Us (Peter Gabriel album)

Us
Studio album by
Peter Gabriel
Released28 September 1992 (1992-09-28)[1]
RecordedOctober 1989 – June 1992[2]
Studio
Genre
Length57:48
LabelReal World
Producer
Peter Gabriel chronology
Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats
(1990) 		Us
(1992) 		Peter Gabriel Revisited
(1992)
Singles from Us
  1. "Digging in the Dirt"
    Released: 7 September 1992[6]
  2. "Steam"
    Released: 4 January 1993[7]
  3. "Blood of Eden"
    Released: 15 March 1993[8]
  4. "Kiss That Frog"
    Released: 13 September 1993 (UK)[9]
  5. "Come Talk to Me"
    Released: September 1993 (US)

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.[10]

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.

Background

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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.[10]

Gabriel had met Sinéad O'Connor in October 1990 at the Amnesty International human rights benefit concert held in Santiago, Chile.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Chicago Sun-Times[15]
Chicago Tribune[16]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[17]
Los Angeles Times[3]
NME5/10[18]
Q[19]
Record Collector[20]
Rolling Stone[21]
The Village VoiceB−[22]

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."[16] 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".[20]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Peter Gabriel

Us track listing
No.TitleLength
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

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Musicians

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  • 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

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  • Mike Large
  • Sue Coulson
  • Brian Gray

Charts

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Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales for Us
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[57] Gold 30,000^
Australia (ARIA)[58] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Brazil — 200,000[59]
Canada (Music Canada)[60] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[61] 2× Gold 200,000*
Germany (BVMI)[62] Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[63] 3× Platinum 300,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[64] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[65] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[66] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[67] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[69] Platinum 1,600,000[68]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "New Releases". Music Week. 26 September 1992. p. 16.
  2. ^ "Genesis News Com [it]: Peter Gabriel – Recording Compendium, Part 7: 1991 – 1994 (US)".
  3. ^ a b c Willman, Chris (11 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel 'Us' Geffen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 5 September 1992. p. 21. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  7. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 26 December 1992. p. 23. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 25.
  9. ^ "Single Releases". Music Week. 11 September 1993. p. 23.
  10. ^ a b Bowman, Durrell (2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. ISBN 9781442252004.
  11. ^ Bowman 2016, p. 154
  12. ^ "US".
  13. ^ Bowman 2016, p. 152
  14. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Us – Peter Gabriel". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  15. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (4 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel, 'Us' (Geffen)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  16. ^ a b Kot, Greg (24 September 1992). "'Us' Rewarding, But It's Work For Listener". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  17. ^ Browne, David (9 October 1992). "Us". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  18. ^ Maconie, Stuart (24 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel: Us". NME. p. 36.
  19. ^ Sandall, Robert (November 1992). "Ambient". Q. No. 74. p. 102.
  20. ^ a b Atkins, Jamie (August 2016). "So, Us, Up | Peter Gabriel". Record Collector. No. 456. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  21. ^ Kot, Greg (1 October 1992). "Us". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  22. ^ Christgau, Robert (1 December 1992). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
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  39. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe – Spain" (PDF). Music & Media. worldradiohistory.com. 14 November 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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  46. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1992" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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  48. ^ "Alben 1992 Norwegen – Album-Charts – Top 40 Auswertung" (in German). chartsurfer.de. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
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  63. ^ "Spettacoli". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). archivio.corriere.it. 11 July 1994. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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  65. ^ "Spanish Certifications for 1991–1995" (in Spanish). mediafire.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
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  67. ^ "British album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  68. ^ "Nielsen SoundScan". nielsen.com. Search for "Us" by Peter Gabriel. 2005 Data: 1,600,000 Sold Units in the United States. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  69. ^ "American album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
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