OVO

Gabriel was already working on the songs for his 2002 album Up, which was slated for release in 2001 at the time, when he started work on OVO: "'Ovo' was going to be a six-month diversion. In the end it took two years."[1] Mark Fisher, creative director of the Millennium Dome, had asked Gabriel to write the music for the Millennium Dome Show. Gabriel agreed to work on the project as collaborator: "I told Mark if he wanted a full collaborator to create something with a story and visual ideas, then I would love to do it. The appeal was that it was a huge project which offered the ability to dream up some crazy things, and there was a budget there to pay for it." The bad public image and the problems revolving around the Millennium Dome were taken by Gabriel as a challenge: "I knew what I was walking into and that it was a quite unpopular project. But the fact that it was going to be controversial was actually what attracted me."

Comparing the album with 2002's Up, Gabriel saw a number of differences: "It's referential to folk music, and there are futuristic elements that I wouldn't normally work with. 'Ovo' has an external focus, whereas the other album I've been working on is more internally focused."[1] "Different versions of Britain" piqued Gabriel's interest: "There was the traditional view of a white England, with folk references which I knew very little about musically and had to research. Then there was contemporary Britain, and the aim was to include Asian, African, Caribbean, and Irish elements from what is now a very multicultural society."

Gabriel deliberately chose rap as genre in the opening track "The Story of OVO" where singer Neneh Cherry and rapper Rasco narrate the story line: "I wanted to make it appeal to kids, and rap seems to be their No. 1 music these days."[5]

The album was released in two different versions.[1][6] The double CD edition with the title "OVO The Millennium Show" contains a different cover and booklet, a comic book and bonus track "The Tree That Went Up". It was initially sold exclusively at the Millennium Dome Show. The track listing for this version is shifted in comparison to the other version. The track "The Story of OVO" has been moved to the additional CD. Every CD of every edition includes a multimedia part with the time lapse video "The Nest That Sailed the Sky". While the single CD version's booklet contains an introduction by Peter Gabriel and lyrics, the double CD version's booklet contains a short summary of the story, statements of artists involved and images from the Millennium Dome Show. The single CD release of OVO removed Alison Goldfrapp's name from the credits.

Prior to the official release the album was made available to the public through a web promotion campaign called "Web Wheel" with three tracks not available on the album.[5] The tracks were individually distributed to different interlinked sites timed to expire at the official release date.

Gabriel performed "Father, Son", "The Tower That Ate People", "White Ashes", and "Downside Up" over the course of the Growing Up and Still Growing Up tours. Melanie Gabriel provided backing vocals for "Downside Up". These performances are available on the live albums Growing Up Live and Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped. "Downside-Up" and "The Nest That Sailed The Sky" were also performed as part of The New Blood Tour in 2010 and 2011, the former as a duet between Peter and Melanie Gabriel and the latter as the closing, orchestra-only track of the show. "Father, Son" was also performed. These performances are available on the New Blood Live in London DVD. "The Tower That Ate People" also appears on the Back to Front: Live in London DVD released in 2014.

All tracks are written by Peter Gabriel, except where noted.

The numbers in brackets refer to the single CD edition.