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 himself and his first daughter.[17]

Us
Studio album by
Peter Gabriel
Released28 September 1992
StudioReal World Studios, Box, Wiltshire
Kingsway Studios, New Orleans
Studio 2000, Dakar
Genre
Length57:41
LabelReal World
Producer
Peter Gabriel chronology
Shaking the Tree
(1990)		 Us
(1992)		 Peter Gabriel Revisited
(1992)
Singles from Us
  1. "Digging in the Dirt"
    Released: 14 September 1992 [4]
  2. "Steam"
    Released: 11 January 1993 [5]
  3. "Blood of Eden"
    Released: 29 March 1993 [6]
  4. "Kiss That Frog"
    Released: 20 September 1993 [7]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Chicago Sun-Times[9]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[10]
Los Angeles Times[1]
NME5/10[11]
Q[12]
Record Collector[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]
The Village VoiceB−[16]

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 reissued in 2002 and 2010.

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.[17]

Gabriel had met Sinéad O'Connor in October 1990 at the Amnesty International human rights benefit concert held in Santiago, Chile.[18] Gabriel tapped 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.[19] 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 one thousand Digital Audio Tapes (DAT) containing various studio performances. The final album ended up being almost 58 minutes long, substantially longer than his earlier releases which held to the 46-minute limit of the analog 12-inch vinyl LP.[20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Peter Gabriel.

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
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Bashi-Bazouk" (B-side on the "Digging in the Dirt" single)4:46

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 on (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 (Russian: Ансамбль Дмитрия Покровского) – 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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[39] Gold 30,000^
Australia (ARIA)[40] Platinum 70,000^
Brazil — 200,000[41]
Canada (Music Canada)[42] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[43] 2× Gold 244,500[44]
Germany (BVMI)[45] Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[46] 3× Platinum 300,000*
Japan — 178,000[47]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[49] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[50] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[51] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[52] Platinum 1,600,000[53]

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

References
  1. Willman, Chris (11 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel 'Us' Geffen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  2. Ramos, Dante E.A. (1 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel Abandons Role as King of PC Pop". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  3. 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.
  4. https://petergabriel.com/release/digging-in-the-dirt/
  5. https://petergabriel.com/release/steam/
  6. https://petergabriel.com/release/blood-of-eden/
  7. https://petergabriel.com/release/kiss-that-frog/
  8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Us – Peter Gabriel". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  9. DeRogatis, Jim (4 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel, 'Us' (Geffen)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  10. Browne, David (9 October 1992). "Us". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  11. "Peter Gabriel: Us". NME: 36. 24 October 1992.
  12. "Peter Gabriel: Us". Q (74): 102. November 1992.
  13. Atkins, Jamie (August 2016). "Peter Gabriel – So, Us, Up". Record Collector (456). Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  14. Kot, Greg (1 October 1992). "Peter Gabriel: Us". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  15. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Peter Gabriel". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 319–20. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  16. Christgau, Robert (1 December 1992). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  17. Bowman, Durrell (2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 151. ISBN 9781442252004.
  18. Bowman 2016, p. 154
  19. https://petergabriel.com/release/us/
  20. Bowman 2016, p. 152
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  31. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
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  34. "The Official Charts Company – Peter Gabriel – Us" (PHP). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  35. "allmusic ((( Us > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
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  37. "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
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  39. Discos de Oro y Platino at Archive.today (archived 6 July 2011)
  40. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia′s Music Charts 1988–2010. Mount Martha, Melbourne, Victoria: Moonlight Publishing.
  41. Malena Segura Contrera (1996). "O mito na mídia: a presença de conteúdos arcaicos nos meios de comunicação" (in Portuguese). Selo Universidade, Annablume: 85. Retrieved 2 August 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  42. "Canadian album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". Music Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  43. "Les Certifications depuis 1973" (in French). Institut français d'opinion publique. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  44. Les Meilleures Ventes de CD / Albums "Tout Temps" at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 March 2020)
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  46. "Spettacoli". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). archivio.corriere.it. 11 July 1994. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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  48. "New Zealand album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  49. "Spanish Certifications for 1991–1995" (in Spanish). mediafire.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  50. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  51. "British album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 August 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Us in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  52. "American album certifications – Peter Gabriel – Us". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 August 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  53. "Nielsen SoundScan". Nielsen SoundScan. nielsen.com. Search for "Us" by Peter Gabriel. 2005 Data: 1,600,000 Sold Units in the United States. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
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