SO

So it is the great commercial success of Peter Gabriel without a doubt, which gave him the platform to expand his horizons and share his proposal to a wider audience, without losing sight of its essence and compositional richness. A large number of musicians from different musical currents and ethnic groups were summoned, incorporating textures and nuances that brought it closer to the concept of Word music but with its unique stamp.

Regarding their best songs, I prefer the initial and forceful Red Rain, where Gabriel is vocally demanding to the extreme, ending the song almost a cappella dramatically, and In your Eyes, whose introduction with a simple and introspective piano makes the song is worth a long time. The live version of In your Eyes lasts twice as long, gaining a lot in dynamism. Her deepest and most sensitive vein is found in two other songs: the reflective and painful Mercy Street, a depressed tribute to the American poet Anne Sexton, as well as in the resilient and popular ballad Don´t Give up with a Kate Bush magnificently caressing the melody and contrasting with Gabriel's harsh voice.

On the other hand, the commercial Sledgehammer boasts a very advanced audiovisual handling for the time, a very funky theme, and probably one of the most popular songs on So, even though it is not one of my favorites.

The rest of the songs are brushstrokes of the new winds that the singer had been traveling through: That Voice Again, Big Time, We Do What We´re Told and This is the Picture show us how Gabriel launched himself into the exploration of new sounds, in some complicated cases to process for those who, as in my case, find it more forceful with his early solo works.

All in all So is a good album and consolidates Peter Gabriel as a star that shines with his own light, already clearly detached from his glorious past with Genesis.