So (Peter Gabriel album)

So is the fifth album by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's home during 1985 to work on his next singing project. Initial sessions for So consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.

Although Gabriel continued to use the pioneering Fairlight CMI synthesizer, songs from these sessions were notably less experimental than his previous material, and fused pop and art rock with elements of traditional world music, particularly African and Brazilian styles. It is Gabriel's first non-eponymous album, So representing an "anti-title" that resulted from label pressure to properly market his music. Widely regarded as his best album, as well as his most accessible, it transformed Gabriel from a cult artist into a mainstream star. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised its melodicism and fusion of genres, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Gabriel toured So on the This Way Up tour (1986–1987), with some songs performed at human rights and charity concerts during this period.

So is Gabriel's best-selling solo release, and has been certified fivefold platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It spawned five singles, "Sledgehammer", "Don't Give Up", "Big Time", "In Your Eyes" and "Red Rain".
"Sledgehammer" achieved particular success, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a record of ten MTV Video Music Awards. So was remastered in 2002, partially re-recorded for Gabriel's 2012 orchestral project New Blood and issued as a box set the same year. It has been deemed one of the best albums of the 1980s and is listed at number 187 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.