Maps of Music

Earthling (1997)

Where the lyrics of Earthling take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded in New York with American musicians, Earthling was called Bowie's most 'British' release in twenty years by his biographers.

Key places

Where most of Earthling was recorded (1997)

Recording site Looking Glass Studios — Bowie chose Looking Glass Studios in New York City for sessions that ran from August to October 1996. The album was primarily recorded here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Where Telling Lies was recorded alone (1997)

Recording site Mountain Studios — In April 1996 Bowie recorded the track Telling Lies alone at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland. It was the last time he worked at Mountain. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Earthling: twenty-first studio album by David Bowie
• Released 3 February 1997 on RCA Records in the UK, Virgin Records in the US, and Arista/BMG elsewhere
• Mostly self-produced by Bowie; Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati credited as co-producers
• Electronica sound partly inspired by 1990s industrial and drum and bass culture
• Lyrics express alienation and spirituality
• 'I'm Afraid of Americans' remixed for release as a single by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails

Background

• Follows the styles explored on the previous album Outside (1995)
• Outside Tour ran from September 1995 to February 1996
• Bowie and the band, minus Simms, Schwartz and Alomar, played summer festivals from June to July 1996
• Bowie described this lineup as among the most enjoyable musicians he had worked with
• In April 1996 Bowie recorded 'Telling Lies' alone at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland
• Bowie chose Looking Glass Studios in New York City for the album; Mark Plati joined as an engineer
• First record Bowie mostly self-produced since Diamond Dogs (1974)

Recording

• Recorded primarily from August to October 1996 at Looking Glass Studios
• Recorded entirely on hard disk
• Gabrels and Plati focused on the music while Bowie focused on the lyrics
• Mike Garson, Gail Ann Dorsey and Zack Alford added overdubs in the latter half of the sessions
• Nine tracks, compared with nineteen on Outside

Cover

• Bowie wears a tattered Union Jack coat with his hands behind his back
• The coat was co-designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen
• Photograph taken by Frank Ockenfels in New York; final cover created by Dave De Angelis in England

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

• Earthling received largely positive reviews from music critics on release
• Rolling Stone's Mark Kemp considered it Bowie's best since Scary Monsters, though he felt the music lacked innovation
• Q magazine's Steve Malins found it shot through with a gnarly atmospheric chill
• Billboard called it Bowie's most inspired and cutting-edge effort since Let's Dance (1983)
• The Independent's Andy Gill praised it as innovative next to other jungle and drum and bass acts of the time
• NME's Jazz Mulvey found it more rushed than Outside and overall clumsy and pretentious
• Melody Maker's Carol Clerk and Andre Paine included it on their list of Bowie albums best to avoid

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticised the sound as awkward
• PopMatters' John Davidson wrote that it was Bowie trying to play catch-up with the late 1990s drum and bass explosion
• The Independent's Ed Power placed it in the most underrated phase of Bowie's career
• Pitchfork's Sean T. Collins compared it positively to Young Americans and Let's Dance
• Uncut placed it 386th in its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of the 1990s

Records

• UK Albums Chart: number 6
• US Billboard 200: number 39
• Number 5 in Belgian Wallonia and Sweden
• Top ten in France and Scotland
• Nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, losing to Radiohead's OK Computer (1997)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album title was chosen by fans at a performance in Roseland, New York, during the September 1996 tour; Bowie asked the audience whether it should be titled 'Earthling' or 'Earthlings'.
• Bowie said the title was meant to describe the Earth and man's pure habitat on it.
• The Japanese CD included the 'Adam F Mix' of 'Telling Lies' as a bonus track.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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