Us (Peter Gabriel album) explained

Us
Type:	studio
Artist:	Peter Gabriel
Cover:	Us (Original) - Peter Gabriel.jpg
Released:	^[1]
Recorded:	October 1989 – June 1992^[2]
Studio:	Real World, Box, UK Kingsway, New Orleans, Louisiana Studio 2000, Dakar
Length:	57:48
Label:	Real World
Prev Year:	1990
Next Title:	Peter Gabriel Revisited
Next Year:	1992

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.

Us was promoted with an early form of interactive multimedia software for Macintosh computers entitled , 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.

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 , 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.^[3]

Gabriel had met Sinéad O'Connor in October 1990 at the Amnesty International human rights benefit concert held in Santiago, Chile.^[4] 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 one of his daughters.^[5] 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.^[6]

Reception

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." 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. 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".

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)!scope="col"

Peak position
Belgian Albums (BEA)^[7]	2
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[8]	7
European Albums (IFPI)^[9]	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[10]	1
French Albums (SNEP)^[11]	2
Greek Albums (IFPI)^[12]	2
Italian Albums (AFI)^[13]	6
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[14]	9
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[15]	2
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[16]	7

Year-end charts

Chart (1992)!scope="col"

Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[17]	71
European Albums (IFPI)^[18]	31
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[19]	54
Italian Albums (AFI)^[20]	42
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	67
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[21]	71
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[22]	59
Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade)^[23]	47
UK Albums (OCC)^[24]	79

Chart (1993)!scope="col"

Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[25]	166
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[26]	70
Japanese Albums (Oricon)	92
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)	87
Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade)^[27]	94
UK Albums (OCC)^[28]	61
US Billboard 200^[29]	81

Notes and References

1. New Releases. Music Week. 16. 26 September 1992.
2. Web site: Genesis News Com [it]: Peter Gabriel – Recording Compendium, Part 7: 1991 – 1994 (US).
3. Book: Bowman, Durrell . Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion . 2016 . Rowman & Littlefield . 151 . 9781442252004.
4. Bowman 2016, p. 154
5. Web site: US.
6. Bowman 2016, p. 152
7. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Belgium. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 46. 7 November 1992. 26 May 2021.
8. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Denmark. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 22. 31 October 1992. 26 May 2021.
9. Web site: European Top 100 Albums. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 21. 24 October 1992. 26 May 2021.
10. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Finland. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 20. 24 October 1992. 26 May 2021.
11. Web site: Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – P . Infodisc.fr . fr . 9 June 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141022124902/http://infodisc.fr/Album_P.php . 22 October 2014 . Select Peter Gabriel from the menu, then press OK.
12. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Greece. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 22. 21 November 1992. 26 May 2021.
13. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Italy. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 28. 17 October 1992. 26 May 2021.
14. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.
15. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Portugal. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 22. 31 October 1992. 26 May 2021.
16. Web site: Top 10 Sales in Europe – Spain. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 22. 14 November 1992. 26 May 2021.
17. Web site: Alben 1992 Österreich – Album-Charts – Top 75 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526204405/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-oesterreich/jahrescharts/alben-1992/top-75/2. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
18. Web site: 1992 Year-End Sales Charts – Eurochart Top 100 Albums. Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 17. 19 December 1992. 26 May 2021.
19. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1992. https://web.archive.org/web/20160106180815/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1992. 6 January 2016. dead. offiziellecharts.de. de. 26 May 2021.
20. Web site: Album Artist 98 – Peter Gabriel – Us. https://web.archive.org/web/20121021085742/https://tsort.info/music/vhq6sg.htm. 21 October 2012. dead. tsort.info. 26 May 2021.
21. Web site: Alben 1992 Norwegen – Album-Charts – Top 40 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526204755/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-norwegen/jahrescharts/alben-1992/top-40/2. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
22. Book: Salaverri, Fernando. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. 1st. September 2005. Fundación Autor-SGAE. Spain. 84-8048-639-2.
23. Web site: Alben 1992 Schweiz – Album-Charts – Top 100 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526205029/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-schweiz/jahrescharts/alben-1992/top-100. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
24. Web site: Music Charts Analysis – Complete UK Year-End Album Charts 1992. https://web.archive.org/web/20120111074744/http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. 11 January 2012. dead. chartheaven.com. 26 May 2021.
25. Web site: Alben 1993 Österreich – Album-Charts – Top 75 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526204600/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-oesterreich/jahrescharts/alben-1993/top-75/4. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
26. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1993. https://web.archive.org/web/20151013065113/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1993. 13 October 2015. dead. offiziellecharts.de. de. 26 May 2021.
27. Web site: Alben 1993 Schweiz – Album-Charts – Top 100 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526205154/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-schweiz/jahrescharts/alben-1993/top-100/2. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
28. Web site: Alben 1993 UK – Album-Charts – Top 75 Auswertung. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526204153/https://www.chartsurfer.de/musik/album-charts-uk/jahrescharts/alben-1993/top-75/2. 26 May 2021. dead. chartsurfer.de. de. 26 May 2021.
29. Web site: Year-End Charts – Top Billboard 200 Albums – 1993. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029082349/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1993/top-billboard-200-albums. 29 October 2019. dead. Billboard. 26 May 2021.