Us is the sixth studio album by the English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel, released on 28 September 1992 by Real World Records and Geffen 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. In October 1989, Gabriel started work on songs which would end up on the Us album. During that time, he was concurrently preparing new versions of songs for the 1990 compilation album Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats and supervising the editing of 1987 concert footage shot in Greece, which was released in 1990 as the live video album POV.
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. Daniel Lanois co-produced the album with Gabriel, with support from David Bottrill in programming and engineering. 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. That way, Lanois felt there was more renewed excitement and energy in the studio, which showed in the songs more than in a long drawn-out stay. While less involved in the more detailed production work (including mixing), Gabriel noted that Lanois had greater influence in the musical areas of the album, pushing him more musically, lyrically and as a performer in the studio. Gabriel would also listen back to the captured performances, to which he would play along on his keyboard rig and inspire further ideas. Like on So, Lanois and David Rhodes occasionally played guitar alongside Gabriel during these early stages. Gradually, Gabriel arrived at a rough structure of the given song, and from there start involving other musicians. whereas he used a standard drum kit for the second set of sessions the following year.
Songs
The album opens with "Come Talk to Me", a song that Gabriel had written about a rift in communication between him and one of his daughters. The song incorporates the use of bagpipes, a duduk, and a Russian choir. According to David Bottrill, who served as one of the audio engineers for the album, Gabriel sang his lead vocal parts "about 40 times", with the final product being a composite of multiple takes. Lanois was initially dissatisfied with the song, which ultimately went through multiple different iterations before they settled on a simpler groove than earlier versions of the track, which Gabriel said "verged on sounding trite".
"Only Us" begins and ends with vocals from Ayub Ogada, a Kenyan singer based in London who Gabriel described as having "this very sweet, soft and quite rhythmic way of singing". Further instrumental textures were provided by L. Shankar on violin and Kudsi Erguner on a ney flute. "Washing of the Water" features a horn arrangement that was recorded at Lanois' studio in New Orleans. "Fourteen Black Paintings" was first demonstrated to John Paul Jones when considering material for inclusion at the Artfutura festival. After Jones worked on the song, Gabriel decided to complete it for Us. The title was inspired by a visit that Gabriel made to the Rothko Chapel in Texas, which contained fourteen black paintings created by Mark Rothko. To promote Us, Virgin Records launched a marketing campaign using these commissioned pieces of artwork. The artwork was also showcased at the Art 93 London Contemporary Art Fair. Virgin Records also promoted the album in the UK through a £250,000 campaign consisting of television advertisements, press advertising, window and in-store displays, and what Music Week described as a "nationwide teaser and answer campaign" through various posters.
In the United States, Geffen Records handled the distribution of Us. They anticipated that the initial shipment of Us would comprise 250,000 compact discs and 150,000 cassettes. Similar to Gabriel's previous release, Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats, Gabriel decided to forgo longbox packaging in favour of jewel cases. Certain retailers, including Kemp Mill Music, who had limited the stocking of Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats due to their belief that the jewel box packaging was not retail-friendly, opted to carry Us at their stores unabated. Billboard reported that both Kemp Mill Music and Russell Solomon of Tower Records had agreed to treat Us as a "normal release" no differently than albums packaged in longboxes. Geffen Records provided retailers a seven percent discount on initial purchases of Us rather than the five percent rate usually offered.
Reception
Us received generally positive reviews from critics. Billboard thought that Gabriel was positioned to "repeat the success of his So with his release of Us. 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." Music & Media felt that Us aligned with the "globally determined" outlook of Gabriel and his Real World label. Writing for Select magazine, Dave Morrison wrote that world music influences were "seamlessly integrated into the textures of Us" and that it "finds Gabriel pushing further into his imaginative soundworld." 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".
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!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
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!scope="row"|European Albums (IFPI)
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!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
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!scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
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!scope="row"|Greek Albums (IFPI)
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!scope="row"|Italian Albums (AFI)
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|9
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!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
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!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1992 year-end chart performance for Us
!scope="col"|Chart (1992)
!scope="col"|Position
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!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|71
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!scope="row"|Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
|30
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!scope="row"|European Albums (IFPI)
|31
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!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|54
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!scope="row"|Italian Albums (AFI)
|42
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|71
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!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|59
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!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade)
|47
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!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|79
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{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 1993 year-end chart performance for Us
!scope="col"|Chart (1993)
!scope="col"|Position
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!scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
|166
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!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|70
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|94
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!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|61
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!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|81
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