Maps of Music

1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle) (1995)

Where the lyrics of 1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle) take you, and where it was really made.

Bowie's 1995 album began as an improvised studio session and a magazine diary, and its story was left unfinished on a cliffhanger.

Key places

Where the sessions began (1995)

Recording site Mountain Studios — Recording for Outside began here in March 1994. Production was handled by Bowie, Eno and David Richards. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing and overdubs in London (1995)

Recording site Westside Studios — The material was mixed at this London studio. Armstrong recorded his contributions here as well. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

New York sessions for the more commercial tracks (1995)

Recording site The Hit Factory — After the Leon material was judged uncommercial, Bowie returned to this New York studio in early 1995 to record more conventional songs. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Outside, subtitled The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle, is David Bowie's twentieth studio album
• Released 25 September 1995: Virgin Records in the US, Arista, BMG and RCA elsewhere
• Reunites Bowie with Brian Eno after the late-1970s Berlin Trilogy
• Nonlinear story set in the fictional Oxford Town, New Jersey
• Detective Nathan Adler investigates the murder of a 14-year-old girl
• Story and Adler's diary entries were presented in the CD booklet
• Musical styles include art rock, industrial rock, jazz, electronica and ambient
• Cover is a self-portrait of Bowie

Background

• Eno expressed interest in working with Bowie again at Bowie's June 1992 wedding
• Visit to the Gugging psychiatric hospital near Vienna in January 1994 inspired the 'outsider art' idea and gave the album its title
• Bowie's interest in performance artists and the Minotaur shaped the concept
• Concept of the album originated on 12 March 1994 during an improvised session
• Television series Twin Peaks was an influence on the story

Recording

• Recording began in March 1994 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland
• Backing tracks were completed in 10 days; overdubs continued until November 1994
• Later sessions were held at The Hit Factory in New York City, January to February 1995
• Material was mixed at Westside Studios in London

Cover

• Cover artwork is a 1995 canvas painting by Bowie called Head of DB

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave mixed reviews on release: most praised the music, others found the concept pretentious and hard to follow
• Many considered it Bowie's finest record since Scary Monsters (1980)
• Rolling Stone's David Fricke praised the lyrics as smart, effective and sly, especially on I Have Not Been to Oxford Town and A Small Plot of Land
• Fricke mostly criticised the spoken segues, saying they damn near sink the record
• Billboard's Paul Verna found the album stumbles on the segues, which advance the plot but hold little musical interest
• Entertainment Weekly's David Browne found most of the record sounding like fodder
• Time Out called it Bowie's best album for 15 years

Reappraisal

• Later reviewers keep praising the music but criticise the story and the length
• Several critics consider the album overlong at nearly 75 minutes, Bowie's longest studio album
• Trainer called it a compelling, complicated, frustrating and flawed listen

Records

• Peaked at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and number 21 on the US Billboard 200
• Lead single The Hearts Filthy Lesson peaked at number 35 in the UK and number 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100
• Strangers When We Meet peaked at number 39 in the UK
• Hallo Spaceboy remix with Pet Shop Boys peaked at number 12 in the UK
• Advance orders made Outside Bowie's fastest-selling album since Tonight

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bowie wrote a diary for Q magazine's 100th issue, and he revised the Leon concept into the basis of Outside's story.
• The video for The Hearts Filthy Lesson, directed by Samuel Bayer, was initially banned from MTV over its provocative imagery.
• A Mexican record executive commissioned a one-off comic, Art-Crime, to clarify the story; it was given away with the CD.
• Nothing to Be Desired, a section of the Leon recordings, was issued as a bonus track on The Hearts Filthy Lesson CD single and remains the only officially released Leon material.
• The Japanese CD release included the outtake Get Real.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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