DAVID BOWIE/TIN MACHINE 064-7 91990 1 (-89) EEC

 

Another move from rock's foremost chameleon. After the 1987 "Never Let Me Down" album flopped with both critics and fans Bowie saw the need to re-invent himself again.  He teamed up with guitarist Reeves Gabrels, bassist Tony Fox Sales and drummer Hunt Sales for something completely different. As the story goes the idea was to do something they liked themselves, without regards to public demands. And for us who'd followed the man up till then the result was somewhat surprising. Mostly towards hard rock and/or psych and not as melodic as before. Apparently the tracks were recorded live in the studio with Bowie improvising the lyrics as they went along. So no need to complain about the forwardness or the honesty of it all, though I do miss good melodies. Bowie was a master of writing touching tunes and catchy hooks and you don't get enough of those here. However the band is impeccable, especially the guitars, his vocals as notable as ever and to my taste a couple of the tracks really stand out and lift the whole album to a very agreeable and collectible Bowie level - the psycedelic "I Can't Read", the frenetic "Bus Stop" and the jolie laide "Video Crimes". So even if not my favorite Bowie LP I couldn't do without it. Issued and reissued on every possible format all over the world through the years. Premiere UK vinyl on EMI USA (MTLS 1044). Japan 2014 remastered CD on Parlophone (WPCR-80101). First EEC had label as shown here in a fully laminated stickered cover with lyric inner.  (PKÅ*)