187) So

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Gabriel got funky on the 1982 single "Shock the Monkey," and it took him four years to follow up the hit. The similarly visceral "Sledgehammer" slammed So into the mainstream, and its hold on radio and MTV deepened with the upbeat "Big Time," the gothic love ballad "In Your Eyes" (beautifully employed by filmmaker Cameron Crowe in Say Anything) and the inspirational "Don't Give Up," a duet with Brit art thrush Kate Bush, who was shown locked in a five-minute embrace with Gabriel in the video. Said his wife, Jill, of a marriage that had barely survived a series of dual affairs, "I managed to punish him. He managed to punish me better."

Total album sales: 5 million

Peak chart position: 2

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