Secret World Live

The album was recorded over the two nights of 16 and 17 November 1993 at the Palasport Nuovo in Modena, Italy.^[7] A companion release, SW Live EP, recorded over the same two nights, included the live tracks "Red Rain", "Digging in the Dirt" and "Come Talk to Me" from this release, as well as "San Jacinto" and a recording of "Mercy Street" from Live in Athens 1987, though the specific track listing varies by release by country.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

The artwork for the album cover was directed by Michael Colson and co-ordinated by Martha Ladly (formerly of Martha and the Muffins) who was working for Gabriel at the time, with cover images by Fab 4 and Danny Jenkins. It received a nomination for the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Record Sleeve Packaging Design. Danny Jenkins said of his photograph: "I have always been interested in making images and had amassed an extensive collection of 80s office detritus for my digital montages [...] The core photograph of the album was shot in my studio back yard with my Pentax K1000 camera [...] The receiver was randomly picked from a pile of phones and the hand actually belongs to my long-suffering studio assistant Becky Jemmett. It was pure luck and chance that the phone and hand were a convincing enough match for Peter's on-stage version."^[13]

• Peter Gabriel – lead vocals, harmonica, keyboards, rainstick
• Paula Cole – additional vocals; co-lead vocals on "Shaking The Tree", "Blood Of Eden" and "Don't Give Up".
• L. Shankar – violins, additional vocals
• David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals
• Jean-Claude Naimro – keyboards, backing vocals
• Tony Levin – bass, Chapman Stick, backing vocals
• Manu Katché – drums
• Levon Minassian – doudouk

Guest artists^[14]

• Papa Wemba and his band Molokai
  • Papa Wemba – vocals
  • Patrick Marie Magdelaine – guitar
  • Dominique Berose – keyboards
  • Herve Rakotofiringa – keyboards
  • Noel Ekwabi – bass
  • Joseph Kuo – drums
  • Xavier Jouvelet – percussion
  • "Reddy" Mela Amissi – backing vocals
  • "Styno Mubi Matadi" – backing vocals
  • Ayub Ogada – backing vocals