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.[10]
Us
28 September 1992[1]
October 1989 – June 1992[2]
- Real World, Box, UK
- Kingsway, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Studio 2000, Dakar
57:48
- Daniel Lanois
- Peter Gabriel
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. Five singles were released: "Digging in the Dirt", "Steam", "Blood of Eden", "Kiss That Frog", and "Come Talk to Me", 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[edit]
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 his younger daughter, Melanie – a teenager.[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 one thousand 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]