Us (Peter Gabriel album)

Us is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel, released on 28 September 1992 by Real World Records. Following the release of his soundtrack album Passion in 1989, Gabriel started work on new material for a new album, his first since So, which became his biggest selling release. Gabriel focused on personal themes on Us, including his divorce in the late 1980s, his subsequent relationship with actress Rosanna Arquette, and the growing distance between him and his first daughter.^[9]

Us was promoted with an early form of interactive multimedia software for Macintosh computers entitled Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World, which featured several music videos from the album. The album was a worldwide chart success, reaching No. 2 in the UK and the US and the top-ten in twelve other countries. Four singles were released: "Digging in the Dirt", "Steam", "Blood of Eden", and "Kiss That Frog", with "Steam" reaching No. 10 in the UK. Gabriel supported the album with his Secret World Tour in 1993 and 1994 which was documented on the Secret World Live album and same-titled concert film, both released in 1994. Us was remastered with the rest of his back catalogue in 2002.

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Background

In October 1989, Gabriel first worked on prototypes of songs which would end up on the Us album, but he was also preparing new versions of songs for the 1990 compilation album Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats, and he was supervising the editing of 1987 concert footage shot in Greece, which was released in 1990 as the live video album POV. Finally, through 1991 and into June 1992 he focused on composing and recording the Us album, mainly at his own Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England, with specialised recording sessions held at Kingsway Studios in New Orleans, and Studio 2000 in Dakar.^[9]

Gabriel had met Sinéad O'Connor in October 1990 at the Amnesty International human rights benefit concert held in Santiago, Chile.^[10] Gabriel asked O'Connor to sing on his album, and she came to Real World Studios to perform her vocal parts on "Blood of Eden" and "Come Talk to Me", the latter written by Gabriel to his younger daughter, Melanie – a teenager.^[11] Daniel Lanois co-produced the album with Gabriel, with support from David Bottrill in programming and engineering. Lanois and Bottrill were given the task of organising and mixing tracks from approximately 1,000 Digital Audio Tapes (DAT) containing various studio performances. The final album ended up being almost 58 minutes long, substantially longer than all his earlier releases which adhered to the 46-minute limit of the analog 12-inch vinyl LP.^[12]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[13]
Chicago Sun-Times	^[14]
Chicago Tribune	^[15]
Entertainment Weekly	C+^[16]
Los Angeles Times	^[3]
NME	5/10^[17]
Q	^[18]
Record Collector	^[19]
Rolling Stone	^[20]
The Village Voice	B−^[21]

Us received generally positive reviews from critics. Writing for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot stated the album's "opaque melodies and exotic rhythms reward the patient listener, but not without a struggle."^[15] The Los Angeles Times awarded the album three-and-a-half stars out of four and praised Gabriel's ability to integrate elements of world music into an art rock style.^[3] In a combined review of So, Us, and Up, Record Collector gave the album four stars out of five and called it an "underrated, rewarding listen".^[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Peter Gabriel

Us track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Come Talk to Me" (with Sinéad O'Connor)	7:06
2.	"Love to Be Loved"	5:18
3.	"Blood of Eden" (with Sinéad O'Connor)	6:38
4.	"Steam"	6:03
5.	"Only Us"	6:30
6.	"Washing of the Water"	3:52
7.	"Digging in the Dirt"	5:18
8.	"Fourteen Black Paintings"	4:38
9.	"Kiss That Frog"	5:20
10.	"Secret World"	7:03

Personnel

Musicians

Peter Gabriel – vocals (all tracks), keyboards (all tracks), triangle (track 1), programming (tracks 1, 2, 7–10), synth bass (tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 10), percussion (tracks 2, 4, 9), valiha (track 2), horn arrangement (track 4), harmonica (track 9), Mexican flute (track 10)
Tony Levin – bass guitar (tracks 1–7 and 10)
David Rhodes – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–10), twelve-string guitar (track 3), solo guitar (track 4)
Manu Katché – drums (tracks 1, 6, 7), electric drums (tracks 2, 4, 5, 10), percussion (track 10)
The Babacar Faye Drummers – sabar drums (tracks 1 and 4)
Doudou N'Diaye Rose – programming (tracks 1 and 10)
David Bottrill – programming (tracks 1–4, 7, 10), additional programming (tracks 5 and 9), studio engineer
Chris Ormston – bagpipes (track 1)
Daniel Lanois – shaker (track 1), guitar (tracks 1, 10), additional vocals (track 1), hi-hat (track 3), vocals (track 3), horn arrangements (track 4), Dobro (tracks 8, 10)
Richard Blair – additional verse keyboards (track 1), programming (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9), additional programming (tracks 2, 3)
Levon Minassian – duduk (tracks 1, 3, 8)
Sinéad O'Connor – vocals (tracks 1, 3)
Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble – vocals (track 1)
Hossam Ramzy – tabla (track 2), surdo (track 7)
Daryl Johnson – drums (track 2)
William Orbit – programming (track 2), additional programming (track 5)
Bill Dillon – guitar (tracks 2, 5)
Mark Rivera – alto saxophone (tracks 4, 6)
Brian Eno – additional keyboards (track 2)
L. Shankar – violin (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8)
Caroline Lavelle – cello (tracks 2, 6, 10), string arrangement (track 2)
Wil Malone – string arrangement (track 2, 6)
Jonny Dollar – string arrangement (track 2, 6)
Richard Evans – additional engineering (track 2), mix engineer (track 8), mandolin (track 8)
Gus Isidore – bridge guitar (track 3)
Richard Chappell – bridge section mix (track 3)
Leo Nocentelli – guitar (tracks 4, 7)
Tim Green – tenor saxophone (tracks 4, 6)
Reggie Houston – baritone saxophone (tracks 4, 6)
Renard Poché – trombone (tracks 4, 6)
Wayne Jackson – trumpet (track 4), cornet (track 6)
Kudsi Erguner – ney flute (track 5), shaker (track 4)
Ayub Ogada – vocals (track 5, 7)
Malcolm Burn – horn arrangement (track 6), additional synth cello (track 10), additional production ideas (track 10)
Mark Howard – horns recording (track 6)
Babacar Faye – djembe (tracks 7, 8)
Assane Thiam – tama (track 7), talking drum (track 8)
Peter Hammill – vocals (track 7)
Richard Macphail – vocals (track 7)
John Paul Jones – surdo (track 8), bass (track 8), keyboards (track 8)
Adzido Pan African Dance Ensemble – additional percussion loop (track 9)
Manny Elias – Senegalese shakers (track 9)
Marilyn McFarlane – vocals (track 9)

Technical support

Mike Large
Sue Coulson
Brian Gray

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1992-1993)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[22]	3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[23]	10
Belgian Albums (BEA)^[24]	2
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[25]	4
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[26]	7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[27]	8
European Albums (IFPI)^[28]	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[29]	1
French Albums (SNEP)^[30]	2
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[31]	1
Greek Albums (IFPI)^[32]	2
Italian Albums (AFI)^[33]	6
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[34]	9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[35]	6
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[36]	7
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[37]	2
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[38]	7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[39]	2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[40]	2
UK Albums (OCC)^[41]	2
US Billboard 200^[42]	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1992)	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[43]	71
European Albums (IFPI)^[44]	31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[45]	54
Italian Albums (AFI)^[46]	42
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[34]	67
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[47]	71
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[48]	59
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[49]	47
UK Albums (OCC)^[50]	79

Chart (1993)	Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[51]	166
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[52]	70
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[34]	92
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[48]	87
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[53]	94
UK Albums (OCC)^[54]	61
US Billboard 200^[55]	81

Certifications and sales


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)^[56]	Gold	30,000^{^}
Australia (ARIA)^[57]	3× Platinum	210,000^{^}
Brazil	—	200,000^[58]
Canada (Music Canada)^[59]	2× Platinum	200,000^{^}
France (SNEP)^[60]	2× Gold	200,000^*
Germany (BVMI)^[61]	Platinum	500,000^{^}
Italy (FIMI)^[62]	3× Platinum	300,000^*
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[63]	Gold	7,500^{^}
Spain (PROMUSICAE)^[64]	Gold	50,000^{^}
Sweden (GLF)^[65]	Gold	50,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[66]	Platinum	300,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[68]	Platinum	1,600,000^[67]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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^ ^a ^b ^c Willman, Chris (11 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel 'Us' Geffen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b Ramos, Dante E.A. (1 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel Abandons Role as King of PC Pop". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
^ Easlea, Daryl (13 July 2016). "Peter Gabriel's solo albums Us and Up abandoned pop for prog's darkest side". Louder Sound. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
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^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 11 September 1993. p. 23.
^ ^a ^b Bowman, Durrell (2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. ISBN 9781442252004.
^ Bowman 2016, p. 154
^ "US".
^ Bowman 2016, p. 152
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^ ^a ^b Kot, Greg (24 September 1992). "'Us' Rewarding, But It's Work For Listener". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^ Browne, David (9 October 1992). "Us". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
^ Maconie, Stuart (24 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel: Us". NME. p. 36.
^ Sandall, Robert (November 1992). "Ambient". Q. No. 74. p. 102.
^ ^a ^b Atkins, Jamie (August 2016). "So, Us, Up | Peter Gabriel". Record Collector. No. 456. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
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^ ^a ^b ^c Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
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^ "American album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 August 2020.

External links

Us at MusicBrainz

v t e Peter Gabriel
Studio albums	Peter Gabriel (Car) Peter Gabriel (Scratch) Peter Gabriel (Melt) Peter Gabriel (Security) So Us Up Scratch My Back New Blood I/O
Live albums	Plays Live Plays Live Highlights Secret World Live Live Blood Back to Front: Live in London Growing Up Live
Singles	"Solsbury Hill" "Modern Love" "D.I.Y." "Games Without Frontiers" "No Self Control" "Biko" "I Don't Remember" "I Have the Touch" "Shock the Monkey" "Sledgehammer" "In Your Eyes" "Don't Give Up" "Big Time" "Red Rain" "Shaking the Tree" "Digging in the Dirt" "Steam" "Blood of Eden" "Kiss That Frog" "While the Earth Sleeps" "When You're Falling" "The Barry Williams Show" "More Than This" "Growing Up "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" "Darkness" "Down to Earth" "Panopticom" "The Court" "Playing for Time" "I/O" "Four Kinds of Horses" "Road to Joy" "So Much" "Olive Tree" "Love Can Heal" "This Is Home" "And Still" "Live and Let Live"
Songs	"Here Comes the Flood" "Intruder" "Family Snapshot" "The Rhythm of the Heat" "San Jacinto" "That Voice Again" "Mercy Street" "Come Talk to Me"
Soundtracks	Birdy Passion OVO Long Walk Home
Compilations	Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats Revisited Hit Rated PG Flotsam and Jetsam
Concert tours	Secret World Tour Back to Front Tour
Films	Secret World Live Growing Up: Live Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped
Video games	Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World Eve Myst IV: Revelation
Other	Discography Genesis WOMAD Passion – Sources The Story of OVO Millennium Dome Show Play: The Videos Big Blue Ball And I'll Scratch Yours Real World Records Real World Studios Solid State Logic (SSL)
Peter Gabriel discography

This page was last edited on 27 June 2024, at 17:41

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