"Steam" is a song by English rock musician

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

, released in January 1993 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

as the second single from his sixth album, '' Us'' (1992). Gabriel, who wrote the song and produced it with

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

, has said that the song is about a relationship in which the woman is sophisticated, bright, cultured, and knows everything about anything while the man knows nothing about anything; however, he does know about the woman, and she does not know much about herself. On "Steam",

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

played the bass part using funk fingers, a set of drum sticks that he attached to his fingers to achieve a more percussive tone. Levin first used the technique on Gabriel's song " Big Time". "Steam" reached number ten on the UK Singles Chart, number 32 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number one on the US

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. In Canada the single became a number-one hit, topping the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart on the week of 27 February 1993, replacing

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

's " I Will Always Love You" after a 10-week run. "Steam" also charted within the top 10 in Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Portugal. An alternative version of this song called "Quiet Steam" was a B-side on the " Digging in the Dirt" single. It is a lo-fi take on the version that appeared on ''Us''. On '' Secret World Live'', "Steam" is preceded by the "Quiet Steam" version.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

stated, that the correspondingly ingenious video for "Steam" "will propel this into the Top 10." Alec Foege from '' Spin'' felt that the song, "with its pressure-cooked chorus (''Give me steam / And how you feel can make you real'') and greasy organ riff, practically parodies

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's '

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

'." Mike Joyce from ''

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'' viewed it as "such sure-fire Top 40 ammo" and "a likable (if shamelessly obvious) sequel" to Gabriel's 1986 hit ' Sledgehammer'.

Music video

The music video for "Steam" was directed by Stephen R. Johnson, who also directed the videos for Gabriel's earlier hits " Sledgehammer" and " Big Time". The director said he wanted to cram the video with as many "things" as possible. The music video features digital imagery and numerous instances of sexual symbolism. Gabriel suggested the idea of appearing with a fake muscular physique in the music video, saying that "it was a lot quicker to put on a body like that than actually building up in a gym. I didn't quite have the discipline for that." The music video was later shown on the 1994 video Computer Animation Festival Vol. 2.0.

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="3" , 1993 , rowspan="3" ,

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

, Best Male Video , , - , Best Visual Effects , , - , Best Editing , , - , rowspan="2" , 1994 , rowspan="2" ,

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance , , - , Best Music Video ,

Track listing

All songs written by

. # "Steam" (LP version) – 6:02 # " Games Without Frontiers" ( Massive / DB mix) – 5:19 # "Steam" (Oh, Oh, Let Off Steam mix 12") – 6:44 # "Steam" (Oh, Oh, Let Off Steam mix dub) – 5:44

Personnel

* Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboards, percussion, horn arrangement * David Rhodes – guitar *

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 ...

– guitar *

– bass guitar *

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 fusio ...

–

electronic drum Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...

s * The Babacar Faye Drummers – Sabar drums * David Bottrill – programming * Richard Blair – programming * 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 (whi ...

* Reggie Houston –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") 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 saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

* Wayne Jackson – trumpet * Renard Poche – trombone * Daniel Lanois – horn arrangement

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles Animated music videos Funk rock songs Geffen Records singles Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video Music videos directed by Stephen R. Johnson Peter Gabriel songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois Songs written by Peter Gabriel