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Reality is the 24th studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in Europe on 15 September 2003, and the following day in America. His second release through his own ISO label, the album was recorded between January and May 2003 at Looking Glass Studios in New York City, with production by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. Most of the musicians consisted of his then-touring band. Bowie envisioned the album as a set of songs that could be played live.
Earthling is the 21st studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 3 February 1997 through RCA Records in the United Kingdom, Virgin Records in the United States, and Arista Records/BMG in other territories. Mostly self-produced by Bowie, it was primarily recorded from August to October 1996 at New York City's Looking Glass Studios. Bowie composed the tracks with Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, who are credited as co-producers, with Mike Garson, Gail Ann Dorsey and Zack Alford providing overdubs later.
Heathen is the 23rd studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in Europe on 10 June 2002, and the following day in America. His first release through his own ISO label, it reunited Bowie with producer Tony Visconti for the two's first full-album collaboration since 1980. Recording took place at New York studios from August 2001 to January 2002 and featured guest musicians including Dave Grohl and Pete Townshend. Two tracks, "Afraid" and "Slip Away", evolved from Bowie's shelved Toy project, while three were covers of songs by Pixies, Neil Young and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
"Fashion" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 14th studio album Scary Monsters (1980). Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and recorded from February to April 1980 at New York and London, it was the last song completed for the album. Originating as a reggae parody titled "Jamaica", "Fashion" is a post-punk, dance and funk track structurally similar to Bowie's "Golden Years". King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp contributed lead guitar.
"John, I'm Only Dancing" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, originally released as a non-album single on 1 September 1972. A glam rock and R&B number, the lyrics describe a situation in which the narrator informs his lover not to worry about the girl he is with because he is "only dancing" with her. Although ambiguous, many interpreted it as concerning a gay relationship. Recorded in London in June 1972, it was boosted by a low-budget promotional video directed by Mick Rock. It reached number 12 in the UK; RCA refused to release it in America due to its suggestive lyrical content.
"Sound and Vision" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was released in January 1977 by RCA Records on side one of his 11th studio album Low. RCA later chose it as the first single from the album. Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the song was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France, in September 1976, and completed at Hansa Studios in West Berlin in October and November. The song began as a simple G major chord progression that Bowie gave to the backing musicians, writing and recording his vocals afterward. It features backing vocals from Brian Eno and Visconti's then-wife Mary Hopkin.
"D.J." is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 29 June 1979 as the second single from his 1979 album Lodger. It was written by Bowie, Brian Eno and Carlos Alomar and recorded in Montreux and New York City in September 1978 and March 1979. A cynical comment on the cult of the DJ, the track includes a guitar solo by Adrian Belew, which was recorded in multiple takes, and then mixed back together for the album track. Bowie mimics David Byrne of Talking Heads in his vocal performance. Its accompanying music video, directed by David Mallet, features Bowie casually walking down London's Earl's Court Road as passersby recognise him and follow him, interjected with Bowie as the tortured DJ destroying his studio. The single charted at number 29 in the UK and has received positive reviews.
"Up the Hill Backwards" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1980 album Scary Monsters . It was later issued by RCA Records as the fourth and final single from the album in March 1981. Originally written under the title "Cameras in Brooklyn", the song was recorded between February and April 1980 at the Power Station in New York City and Good Earth Studios in London. The recording features backing vocalists, guitar contributions from Robert Fripp and acoustic guitar played by co-producer Tony Visconti. Lyrically, the song concerns the struggles of facing a crisis, partially influenced by Bowie's divorce from his wife Angie. Musically, the song contains numerous time signature changes and a Bo Diddley-inspired beat.
"Wild Is the Wind" is a song written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind. Johnny Mathis recorded the song for the film and released it as a single in November 1957. Mathis' version reached No. 22 on the Billboard chart. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1958, but lost to "All the Way" by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn from The Joker is Wild.
"Black Country Rock" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his 1970 album The Man Who Sold the World. The song was recorded in May 1970, with sessions taking place at Trident and Advision Studios in London. The lineup featured Bowie on lead vocals, guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist/producer Tony Visconti, drummer Mick Woodmansey and Ralph Mace on Moog synthesiser. The track was mostly composed by Ronson and Visconti, who developed it using a basic song sketch from Bowie. Labelled under the working title "Black Country Rock", Bowie used the title to write the lyrics towards the end of the sessions, resulting in a repeated two-line verse and chorus. A blues rock and hard rock number, Bowie imitates T. Rex's Marc Bolan in his vocal performance.
"Watch That Man" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, the opening track on the album Aladdin Sane from 1973. Its style is often compared to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. The mix, in which Bowie's lead vocal is buried within the instrumental sections, has generated discussion among critics and fans.
"Panic in Detroit" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie for the album Aladdin Sane in 1973. Bowie based it on his friend Iggy Pop's descriptions of revolutionaries he had known in Michigan and Pop's experiences during the 1967 Detroit riots. Rolling Stone magazine called the track "a paranoid descendant of the Motor City's earlier masterpiece, Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run"".
"Fascination" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie and the American musician Luther Vandross for Bowie's Young Americans album in 1975. The song originated from a Vandross song called "Funky Music " which The Mike Garson Band used to play before Bowie concerts in 1974.
"Fantastic Voyage" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno for the 1979 album Lodger. It has almost exactly the same chord sequence as "Boys Keep Swinging", from the same album. It has also appeared as the B-side to the "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" singles, and the US edition of "D.J.".
"Teenage Wildlife" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album Scary Monsters . Running at almost seven minutes, the song was the longest track on Scary Monsters, and Bowie's longest composition since "Station to Station" (1976), although it was surpassed in length by later tracks such as 2003's "Bring Me the Disco King" and 2016's "Blackstar".
"The Loneliest Guy" is a song written by David Bowie in 2003 for his album Reality. It's a slow-tempo minimalistic piece in which, according to James E. Perone, "Bowie's character also lives in denial: in spite of the shards of glass that he finds near his windows, the solitary life he lives, and 'all the pages that have turned,' he expresses the belief that he is not 'the loneliest guy' in the world, but, rather, 'the luckiest guy'." The biographer also writes: "The slow, solemn pace of the piece, the long phrases sung with a slowly pulsing vibrato suggest a profound sadness."
"Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" is a song written by David Bowie in 2003 for his album Reality. According to Bowie himself at the time of the album release, "It came from reading an article about Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the company that Dick Cheney used to run. Basically, Kellogg Brown & Root got the job of cleaning up Iraq. What tends to happen is that a thing like an issue or a policy manifests itself as a guide. It becomes a character of some kind, like the one in Fall Dog. There's this guy saying, 'I'm goddamn rich'. You know, 'Throw anything you like at me, baby, because I'm goddamn rich. It doesn't bother me.'."
"The London Boys" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1966. It was originally written and demoed in 1965 with the Lower Third for potential release as the artist's debut single for Pye Records but it was rejected. After a year of rewrites, he recorded a new version with a new band, the Buzz, which helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records. Unlike the A-side, "The London Boys" retains the Mod feel of Bowie's previous singles. The dark lyrics concern a 17-year-old who leaves home for London and becomes embroiled in the Mod scene, turning to pills to fit in. Like his previous singles, it failed to chart. Decca later issued it as an A-side in 1975..
"Let Me Sleep Beside You" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded on 1 September 1967 at Advision Studios in London and marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti, which would last for the rest of Bowie's career. A departure from the pop and music hall-influenced material of Bowie's 1967 self-titled debut album and other singles for Deram Records, the song displays a more rock-oriented sound with a cello arrangement from Visconti. The impressionist lyrics also depart from Bowie's prior works, describing love using the act of sleeping together rather than through emotional attachment. The song was rejected by Deram for release as a single, purportedly due to the risqué title. It remained unreleased until 1970's The World of David Bowie compilation.
"Karma Man" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded on 1 September 1967 at Advision Studios in London and marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti, which would last for the rest of the artist's career. The song expresses Bowie's growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism, concerning a character who is put on display as a "freak" in a carnival tent. The music reflects the Buddhist themes and was likened to the works of the Beatles. Initially proposed as a B-side, it remained unreleased until The World of David Bowie compilation in March 1970. Bowie performed the song during two of his BBC radio sessions, one of which was released on the 2000 compilation Bowie at the Beeb.
References
- 1 2 Wild, David (21 January 1993). "Bowie's Wedding Album". Rolling Stone . New York City: Wenner Media LLC. p. 14.
- ↑ O'Leary 2019, chap. 10.
- 1 2 3 Thompson, Dave (2006). Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-733-5.
- 1 2 Buskin, Richard (October 2003). "David Bowie & Tony Visconti Recording Reality". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ↑ Pegg, Nicholas (2006). The Complete David Bowie. Surrey, England: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 43. ISBN 978-1785653650.
- ↑ Perone, James E. (2007). The words and music of David Bowie. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-275-99245-3.
- ↑ O'Leary 2019, chap. 13.
Sources
- O'Leary, Chris (2019). Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016. London: Repeater. ISBN 978-1-91224-830-8.
