Top Ten Favorite 1986 Albums: So (#9)

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My newest countdown is a look at my favorite albums from a magical year for music, 1986. I was inspired to do this countdown after @miketagz said he was born in 1986. Needless to say, I wasn't: by '86 I'd been in and out of the Navy. Anyway, here's the next album from that great year in music. #9: So - Peter Gabriel And to prove that I actually do listen to commercially successful music, here's one of the biggest albums of 1986! Peter Gabriel was the original lead singer for Genesis, back in their "prog rock" days. When he left Phil Collins took over lead vocal duties, and Genesis became a major "mainstream" rock band. Gabriel's solo albums were simply brilliant, producing FM rock classics like "Shock the Monkey," "Games Without Frontiers," and his great anti-Apartheid anthem, "Biko." In 1986 Gabriel finally titled an album something other than Peter Gabriel (seriously! His first three solo albums were all titled Peter Gabriel!). It was called So. (Joe Walsh had already used So What. ) And man, did it take off. Of course, there was that innovative video for "Sledgehammer" (which Gabriel eventually asked MTV to stop playing so people wouldn't get sick of it [side note to MTV: Gabriel meant that video, not ALL music videos! ]). "Big Time" had an equally fun video. The videos were great, sure, but let's not lose sight of the fact that this is one great album. Humorous at times (let's not forget what "Sledgehammer" is about ), and stunning in others ("In Your Eyes" is on my 100 favorites list), So was Gabriel's biggest commercial success and solidified him as on of the true artists of the 80s. So Recorded by Peter Gabriel Produced by Peter Gabriel and Daniel Lanois The absolutely beautiful "In Your Eyes":