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Tin Machine II
Tin Machine II is the second and final studio album by the Anglo-American rock band Tin Machine, released on 2 September 1991 through Victory Music. The band, composed of David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels on guitar and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, recorded it in Sydney, Australia, in late 1989 at the conclusion of the Tin Machine Tour. After Bowie completed his solo Sound+Vision Tour in late 1990, recording resumed in Los Angeles, California, until March 1991. The production was handled by Tin Machine and Tim Palmer, who produced their debut studio album (1989), with additional production by Hugh Padgham on "One Shot". While the album musically retains a hard rock sound, the songs are more melodic compared to its predecessor, with lyrics focusing on love.
The cover artwork features four Greek Kouroi and was controversial in the US due to the statues' genitalia. Tin Machine II received mostly mixed reviews from music critics, with many highlighting individual tracks but considering the project as a whole mediocre. Some recognised it as an improvement over Tin Machine. Supported by three singles, the album peaked at number 23 in the UK and number 126 in the US. The band's accompanying It's My Life Tour received mixed reviews; a live album from the tour, Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby, was released in 1992. At the tour's completion, Tin Machine disbanded and Bowie resumed his solo career, releasing his eighteenth studio album, Black Tie White Noise (1993). Gabrels remained Bowie's collaborator for the rest of the 1990s. Bowie's biographers have given Tin Machine II mixed reactions, with most recognising it as inconsistent in quality and panning two tracks sung by Hunt Sales. The album was reissued for the first time in 2020 on both vinyl and CD.
Tin Machine was formed in 1988 by David Bowie, who was at an artistic low point and looking to revitalise his career. The completed lineup included American guitarist Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively; Kevin Armstrong acted as an additional guitarist. The band recorded their eponymous debut album in late 1988 with the producer Tim Palmer. Despite a clash in personalities between the Sales brothers and Gabrels, the sessions were extremely productive, with over 35 songs recorded in six weeks. The album's tracks were recorded raw and live with few overdubs to capture the energy of Tin Machine, resulting in a hard rock sound with lyrics discussing world issues and love.
The band were responded to with mixed reviews from critics. When promoting Tin Machine, Bowie made it clear to interviewers that the band were a democratic unit, with the biographer Nicholas Pegg calling it the mindset of "anyone wanting to interview David would get the rest of the band as well". This move would be written off by critics as a publicity stunt by an artist who is unsure of what he wants to do next. Released in May 1989, Tin Machine was met with mixed reviews and sold well at first but declined quickly. Some reviewers later noted that Tin Machine were exploring styles of grunge and alternative rock before those styles became popular. Like the album, the band's supporting Tin Machine Tour received mixed reviews. At the conclusion of the tour, Tin Machine took a break before reconvening in Australia in late 1989 to begin recording their next album.
Recording for Tin Machine II began in September 1989 in Sydney, Australia, where the band spent three weeks recording new material. They maintained the lineup of Tin Machine, with Armstrong as an additional guitarist. Tin Machine played an impromptu show at a small Sydney venue on 4 November 1989 before taking a rest in January 1990 as Bowie conducted his solo Sound+Vision Tour, filmed a role in The Linguini Incident (1991) and made a brief appearance in the HBO series Dream On. The tour concluded in September 1990, after which Bowie announced his split with EMI. According to Pegg, EMI were continuously expecting another success equivalent of Let's Dance (1983) and became fed up with Bowie's uncommercial work as part of Tin Machine to the point where they refused to market another Tin Machine record, leading Bowie to depart. At the time, EMI were undertaking a reissue campaign with the American label Rykodisc of Bowie's back catalogue, which remained unaffected by the split.
In March 1991, Tin Machine signed with Victory Music, a newly formed record label created by the JVC corporation, with worldwide distribution by London Records and PolyGram. The same month, the band reconvened at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, California, to record three new tracks. The label requested a radio-friendly hit so Hugh Padgham, Bowie's co-producer for Tonight (1984), was hired to oversee work on the song "One Shot". Padgham told the biographer David Buckley that he was not a fan of Tin Machine's prior work, stating it "sounded like a mad bunch of people". Upon working with them, he praised Gabrels' guitar contributions but called the Sales brothers "basically mad". Tim Palmer, who produced their debut album, was brought back to produce and mix Tin Machine II.
Some tracks originated from the sessions for Tin Machine. Bowie and Gabrels had begun working on "Shopping for Girls" in August 1988 before the sessions began, while "If There Is Something", a Roxy Music cover, was the second song the band recorded after "Heaven's in Here". Bowie stated: "We were so exhausted that we didn't have it in us to write another song, so we used an old song to show how we as a band would approach someone else's material." The song was then shelved and placed on Tin Machine II, with Bowie saying "we pulled it out to see how it sounded. We really got off on it."
Gabrels considered the music of Tin Machine II to be "as aggressive as [its predecessor]", but found the songs more melodic. He told Rolling Stone in 1991: "Last time, we were screaming at the world. This time, I think, they're all love songs in a strange kind of way." The author James E. Perone agreed, calling the tracks more accessible than the debut, featuring more conventional hard rock sounds and less "incessant gloom". Nevertheless, Dave Thompson felt the band continued their "loud and rambunctious" sound, while the lyrics were "forthright and confrontational". Bill Wyman of Entertainment Weekly noted the presence of blues, hard rock, art rock and schmaltz, a sentiment echoed by The Economist. Perone finds certain tracks reminiscent of Bowie's prior work. He compares "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" to his work with the Spiders from Mars and the music of "Amlapura" to the folk rock on Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity, although notes that the lyrics, which describe "images of dead children", are a lot darker than the material of that era.
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Tin Machine II
Tin Machine II is the second and final studio album by the Anglo-American rock band Tin Machine, released on 2 September 1991 through Victory Music. The band, composed of David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels on guitar and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively, recorded it in Sydney, Australia, in late 1989 at the conclusion of the Tin Machine Tour. After Bowie completed his solo Sound+Vision Tour in late 1990, recording resumed in Los Angeles, California, until March 1991. The production was handled by Tin Machine and Tim Palmer, who produced their debut studio album (1989), with additional production by Hugh Padgham on "One Shot". While the album musically retains a hard rock sound, the songs are more melodic compared to its predecessor, with lyrics focusing on love.
The cover artwork features four Greek Kouroi and was controversial in the US due to the statues' genitalia. Tin Machine II received mostly mixed reviews from music critics, with many highlighting individual tracks but considering the project as a whole mediocre. Some recognised it as an improvement over Tin Machine. Supported by three singles, the album peaked at number 23 in the UK and number 126 in the US. The band's accompanying It's My Life Tour received mixed reviews; a live album from the tour, Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby, was released in 1992. At the tour's completion, Tin Machine disbanded and Bowie resumed his solo career, releasing his eighteenth studio album, Black Tie White Noise (1993). Gabrels remained Bowie's collaborator for the rest of the 1990s. Bowie's biographers have given Tin Machine II mixed reactions, with most recognising it as inconsistent in quality and panning two tracks sung by Hunt Sales. The album was reissued for the first time in 2020 on both vinyl and CD.
Tin Machine was formed in 1988 by David Bowie, who was at an artistic low point and looking to revitalise his career. The completed lineup included American guitarist Reeves Gabrels and brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales on bass and drums, respectively; Kevin Armstrong acted as an additional guitarist. The band recorded their eponymous debut album in late 1988 with the producer Tim Palmer. Despite a clash in personalities between the Sales brothers and Gabrels, the sessions were extremely productive, with over 35 songs recorded in six weeks. The album's tracks were recorded raw and live with few overdubs to capture the energy of Tin Machine, resulting in a hard rock sound with lyrics discussing world issues and love.
The band were responded to with mixed reviews from critics. When promoting Tin Machine, Bowie made it clear to interviewers that the band were a democratic unit, with the biographer Nicholas Pegg calling it the mindset of "anyone wanting to interview David would get the rest of the band as well". This move would be written off by critics as a publicity stunt by an artist who is unsure of what he wants to do next. Released in May 1989, Tin Machine was met with mixed reviews and sold well at first but declined quickly. Some reviewers later noted that Tin Machine were exploring styles of grunge and alternative rock before those styles became popular. Like the album, the band's supporting Tin Machine Tour received mixed reviews. At the conclusion of the tour, Tin Machine took a break before reconvening in Australia in late 1989 to begin recording their next album.
Recording for Tin Machine II began in September 1989 in Sydney, Australia, where the band spent three weeks recording new material. They maintained the lineup of Tin Machine, with Armstrong as an additional guitarist. Tin Machine played an impromptu show at a small Sydney venue on 4 November 1989 before taking a rest in January 1990 as Bowie conducted his solo Sound+Vision Tour, filmed a role in The Linguini Incident (1991) and made a brief appearance in the HBO series Dream On. The tour concluded in September 1990, after which Bowie announced his split with EMI. According to Pegg, EMI were continuously expecting another success equivalent of Let's Dance (1983) and became fed up with Bowie's uncommercial work as part of Tin Machine to the point where they refused to market another Tin Machine record, leading Bowie to depart. At the time, EMI were undertaking a reissue campaign with the American label Rykodisc of Bowie's back catalogue, which remained unaffected by the split.
In March 1991, Tin Machine signed with Victory Music, a newly formed record label created by the JVC corporation, with worldwide distribution by London Records and PolyGram. The same month, the band reconvened at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, California, to record three new tracks. The label requested a radio-friendly hit so Hugh Padgham, Bowie's co-producer for Tonight (1984), was hired to oversee work on the song "One Shot". Padgham told the biographer David Buckley that he was not a fan of Tin Machine's prior work, stating it "sounded like a mad bunch of people". Upon working with them, he praised Gabrels' guitar contributions but called the Sales brothers "basically mad". Tim Palmer, who produced their debut album, was brought back to produce and mix Tin Machine II.
Some tracks originated from the sessions for Tin Machine. Bowie and Gabrels had begun working on "Shopping for Girls" in August 1988 before the sessions began, while "If There Is Something", a Roxy Music cover, was the second song the band recorded after "Heaven's in Here". Bowie stated: "We were so exhausted that we didn't have it in us to write another song, so we used an old song to show how we as a band would approach someone else's material." The song was then shelved and placed on Tin Machine II, with Bowie saying "we pulled it out to see how it sounded. We really got off on it."
Gabrels considered the music of Tin Machine II to be "as aggressive as [its predecessor]", but found the songs more melodic. He told Rolling Stone in 1991: "Last time, we were screaming at the world. This time, I think, they're all love songs in a strange kind of way." The author James E. Perone agreed, calling the tracks more accessible than the debut, featuring more conventional hard rock sounds and less "incessant gloom". Nevertheless, Dave Thompson felt the band continued their "loud and rambunctious" sound, while the lyrics were "forthright and confrontational". Bill Wyman of Entertainment Weekly noted the presence of blues, hard rock, art rock and schmaltz, a sentiment echoed by The Economist. Perone finds certain tracks reminiscent of Bowie's prior work. He compares "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" to his work with the Spiders from Mars and the music of "Amlapura" to the folk rock on Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity, although notes that the lyrics, which describe "images of dead children", are a lot darker than the material of that era.