Passion and So are the albums most like it, Us does give a nod back to Gabriel’s second album with “Washing of the Water,” a piano-led ballad that recalls “Flotsam and Jetsam” and “Indigo.” Building on his musical alliances with alternative rock’s leading ladies (Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush), Gabriel here enlists the help of Sinead O’Connor on backing vocals, who makes an impression out of the gate with her distinctive voice on “Come Talk To Me.” Us isn’t the happiest record in the Gabriel arsenal, though the artist was increasingly disinterested in making commercial music (and perhaps music altogether). It is a sonically gorgeous effort, however; perhaps a little too subtle for some tastes, but bound to please his fans on at least a few levels.

TRACK LISTING

1. COME TALK TO ME    7:04
2. LOVE TO BE LOVED    5:16
3. BLOOD OF EDEN    6:35
4. STEAM    6:02
5. ONLY US    6:30
6. WASHING OF THE WATER    3:50
7. DIGGING IN THE DIRT    5:16
8. FOURTEEN BLACK PAINTINGS    4:36
9. KISS THAT FROG    5:27
10. SECRET WORLD    7:01
    
    All tracks written by Peter Gabriel

CREDITS

PETER GABRIEL -- vocals, programming, triangle, keyboard bass, keys, percussion, valiha, horn arrangement, harmonica, Mexican flute
RICHARD BLAIR -- additional verse keyboards, additional programming, additional engineering
DAVID BOTTRILL -- programming, hi hat, recording and mix engineer, digital editing
MANU KATCHE -- drums, electronic drums, percussion
DANIEL LANOIS -- guitar (Telecaster, dobro), vocals, shaker, horn arrangement
TONY LEVIN -- bass
DAVID RHODES -- guitar, 12 string guitar
The Adzido Drummers -- additional percussion loop
Malcolm Burn -- horn arrangement, additional synth cello, additional production ideas
Bill Dillon -- guitar (Stratocaster, Telecaster)
Johnny Dollar -- string arrangement
Manny Elias -- Senegalese shakers
Brian Eno -- additional keys, extra brainstorming
Kudsi Erguner -- Ney flute
Richard Evans -- mandolin, additional engineering, mix engineer
Babacar Faye/The Babacar Faye drummers -- Sabar drums, djembe
Tim Green -- tenor saxophone
Peter Hammill -- vocals
Reggie Houston -- baritone saxophone
Gus Isodore -- bridge guitar
Daryl Johnson -- hand drum
John Paul Jones -- surdu, bass, keyboards
Caroline Lavelle -- cello, string arrangement
Richard Macphail -- vocals
Will Malone -- string arrangement
Marilyn McFarlane -- vocals
Levon Minassian -- doudouk
Doudou N'Diaye Rose -- drum loop
Leo Nocentelli -- guitar (Epiphone)
Sinead O'Connor -- vocals
Ayub Ogada -- vocals
William Orbit -- programming
Chris Ormston -- bagpipes
Renard Poche -- trombone
Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble -- vocals
Hossam Ramzy -- tabla, surdu
Shankar -- violin
Assane Thiam -- tama, talking drum
Richard Chappell -- mix
Mark Howard -- horn recording
David Scheinmann -- photographs
Malcom Garrett, Altered Images -- sleeve design

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