''Us'' is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, released on 28 September 1992 by

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

. 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 Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

, and the growing distance between him and his first daughter. ''Us'' was promoted with an early form of interactive multimedia software for

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

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 "Digging in the Dirt" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel. It was released as the first single taken from his sixth studio album, '' Us'', on 7 September 1992. The song was a minor hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number ...

", "

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

", "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 ''Secret World Live'' is the second live album and tenth album overall by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 August 1994 in the UK. The album documents the concert experience of the Secret World Tour. A concert film of t ...

'' 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 Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real Wor ...

in Wiltshire, England, with specialised recording sessions held at Kingsway Studios in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, and Studio 2000 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

. Gabriel had met

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

in October 1990 at the

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

human rights benefit concert held in Santiago, Chile. 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 "Blood of Eden" is the third single from English rock musician Peter Gabriel's 1992 album '' Us'', featuring backing vocals by Sinéad O'Connor. It narrowly failed to enter the UK top 40, peaking at number 43. The single has two B-side tracks: ...

" and "Come Talk to Me", the latter written by Gabriel to his younger daughter, Melanie – a teenager.

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

co-produced the album with Gabriel, with support from

David Bottrill David Bottrill is a Canadian record producer. He has won three Grammys. Formerly, he owned Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Moneen, Basia Lyjak, and The Getaway Plan are among the artists to have recorded at th ...

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.Bowman 2016, p. 152

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

– 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 The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of local bamboo; it is considered the " national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of related zithers of differing shapes and materials. T ...

(track 2), horn arrangement (track 4), harmonica (track 9), Mexican flute (track 10) *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

– 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 Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...

– drums (tracks 1, 6, 7), electric drums (tracks 2, 4, 5, 10), percussion (track 10) *The Babacar Faye Drummers –

sabar The sabar is a traditional drum from Senegal that is also played in the Gambia. It is associated with Wolof and Serer people.Doudou N'Diaye Rose Doudou Ndiaye Rose (born Mamadou Ndiaye; 28 July 1930 – 19 August 2015) was a Senegalese drummer, composer and band leader, and was the recognized modern master of Senegal's traditional drum, the sabar. He was the father of a musical dynasty t ...

– programming (tracks 1 and 10) *

– programming (tracks 1–4, 7, 10), additional programming (tracks 5 and 9), studio engineer *Chris Ormston –

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

(track 1) *

– shaker (track 1), guitar (tracks 1, 10), additional vocals (track 1),

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

(track 3), vocals (track 3), horn arrangements (track 4),

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

(tracks 8, 10) *Richard Blair – additional verse keyboards (track 1), programming (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9), additional programming (tracks 2, 3) *Levon Minassian –

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

(tracks 1, 3, 8) *

– vocals (tracks 1, 3) * Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble – vocals (track 1) *

Hossam Ramzy Hossam Ramzy ( ar, حسام رمزي; 15 December 1953 – 10 September 2019) was an Egyptian percussionist and composer. He worked with English artists like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux, as well as with Arabic music artists like Ra ...

–

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

(track 2),

surdo The surdo is a large bass drum used in many kinds of Brazilian music, such as Axé/Samba-reggae and samba, where it plays the lower parts from a percussion section. It is also notable for its association with the cucumbi genre of the Ancient Near ...

(track 7) *

Daryl Johnson Daryl E. Johnson (born August 11, 1946) is a former American football defensive back who played in the American Football League, the National Football League, and the World Football League. He was a member of the Boston Patriots and was a membe ...

– drums (track 2) *

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

– programming (track 2), additional programming (track 5) *Bill Dillon – guitar (tracks 2, 5) *

Mark Rivera Mark Rivera (born May 24, 1953) is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, musical director and corporate entertainment provider who is mostly known for his work with Billy Joel. In addition to playing soprano, alto, tenor and b ...

–

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

(tracks 4, 6) *

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

– additional keyboards (track 2) *

L. Shankar Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), better known as L. Shankar, Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer. Early life, family and education Shankar was born in Madras, India, and raised in Ceylon (current- ...

– violin (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8) *

Caroline Lavelle Caroline Lavelle is an English singer-songwriter and cellist who has created three solo albums and contributed vocals, music, and production help to many other artists and bands. Career Lavelle studied at the Royal College of Music in London. ...

– cello (tracks 2, 6, 10), string arrangement (track 2) *

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nannini ...

– string arrangement (track 2, 6) *

Jonny Dollar Jonathan Peter Sharp (20 February 1964 – 29 May 2009), better known by the pseudonym Jonny Dollar, was an English record producer and songwriter. Jonathan was born in Westminster, London and his father was the Australian film director, ...

– string arrangement (track 2, 6) *Richard Evans – additional engineering (track 2), mix engineer (track 8),

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(track 8) *Gus Isidore – bridge guitar (track 3) *Richard Chappell – bridge section mix (track 3) *

Leo Nocentelli Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the funk band The Meters. He wrote the original versions of several funk classics such as " Cissy Strut" and "Hey P ...

– guitar (tracks 4, 7) *Tim Green –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(tracks 4, 6) * Reggie Houston –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

(tracks 4, 6) *Renard Poché –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

(tracks 4, 6) * Wayne Jackson – trumpet (track 4), cornet (track 6) *

Kudsi Erguner Kudsi Ergüner (born 4 February 1952 in Diyarbakır, Turkey) is a Turkish musician. He is considered a master of traditional Mevlevi Sufi music and is one of the best-known players of the Turkish ney flute. Biography As a boy, Erguner s ...

–

ney The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually ...

flute (track 5), shaker (track 4) *

Ayub Ogada Job Seda (1956 – 1 February 2019), better known as Ayub Ogada, was a Kenyan singer. He was a singer favoring the nyatiti (an eight-stringed lyre with its origins credited to the Luo, a tribe in Nyanza Kenya) as his characteristic instrument. ...

– vocals (track 5, 7) *

Malcolm Burn Malcolm Burn (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. Emmylou Harris's ''Red Dirt Girl'', produced by Burn, won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2001 Grammys. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ontar ...

– horn arrangement (track 6), additional synth cello (track 10), additional production ideas (track 10) *Mark Howard – horns recording (track 6) *Babacar Faye –

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

(tracks 7, 8) *Assane Thiam – tama (track 7),

talking drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

(track 8) *

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

– vocals (track 7) *Richard Macphail – vocals (track 7) *

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

–

(track 8), bass (track 8), keyboards (track 8) *Adzido Pan African Dance Ensemble – additional percussion loop (track 9) *

Manny Elias Manny Elias (born 21 February 1953) is an Indian drummer and record producer of British descent. He is notable for being the original drummer with Tears for Fears during the 1980s. Originally a member of the rock band Interview from Bathford ...

– Senegalese shakers (track 9) *Marilyn McFarlane – vocals (track 9)

Technical support

*Mike Large *Sue Coulson *Brian Gray

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* {{Authority control Peter Gabriel albums Real World Records albums Albums produced by Daniel Lanois Albums produced by Peter Gabriel 1992 albums Geffen Records albums Worldbeat albums