To record the soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ, Gabriel used the resources of WOMAD, an organization he founded, to bring together musicians from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South Asia.

"With This Love", which Gabriel described as "church-like", was originally intended for a scene where the devil, disguised as a little girl, removes Jesus from a cross and kisses his bleeding body.

Gabriel attributed this decision to his belief that the scene would have been "perhaps too powerful" and "potentially too explosive", but still felt that it would have been a "very strong marriage of music and image.

[14] When re-released, the album was titled Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ due to "legal barriers" according to Gabriel in its liner notes.

Noting songs which "successfully accommodate third-world melodies and cross-rhythms in a Western pop context," Guterman claimed, "Passion is stirring, stunning stuff: You won’t hear it on the radio like you heard ‘’Sledgehammer’’ or ‘’Big Time’’, but if you do search it out, you'll find a piece of work by an artist who remains idiosyncratic without being obtuse.