- Tin Machine (album)
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Tin Machine 
Studio album by Tin Machine Released 22 May 1989 Recorded Montreux; Compass Point Studios, Nassau, August 1988–1989 Genre Rock, Hard rock Length 56:49 Label EMI Producer Tin Machine and Tim Palmer Tin Machine chronology Tin Machine
(1989)Tin Machine II
(1991)David Bowie chronology Never Let Me Down
(1987)Tin Machine
(1989)Sound + Vision
(1989)Original Vinyl Album Cover 
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Rolling Stone 
[2]Tin Machine is the debut album of Tin Machine originally released by EMI in 1989. The group was the latest venture of David Bowie, inspired by sessions with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. drummer Hunt Sales and bassist Tony Sales formed the rest of the band, with "fifth member" Kevin Armstrong providing rhythm guitar.
The project was intended as a back-to-basics album by Bowie, with a hard rock sound and simple production, as opposed to his past two solo albums. Unlike previous Bowie bands (such as The Spiders from Mars), Tin Machine acted as a democratic unit.
Contents
Album and song development
The band prepared some demos in LA before moving to Mountain Studios[3] in Switzerland and then on to Montreal and then finally to Nassau. The band did not have much luck recording in Nassau, finding it hard to record in the midst of the "coke and povery and crack," which inspired the album track "Crack City."[4] The songs on the album tend to stick to topics such as drugs and urban decay[5]. All songs were a group effort, and the band recorded 35 songs in just six weeks[6][3]
The first song the band wrote and recorded was "Heaven's in Here," which they wrote from scratch and recorded in their first 30 hours together.[7] They followed up by recording a cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" and Roxy Music's "If There Is Something," though the latter wouldn't appear until the 2nd Tin Machine album in 1992.[7]
The tracks on the album were recorded raw and live with no overdubs to capture the energy of the band.[5][8] Bowie elaborated, "We wanted to come out of the box with energy, the energy we felt when we were writing and playing. There's very, very little over-dubbing on [the album]. For us [it] is our live sound."[3] There were no demos made for the album; Gabrels said "Basically the album is the demo."[7]
Tony Sales, bassist for the band, described the band's approach to the music they created:
We were so sick of turning on the radio and hearing disco and dance music and drum machines; all that stuff, which I think in the business they call "crap." We were just thinking about doing a project that would put an end to rock 'n' roll.[6]Album reviews
At the time of release, Tin Machine met with some success, winning generally positive reviews and reaching #3 in the UK album charts. However, long-term sales were not as good.
Spin magazine called the album "noise rock without the noise. Aggressive, direct, brutal and stylishly plain, it combines the energy of the rock avant-garde with traditional R&B rhythmic punch",[6] summing up the album by calling it "incendiary fun" and noting that "the buoyant Sales brothers and Gabrels certainly equal and frequently surpass Bowie."[5] Rolling Stone magazine praised the album's "cynical, indignant and acidic" approach to music as an "all-too-welcome feast of aggro-guitar flamboyance and bass-drum body checking", noting that at times it sounds like Sonic Youth meets Station to Station.[2] A review by the McClatchy News Service called the band "a lean, mean rock 'n' roll machine", that showed that "Bowie's back", going on to say that this is his most invigorating album since 1980's Scary Monsters.[8]
Album covers
The original release had a photo of the band members on the front cover in different positions depending on the format of the album. The order of the LP cover was, from left to right, Hunt Sales, Gabrels, Bowie, and Tony Sales. The cassette order was Tony Sales, Gabrels, Hunt Sales, and Bowie. The CD order was Bowie, Tony Sales, Hunt Sales, and Gabrels. The remastered CD reverted back to the LP cover.
Live performances
The band played a handful of shows in support of the album, informally called the "Tin Machine Tour" in mid-1989.
Track listing
- "Heaven's in Here" (Bowie) – 6:01
- "Tin Machine" (Bowie, Gabrels, Sales, Sales) – 3:34
- "Prisoner of Love" (Bowie, Gabrels, Sales, Sales) – 4:50
- "Crack City" (Bowie) – 4:36
- "I Can't Read" (Bowie, Gabrels) – 4:54
- "Under the God" (Bowie) – 4:06
- "Amazing" (Bowie, Gabrels) – 3:06
- "Working Class Hero" (Lennon) – 4:38
- "Bus Stop" (Bowie, Gabrels) – 1:41
- "Pretty Thing" (Bowie) – 4:39
- "Video Crime" (Bowie, Sales, Sales) – 3:52
- "Run" (Armstrong, Bowie) – 3:20 (Not on vinyl version)[2]
- "Sacrifice Yourself" (Bowie, Sales, Sales) – 2:08 (Not on vinyl version)[2]
- "Baby Can Dance" (Bowie) – 4:57
The 1995 Virgin Records reissue of the album included a live, country-styled version of "Bus Stop" recorded in Paris on the band's 1989 world tour.
Later reissues have been in line with the rest of Bowie's back catalogue, and the spine and disc of the 1999 reissue gives the artist as David Bowie, with Tin Machine as the album name.
Production credits
Producers
- Tin Machine
- Tim Palmer
Musicians
- David Bowie: vocals, Guitar
- Reeves Gabrels: Lead Guitar
- Hunt Sales: Drums, vocals
- Tony Sales: Bass, vocals
- Kevin Armstrong: Rhythm Guitar, Hammond
Charts
Album
Year Chart Position 1989 Norway's album charts 9 1989 Rolling Stone magazine album charts 20[9] 1989 Rolling Stone magazine college album charts 10[9] References
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r20237
- ^ a b c d Fricke, David (15 June 1989), "The Dark Soul of a New Machine", Rolling Stone magazine (554): 137-139
- ^ a b c Clarke, Tina (July 1989), "If I only had a band", Music Express magazine 13 (138): 8-11
- ^ "Tin Machine - Bowie's Latest Vehicle" by Liz Derringer, The Music Paper, August 1989, pp 16 & 17
- ^ a b c Passantino, Rosemary (July 1989), "Tin Machine Album Review", Spin magazine 5 (4): 110-111
- ^ a b c Levy, Joe (July 1989), "I'm with the Band", Spin magazine 5 (4): 35-36
- ^ a b c di Perna, Alan (1991), "Ballad of the Tin Men", Creem 2 (1): 50-59
- ^ a b Barton, David (8 June 1989), "David Bowie puts career on the line", Journal-American: D5
- ^ a b Rolling Stone Album Charts, Compiled by Jancee Dunn, 10 August 1989, page 97
Categories:- 1989 albums
- EMI Records albums
- Albums produced by Tim Palmer
- Debut albums
- Virgin Records albums
- Tin Machine albums
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