This is what’s so great about Bowie, isn’t it? The ANCIANT era was the very height for me...there’s an era for everyone....
What really matters is what the lawyers think it is. I understand there's a long history (back to 1999, at least) of considering TM1, on EMI, a part of the David Bowie catalog. But the latest edition of "Sound & Vision" (2003?) includes some stuff from TM2. Cheeky!
Since Parlophone tries to some sort of 'tell the tale of Bowie' with their boxsets - I realy think that Tin Machine should be part of the story. Either integrated in a 89 to 9? Boxset or in their own package that fits in line with the other sets. The Spine could tell 1989 till 1990 with the name David Bowie crossed out and with a fake sticker under it saying: "F*** You I love Tin Machine"
Wasn't in the UK at the time, it was in the US. I've lived in several countries - Australia (Sydney), Germany (Landau), US (Houston, DC, Seattle). Also did lots of travel within each..... I've been lucky.....
I just listened to Never Let Me Down 2018 and found it to be a tough slog, as if the life was sucked out of it. I realize Bowie's made subsequent comments about the album but I've always liked the original. It's an upbeat pop/rock album and Bowie sounds full of life and invested in the songs. The 2018 version sounds intentionally dense and drab, as if they were trying to place it into another Bowie era. (It also has a couple of squealy guitar solos that are more suited to Tin Machine. ) I'm spinning the 1987 version from the box now...all is well again.
Interesting. The first album is very underrated, especially on this site. After reading many posts, I'm still not entirely sure why this is the case. Even if it was a bit of a shock at the time I suppose (one I coasted easily), almost 30 years later it can easily be placed into context. The songs are flat out rock. Bowie changed styles throughout his career, yet it seems his most ballsy rock was just a step too far. The second album is much more of a Bowie sounding album. It's Tin Machine with the rough edges filed away, and then polished. It's no different in tone to other Bowie albums. It contains a couple of songs which are problematic to Bowie fans apparently, but the one that usually gets mentioned is Stateside. Stateside is a straight blues number, with no particular reason to exist other than playing the blues, and providing the drummer with a venue to sing. It's akin to the tracks from Sabbath's Technical Ecstasy where Ozzy takes a back seat (which I also happen to enjoy). That said, there are some classics there also - Baby Universal, Goodbye Mr. Ed, Amlapura, Betty Wrong, Can't Talk, and a great cover, If There is Something. Bowie's done worse. Oh Vey - I really really want to like. Having seen them live, capturing that would have been great. Instead we got this half-assed single CD with a show set list cut to ribbons, a truly chaotic experience (they certainly didn't sound so crazed when I saw them. Exciting yes, but not like on Oh Vey). Even the cover art was poor. Still, you feel very differently, which is cool.
In truth, he often did - he just didn't necessarily credit them. Bowie wasn't a Dictator - he used contributions from other musicians all the time, while still taking the writing credit. It's how the business works. On Tin Machine he was simply more transparent.
you've repeated yourself which means you didn't understand my post. the Japanese vinyl is the same as the Japanese CD which, barring the inclusion of "Girls", is the same as all other editions of NLMD on CD, i.e. they include the longer versions of some tracks. all vinyl editions except the Japanese include the shorter versions due to the restrictions of the format. the Japanese NLMD vinyl runs 56.42 as does the Japanese CD. the standard NLMD vinyl (UK, US, wherever) runs to 48.16 which would have posed sufficient problems for cutting engineers (optimum length for vinyl being 36 mins). in short, while the shorter versions were prepared specifically for vinyl, the Japanese chose to use their CD master for their vinyl edition. you're therefore better off playing the Japanese CD.
DR numbers for vinyl rips without waveforms or samples can't really be trusted. it may have been transferred a little hot so some peaks were lost. however, as i just explained in the above post, NLMD is a long album and it probably had to be tamed to squeeze it onto vinyl. taming the top end could easily cost a little DR value.
I've been playing around with 2cd Bowie 80's mix compilations for years. I thought I had a good compilation a couple of years ago till I purchased the extended Cat People. I think I've come up with a good compilation that plays well even though it has Dancing In The Street on it. I actually think the omission of Magic Dance (Dance Mix) is a failing of the box sets Dance compilation and it should have replaced Tonight (Vocal Mix) as the Vocal mix isn't very interesting or different from the album version. disc 1 Cat People (Australian extended promo version) Shake It (Re-Mix) Blue Jean (Extended Dance Mix) Dancing With The Big Boys (Extended Dance Mix) Loving The Alien (Extended Dance Mix) Don't Look Down (Extended Dance Mix) Tumble and Twirl (Extended Dance Mix) Underground (Extended Dance Mix) Magic Dance (Dance Mix) Day-In Day-Out (Extended Dance Mix) Time Will Crawl (Extended Dance Mix) Never Let Me Down (Extended Dance Mix) disc 2 When The Wind Blows (Extended Mix) Day-In Day-Out (Groucho Mix) Time Will Crawl (Dance Crew Mix) Dancing With The Big Boys (Dub Mix) Loving The Alien (Extended Dub Mix) Dancing In the Street (Dub Mix) Absolute Beginners (Dub Mix) Underground (Dub Mix) Magic Dance (Dub) Day-In Day-Out (Extended Dub Mix) Time Will Crawl (Dub Mix) Never Let Me Down (Dub Mix) Never Let Me Down (A Cappella) Fame 90 (Bonus Beats Mix)
Tut, tut. Not until the box ostensibly including 1990 comes out! My only complaint about "DANCE!" is the extended "Underground". I understand if someone fell in love with it back in 1985, but it doesn't really add anything to "DANCE!" that the shorter edit doesn't. Still, people are paying their money. If they want the long "Underground", I'm there in solidarity. Parlophone should put as much 12" goodness on there as will fit. They're charging $110 (or much more).
I know Fame 90 is the next box but I included it as the Bonus Beats mix was/is not available on CD so made this home made 12" compilation
I am a hard-core Bowie fan going back to early '72 and I didn't skip NLMD or Tonight. I did however basically walk out on Tin Machine live (sat down in the corner after five songs at the Roxy, where I'd been standing ten feet from Bowie), and I didn't buy the second album or the live album on their release. So that's where I'm coming from subjectively when I say that I don't believe a Tin Machine release is particularly viable commercially. BTW, I thought Tony and Hunt (and Bowie) were pretty great with Iggy on the Idiot tour. Hunt's songs aside (which I don't rate), for me Bowie's performance and material is what I don't like about the band. Oh, that and I'm not a fan of Reeves, though sometimes he's okay. He's effective with the Cure, and I like his work on NLMD 2018. But as a Mick Ronson die-hard, Reeves isn't my bag.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts, as I think he was the guitarist in the Idiot tour, on Ricky Gardner? I thought his contribution to Lust For Life (one of my favourite albums) was awesome but both Pop and Bowie seemed to dump him pretty sharpish. I actually like Tin Machine and Reeves work but I think they may have been more commercially successful with Ricky as their guitarist. I know very little about him.
Ricky Gardiner nice, early instrumental of The Passenger by his band Beggars Opera plus pics of the Low sessions among other goodies to be found there.
Don’t know much about Ricky either. He was pretty effective on the Idiot tour, though he did perhaps overuse his effects when playing rhythm. I agree on Lust For Life. Everyone sounds great on it. Kevin Armstrong may have also been more commercial than Reeves. His work with Iggy and Bowie was always at least solid. Ricky Gardiner came up with the riff for The Passenger, for which I will be enternally grateful. He also has a co-writing credit on Neighborhood Threat. I like his guitar motif far better than what Bowie did on Tonight. I wonder why they did ditch him so quickly. Oops: Karmaman beat me to The Passenger.
I knew Kevin Armstrong was close to Tin Machine at the time but looking him up on Wikipedia he was the main guitarist for Blah Blah Blah so I tend to agree with you. Something else, new to me, from Wikipedia was that our old friend Erdal Kizilcay played a prominent part on Blah Blah Blah as well!
