Earthling (album)
Encyclopedia
Earthling is an album by David Bowie
released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica
-influenced sound partly inspired by the Industrial
and drum and bass
culture of the 1990s.
for his previous album, Outside. Bowie said "I really thought it would be great if we could do a photo, almost a sonic photograph of what we were like at that time. So, Reeves [Gabrels] and I started writing immediately after we finished on the road." Despite going into the studio with no material ready to record, the album took only 2 1/2 weeks to record (typical for a Bowie album). Bowie compared this album with his 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
, saying "I think there's quite a link between Scary Monsters and this album, to a certain extent. Certainly, the same intensity of aggression."
On the production of the drum 'n bass sound of the album, Bowie had this to say:
Earthling was the first Bowie album recorded entirely digitally, "entirely on hard disk." During interviews promoting the album, Bowie stated "I did nearly everything on the guitar. A lot of screechy-scrawly stuff was done on saxophone, then transferred to sampler, and then distorted and worked on on the synthesizer."
Bowie and the band continued their experimental approach to making music, first used in the Berlin Trilogy
: for the track "Looking for Satellites," Bowie told guitarist Gabrels that he "only wanted him to play on one string at a time. ... He was hemmed in by the chord until it changed, and that made his run-up most unorthodox." The guitar riff used for the track "Dead Man Walking" was based on a pattern Jimmy Page
(of Led Zeppelin
) had played for Bowie back in the '60's. According to Gabrels, part of the bass track on "Little Wonder" was a recording of bassist Gail Ann Dorsey as she tried to get a sound from her pedalboard while not knowing she was being recorded. For "Battle for Britain," Bowie challenged Mike Garson to play based on "the idea from a piece of Stravinsky wrote called "Ragtime for Eleven Instruments." I said 'If you could kind of get into the character of that...' and he did it immediately."
Bowie and Gabrels used a technique they'd started while working on Bowie's previous album Outside, where they'd transfer bits of guitar to a sampling keyboard and construct riffs from those pieces. "It's real guitar," said Bowie, "but constructed in a synthetic way. But Brian Eno got in the way - in the nicest possible way - so we didn't get to that until this album. We want to go further with that, because it's a very exciting idea." Bowie considered this album, along with its predecessor, to be a "textural diary" of what the last few years of the millennium felt like.
Bowie's and Gabrel's musical influences at the time had a big impact on the sound of the album: Bowie was influenced by a "euro" sound and bands like Prodigy, while Gabrels was still into the american industrial sound and bands like Underworld
.
"Little Wonder" was one of the first tracks Bowie & Gabrels wrote for the album, and Bowie called writing the track a "ridiculous" exercise in pure stream of consciousness. "I just picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like "Stinky.
"I'm Afraid of Americans" was an unused leftover from the Outside sessions: Bowie said "That was something that Eno and I put together, and I just didn't feel it fit Outside, so it didn't go on it. It just got left behind. So then we took just the embryo of it, and restructured it with this band."
Bowie summed up the meaning of the songs on the album by saying:
remix
of "I'm Afraid of Americans
". In the 1998 Grammy awards Earthling was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance and the song Dead Man Walking was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The album featured elements not common to dance electronica, such as live acoustic and electric guitar, jazz
y live piano, and song structures more common to pop-rock
than techno
. The album performed better than its highly experimental predecessor, Outside, reaching number 6 in the UK charts and number 39 in the US. Rolling Stone magazine praised the album, noting that exposure to Nine Inch Nails
on Bowie's previous tour
had apparently influenced him on this album, and they called it "his best since 1980's Scary Monsters
."
" was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in the UK. Three more singles — "Dead Man Walking", "Seven Years in Tibet", and "I'm Afraid of Americans" — did not fare so well, although the latter did remain in the U.S. charts for 16 weeks, peaking at number 66.
The music videos for Earthling were elaborate. Artist and director Floria Sigismondi
directed the short films for "Little Wonder" and "Dead Man Walking", while Dom and Nic
directed "I'm Afraid of Americans", the latter being nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. A video was also made for "Seven Years in Tibet", composed largely of concert footage.
.
On 9 January 1997, the day after Bowie turned 50, Bowie held a 50th birthday concert for himself, performing tracks off his Earthling album as well as a selection of songs from his back catalogue. Bowie was joined onstage to perform many of the songs by artists including Billy Corgan
(of The Smashing Pumpkins
), Foo Fighters
, Sonic Youth
, Frank Black
, and Robert Smith
(of The Cure
). Other non-performing guests included Beck
, Moby
, Julian Schnabel
and Iman
. Artist Tony Ousler designed some of the artwork for the video backdrop that played behind the band onstage. The event was recorded for a pay-per-view special commemorating the event.
At the Phoenix Festival
in 1997, Bowie and his band played in the Radio 1 Dance tent as Tao Jones Index. They performed in darkness with dry ice and strobe lights. Tao Jones Index was a pun based on Bowie's real name, David Jones, and the 1997 Bowie Bond
issue (Tao is pronounced "Dow", as in Dow Jones Index from the US stock market).
Bowie went back on the road in support of this album, with his Earthling Tour
taking place between May 1997 and the end of the year.
.
All music composed by Bowie, Reeves Gabrels
and Mark Plati
, except Track 4, 5 and 9 by Bowie and Gabrels, Track 6 by Bowie, Track 8 by Bowie and Brian Eno
.
Bonus tracks on 2004 reissue
Bonus disc for 2005 Digibook expanded edition
Musicians
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
-influenced sound partly inspired by the Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
culture of the 1990s.
Album background and development
David Bowie returned to the studio five days after finishing up his tourOutside Tour
The Outside Tour, with David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails co-headlining, opened on 14 September 1995 at Meadows Music Theatre - Hartford, CT with Prick as support band. On selected dates Reeves Gabrels performed songs from his album, The Sacred Squall of Now in addition to performing with Nine Inch...
for his previous album, Outside. Bowie said "I really thought it would be great if we could do a photo, almost a sonic photograph of what we were like at that time. So, Reeves [Gabrels] and I started writing immediately after we finished on the road." Despite going into the studio with no material ready to record, the album took only 2 1/2 weeks to record (typical for a Bowie album). Bowie compared this album with his 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
, saying "I think there's quite a link between Scary Monsters and this album, to a certain extent. Certainly, the same intensity of aggression."
On the production of the drum 'n bass sound of the album, Bowie had this to say:
Earthling was the first Bowie album recorded entirely digitally, "entirely on hard disk." During interviews promoting the album, Bowie stated "I did nearly everything on the guitar. A lot of screechy-scrawly stuff was done on saxophone, then transferred to sampler, and then distorted and worked on on the synthesizer."
Bowie and the band continued their experimental approach to making music, first used in the Berlin Trilogy
Berlin Trilogy
The Berlin Trilogy is a series of David Bowie albums recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno in the 1970s. The three albums are Low, "Heroes" and Lodger....
: for the track "Looking for Satellites," Bowie told guitarist Gabrels that he "only wanted him to play on one string at a time. ... He was hemmed in by the chord until it changed, and that made his run-up most unorthodox." The guitar riff used for the track "Dead Man Walking" was based on a pattern Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
(of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
) had played for Bowie back in the '60's. According to Gabrels, part of the bass track on "Little Wonder" was a recording of bassist Gail Ann Dorsey as she tried to get a sound from her pedalboard while not knowing she was being recorded. For "Battle for Britain," Bowie challenged Mike Garson to play based on "the idea from a piece of Stravinsky wrote called "Ragtime for Eleven Instruments." I said 'If you could kind of get into the character of that...' and he did it immediately."
Bowie and Gabrels used a technique they'd started while working on Bowie's previous album Outside, where they'd transfer bits of guitar to a sampling keyboard and construct riffs from those pieces. "It's real guitar," said Bowie, "but constructed in a synthetic way. But Brian Eno got in the way - in the nicest possible way - so we didn't get to that until this album. We want to go further with that, because it's a very exciting idea." Bowie considered this album, along with its predecessor, to be a "textural diary" of what the last few years of the millennium felt like.
Bowie's and Gabrel's musical influences at the time had a big impact on the sound of the album: Bowie was influenced by a "euro" sound and bands like Prodigy, while Gabrels was still into the american industrial sound and bands like Underworld
Underworld (band)
Underworld are a British electronic group, and principal name under which duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have recorded together since 1980.- Early years: 1979–1986 :...
.
"Little Wonder" was one of the first tracks Bowie & Gabrels wrote for the album, and Bowie called writing the track a "ridiculous" exercise in pure stream of consciousness. "I just picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like "Stinky.
"I'm Afraid of Americans" was an unused leftover from the Outside sessions: Bowie said "That was something that Eno and I put together, and I just didn't feel it fit Outside, so it didn't go on it. It just got left behind. So then we took just the embryo of it, and restructured it with this band."
Bowie summed up the meaning of the songs on the album by saying:
Album reception
Though not a major commercial success, the album scored a number of positive reviews and scored a minor hit with a Trent ReznorTrent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of "I'm Afraid of Americans
I'm Afraid of Americans
"I'm Afraid of Americans" is a song and single by David Bowie from the 1997 album Earthling. The song, co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno, was originally written during Bowie's studio sessions for the 1995 album Outside but was not released until a rough mix appeared on the soundtrack to the film...
". In the 1998 Grammy awards Earthling was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance and the song Dead Man Walking was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The album featured elements not common to dance electronica, such as live acoustic and electric guitar, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
y live piano, and song structures more common to pop-rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
than techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
. The album performed better than its highly experimental predecessor, Outside, reaching number 6 in the UK charts and number 39 in the US. Rolling Stone magazine praised the album, noting that exposure to Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
on Bowie's previous tour
Outside Tour
The Outside Tour, with David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails co-headlining, opened on 14 September 1995 at Meadows Music Theatre - Hartford, CT with Prick as support band. On selected dates Reeves Gabrels performed songs from his album, The Sacred Squall of Now in addition to performing with Nine Inch...
had apparently influenced him on this album, and they called it "his best since 1980's Scary Monsters
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
."
Remixes and videos
Bowie's enthusiasm for remixing reached its peak when this album was released and the numerous singles from it were also issued to clubs, as well as online: three versions of "Telling Lies" were released on Bowie's official website months prior to the album's release, constituting the first ever downloadable single by a major artist. "Little WonderLittle Wonder
"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in The United Kingdom and topping the charts in Japan.-Background:...
" was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in the UK. Three more singles — "Dead Man Walking", "Seven Years in Tibet", and "I'm Afraid of Americans" — did not fare so well, although the latter did remain in the U.S. charts for 16 weeks, peaking at number 66.
The music videos for Earthling were elaborate. Artist and director Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning...
directed the short films for "Little Wonder" and "Dead Man Walking", while Dom and Nic
Dom and Nic
dom&nic is the working name of directors Nic Goffey and Dominic Hawley. They have been directing notable music videos and commercials since 1994....
directed "I'm Afraid of Americans", the latter being nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. A video was also made for "Seven Years in Tibet", composed largely of concert footage.
Live performances
Bowie took songs from this album on the road in September 1996, performing 4 US east coast "club" shows including one at the Roseland Ballroom in New York to positive reviews. Prior to taking the stage for the shows, Bowie would play his new song ("Telling Lies") over the loudspeaker, but as the single was only available for download over the Internet, most fans did not recognize the song. The setlist for these shows was similar to the setlist he'd use during the upcoming 1997 Earthling TourEarthling Tour
The David Bowie Earthling Tour opened on 7 June 1997 at Flughafen Blankense - Lübeck, Germany continuing through Europe, North America before reaching a conclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 November 1997.-History:...
.
On 9 January 1997, the day after Bowie turned 50, Bowie held a 50th birthday concert for himself, performing tracks off his Earthling album as well as a selection of songs from his back catalogue. Bowie was joined onstage to perform many of the songs by artists including Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
(of The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
), Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
, and Robert Smith
Robert Smith (musician)
Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
(of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
). Other non-performing guests included Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
and Iman
Iman (model)
Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid , professionally known as Iman , is a Somali-American fashion model, actress and entrepreneur. A pioneer in the field of ethnic cosmetics, she is also noted for her charitable work. She is married to David Bowie.-Early life:Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, Iman is the daughter...
. Artist Tony Ousler designed some of the artwork for the video backdrop that played behind the band onstage. The event was recorded for a pay-per-view special commemorating the event.
At the Phoenix Festival
Phoenix Festival
The Phoenix Festival was set up by Vince Power of the Mean Fiddler Music Group in 1993 as an alternative to the established Glastonbury and Reading Festivals...
in 1997, Bowie and his band played in the Radio 1 Dance tent as Tao Jones Index. They performed in darkness with dry ice and strobe lights. Tao Jones Index was a pun based on Bowie's real name, David Jones, and the 1997 Bowie Bond
Bowie Bonds
Bowie Bonds are asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of the 25 albums that David Bowie recorded before 1990.Issued in 1997, the bonds were bought for US$55 million by the Prudential Insurance Company. The bonds paid an interest rate of 7.9% and had an average life of ten years, a...
issue (Tao is pronounced "Dow", as in Dow Jones Index from the US stock market).
Bowie went back on the road in support of this album, with his Earthling Tour
Earthling Tour
The David Bowie Earthling Tour opened on 7 June 1997 at Flughafen Blankense - Lübeck, Germany continuing through Europe, North America before reaching a conclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 November 1997.-History:...
taking place between May 1997 and the end of the year.
Track listing
All lyrics written by David BowieDavid Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
.
All music composed by Bowie, Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, known for virtuosity, versatility, and originality. His compositions and improvisations defy genre and "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most."...
and Mark Plati
Mark Plati
Mark Plati is a New York-based musician, record producer, and songwriter, widely acclaimed for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. An in-demand producer, Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, and Natalie Imbruglia...
, except Track 4, 5 and 9 by Bowie and Gabrels, Track 6 by Bowie, Track 8 by Bowie and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
.
- "Little WonderLittle Wonder"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in The United Kingdom and topping the charts in Japan.-Background:...
" – 6:02 - "Looking for Satellites" – 5:21
- "Battle for Britain (The Letter)" – 4:48
- "Seven Years in TibetSeven Years in Tibet (song)"Seven Years in Tibet" is a song and single by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels from the 1997 album Earthling.A version with lyrics in Mandarin was also recorded...
" – 6:22 - "Dead Man WalkingDead Man Walking (song)"Dead Man Walking" is a song written by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels and released as single from the 1997 album Earthling. It was a number 32 hit in the UK....
" – 6:50 - "Telling LiesTelling Lies"Telling Lies" is a single by David Bowie written in 1996 and in 1997 released for the album Earthling.Three versions of "Telling Lies" were released on beginning September 11, 1996 — one version was released for each of three weeks — constituting the first ever downloadable single by a major artist...
" – 4:49 - "The Last Thing You Should Do" – 4:57
- "I'm Afraid of AmericansI'm Afraid of Americans"I'm Afraid of Americans" is a song and single by David Bowie from the 1997 album Earthling. The song, co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno, was originally written during Bowie's studio sessions for the 1995 album Outside but was not released until a rough mix appeared on the soundtrack to the film...
" – 5:00 - "Law (Earthlings on Fire)" – 4:48
- "I'm Afraid of Americans" first appeared in 1995 on the soundtrack for the movie ShowgirlsShowgirls (soundtrack)Showgirls is the soundtrack album of the 1995 film Showgirls.-Track listing:# "Animal"#* Performed by Prick#* Written by Kevin McMahon#* Produced by Warne Livesey...
, in a version that was extremely rough compared to the Earthling recording.
- "I'm Afraid of Americans" first appeared in 1995 on the soundtrack for the movie Showgirls
Bonus tracks on 2004 reissue
- "Little Wonder (Danny SaberDanny SaberDanny Saber is a Los Angeles, California musician, audio engineer, record producer, and remixer. A former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur, Saber plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is also a prominent Los Angeles DJ....
Dance Mix)" - "I'm Afraid of Americans (Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
V1 Mix)" - "Dead Man Walking (MobyMobyRichard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
Mix 2 US Promo 12")" - "Telling Lies (Adam FAdam FAdam F is an English jungle and drum and bass DJ, and film actor.-Career:An early album was the techstep effort, Metropolis/Mother Earth, released in 1997 on the Metalheadz record label. His other early successes were the tracks "F-Jam" and "Circles"...
Mix)" (This version is not on the Digibook Expanded Edition.)
Bonus disc for 2005 Digibook expanded edition
- "Little Wonder (Censored Video Edit)"
- "Little Wonder (Junior VasquezJunior VasquezJunior Vasquez, , is an American club DJ and remixer/producer.-Career:...
Club Mix)" - "Little Wonder (Danny Saber Dance Mix)"
- "Seven Years in Tibet (Mandarin Version)" (The Mandarin title of this version translates as "A Fleeting Moment".)
- "Dead Man Walking (Moby Mix 1)"
- "Dead Man Walking (Moby Mix 2 US Promo 12")"
- "Telling Lies (Feelgood Mix)"
- "Telling Lies (Paradox Mix)"
- "I'm Afraid of Americans (Showgirls Soundtrack Version)"
- "I'm Afraid of Americans (Nine Inch Nails V1 Mix)"
- "I'm Afraid of Americans (Nine Inch Nails V1 Clean Edit)"
- "V-2 SchneiderV-2 Schneider"V-2 Schneider" is a largely instrumental piece written by David Bowie in 1977 for the album "Heroes". It was a tribute to Florian Schneider, co-founder of the band Kraftwerk, whom Bowie acknowledged as a significant influence at the time. The title also referenced the V-2 rocket.The only words...
(Tao Jones Index)" - "Pallas AthenaPallas Athena (song)"Pallas Athena" is a song written by David Bowie in 1993 for the album Black Tie White Noise.The name is taken from the Greek goddess, Athena, who famously depicted in Athenian statues under the form of Pallas Athena...
(Tao Jones Index)"- Track 11 is mistakenly labeled as the V1 Edit. Apparently, it happens to be an edited album version, which previously only appeared on the 1997 promotional CD "The Radio Edits", alongside with the edits of "Seven Years in Tibet" (which was later released as a single) and a unique edit of "Looking for Satellites", which has never been released in any other form. Disc 1 in this edition contains a mastering error, since at the end of "Dead Man Walking", there are 36 seconds of silence before "Telling Lies" begins.
Personnel
Production- David Bowie
- Mark PlatiMark PlatiMark Plati is a New York-based musician, record producer, and songwriter, widely acclaimed for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. An in-demand producer, Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, and Natalie Imbruglia...
- Reeves GabrelsReeves GabrelsReeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, known for virtuosity, versatility, and originality. His compositions and improvisations defy genre and "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most."...
Musicians
- David Bowie – vocals, guitar, alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, samplesSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, keyboards - Reeves Gabrels – programmingComputer programmingComputer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
, synthesisers, real and sampled guitars, vocals - Mark Plati – programming, loopMusic loopIn electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
s, samples, keyboards - Gail Ann DorseyGail Ann DorseyGail Ann Dorsey is an American musician considered one of the premier bass guitarists and vocalists within the alternative rock scene. With a distinguished career as a session musician, it has been most notably her long association performing in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to the present day,...
– bass, vocals - Zachary Alford – drum loops, acoustic drums, electronic percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Mike GarsonMike GarsonMike Garson is an American pianist, most notable for his work with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins.- Early career :...
– keyboards, piano
Chart performance
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
6 |
| 1997 | Billboard Pop Albums | 39 |
| 1997 | Norway | 13 |
External links
- Teenage Wildlife hosts the original press release for the album.