Customer Reviews

Tin Machine II

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tin Machine was not what Bowie fans expected and that was the point. This was Bowies saving grace where he returned to being just part of a whole and not the lead man in charge. With Tin Machine I & II Bowie excaped the "POP Star" tag and in the process rejuvinated himself to take the new millineum by storm.

Both Tin Machine albums are amazing because they are demonstrations of an artist searchng and finding associations within himself. This was a very risky thing to do in my opinion. Imagine Madonna joining Radiohead for two albums or Prince teaming up with Ministry. These things never happen. Only someone like David Bowie could have pulled Tin Machine off.

Tim Machine is and exercize in "Intellectual Chaos" or "Educated Punk". The lyrics are some of Bowies best and the songs are an intergration of Reeves Gabrels, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales and David Bowies combined talents.

The Cd starts out with "Baby Universal" a driving spacerock story about a man searching for himself (sound familar?). Next comes "One Shot" a rocking lament to lost love. "You Belong In Rock & Roll" pulls you in and makes you move( The title tells it all.) "If There Is Something" sounds like a classic from the start with lots of inuendos and hooks. "Amlapura" is a sweeping rock colored epic ballad with lyrics that paint a world with Bowies eyes. "Betty Wrong" is a nasty grinding sax touched torch song. "You Cant Talk" twists lyrics and guitar strings with a driving beat. "State Side" a bluesrock song that casts Bowie as backup singer with Hunt Sales on lead vocals. "Shopping For Girls" rolls out Bowies gift for adstraction. "A Big Hurt" thunders out mixing metal and blues riffs seamlessly( Ziggy Stardusts Ghost?.) "Sorry" haunts with an almost middeastern sounding sax and acoustic guitar( Hunt Sales On lead vocals) very passionate ballad. "Goodbye Mr. Ed" an odd driving mesh of sadness and rock acoustics. The album caps off with a secret insrtamental track from on of their jam sessions.

An Album well worth having and full of inspirations.

After a successful Sound + Vision, everyone expected David Bowie to deliver the goods again...and they were disappionted by Tin Machine, which was understandable. Shortly thereafter, Tin Machine II was released, and nobody even payed attention to it; it should have-would have-been a success, if only it had gotten beyond the fans of Bowie. A solid hard-rocking album highlighted by "One Shot", "If There is Something" and "Stateside", it delivers 13 songs, most of them good-to-exceptional, with great musical variety. Either of the first two of those could have been a hit single, as Reeves Gabrels shines in "If There Is Something" with terrific soloing. This is a great addition, however anonymous, to any rock-fan's collection, and worth every cent of the 10-to-20 dollars one would pay for it.

Not as good as some of what Bowie has done but much better than that dribble from the 80's prior to this. It's grunge before grunge was a type of music, it's punk it's metal it's blues. Above all it's damn fun to listen to.

Okay, I don't know what "emetic" means, but I have listened to the album. The first thing to mention is that you're getting two non-Bowie tracks here: "Stateside" and "Sorry," which were sung by the drummer. Why would you want someone else in the band to sing leads when your singer is David Bowie? I have no idea. Don't replace him with this guy, anyway. You'll most likely program those two tracks out right away. They really bite.

The rest of the album is decent. Reeves Gabrels doesn't dive-bomb his whammy bar all the time like on the first CD, and David throws in a little sax here and there. "Baby Universal" is nifty pop, "Big Hurt" is a stupid heavy metal song, "If There Is Something" just rocks, and "Goodbye Mr. Ed" sounds more like solo Bowie stuff. All good.

Not as raw as the first Tin Machine effort, and certainly more slick. Still, there are some good moments on Bowie's "return to the garage" LP. Their rendition of Bryan Ferry's "If there is something" is riveting. "Amlapura" and "Betty Wrong" are elaborately arranged. Hunt Sales vocals on the ultra-blues tune "Stateside" are excellent. If you liked TMI, you should own this worthy follow-up album.

This is definitely some of Bowie's most intuitive work. The lyrics themselves are poetry even if the music is at times somewhat like cellophane. I personally found the music not nearly straightforward, appropriately undergirding and moody. The musicians are very adept and the raw sound let's it show. Don't judge this book by it's cover. It will take several listening sessions to catch the rapids beneath the sheen exterior. Altogether, the sound is intellectually sheik.

Tin Machine II picks up where Tin Machine left off, and in most senses corrects the errors of the first-born: Reeves Gabrels' ministry-of-silly-walks guitar playing is spanked and told to behave itself; the production is snappier and cleaner, the mix is better, the band is miles tighter and the songs are more focussed - there are no cacophonic space-jams here, thank you very much. And thank heavens for that.

The songwriting is just as good, in a slow burning way. The first couple of listens singularly failed to grab me (not helped by Baby Universal being a fairly humdrum opener), but I gave it a couple more goes and an hour after the fifth spin it hit me that actually Betty Wrong is a terrific song, as classically Bowie as any thing from "Heroes", and before long Shopping for Girls, Goodbye Mr Ed and the almost Bowie-free Stateside were rolling round in my head the way all good Bowie tunes do, cheeky lines about Kennedy convertibles, Marilyn inflatables and fellows with no heads repeating on me and yes, even causing a chuckle. Goodness me, there's life in the old dog yet.

But the record still isn't as fresh as Tin Machine I, which for all its flaws I find the more pleasing effort. And fundamentally, history will mark the Tin Machine phenomenon as the fair breeze which blew the Good Ship David Bowie back off the rocks, rather than the one which saw him home, and I suppose in a way that's fitting: Now he's back to something approaching his creative best, I don't miss Tin Machine. But in 1989, the dreadful strains of "Too Dizzy" still in my head, it may as well have been the second coming. Tin Machine killed off Never Let Me Down, and everything it stood for. And we can all be thankful for that.

Is it possible for David Bowie to be just another band member? Blantant attempts are made on Tin Machine II to try to convince you of this. Hunt Sales sings lead on a couple tracks. The album cover features 4 identical statues. The back cover shows the four members in similar black attire, backs turned and faceless. But let's face it, Bowie is and will always a shining star of a frontman with charisma that is hard to match. The tracks Sales sings on are simply awful. Most of the other tracks sound like boring adult rock along the lines of The Travelling Wilburys with maybe a few tricks thrown in. Egad! The only thing I see "risky" about this album is that it was released in the first place. It sounds unfinished and lacks continuity (something a leader or a band that wasn't contrived may have offered).

The only standout tracks (or at least those that don't stand out for being so bad) are 'Baby Universal', a tight pop number with great maniacal guitar licks, and 'You Belong in Rock and Roll' which is so laid back it's chilling. Their cover of 'If There is Something' ain't bad, but I've never heard a Roxy Music cover that came close to touching the original. Best thing about Tin Machine was that it unearthed guitarist Reeves Gabriels, whose skills were better inmplemented in Bowie's subsequent solo albums 'Outside' and 'Earthling'. As far as Bowie goes, I just can't see how this CD could ever be rated 5 stars by anyone who has heard the man's 1970s material.

i dont know why the tin machine albums gets such tepid reviews generally---i love this stuff-- all of it -and have been listening to it for years-----to me its classic bowie really in the sense that he stretches out and i think like all the geniuses of his generation--dylan hendrix lennon townsend--kinks cream etc----and perhaps to the greatest degree---he of all must reinvent himself--as all artists must--& not to please an audience -most usually who they leave in the dust till they catch up if they ever do- but to be true to their muses-- and w this tin machine stuff-- its a huge wall of sound coming at you----gorgeous and lush as in you belong in rock and roll---- a song as potent as anything he ever wrote--the song gives me much thrills and chills i must say----every time i hear it----- i believe tin machine actually to be bowie at his brilliant best-- and these songs all stand up--much better than some earlier stuff which can seem dated--too disco- ee or what have you--- but he's a genius so its just a matter of how much pay dirt he hits-----and w tin machine he hit quite a vein--and i love the sales brothers on this !! soupy sales sons help bring on the thunder !! the song "if there is something "-- is amazing--the screaming guitars and bowies voicings----sheer raging delight-- and some great melody in there-----w his usual rockin rhythms----this is sheer heaven listening to this-----the segue into the poignant amalpura---- his plaintive voice--- this is rich and gorgeous music !!! you cant talk----another gem--- if you are faMILAIR W FRANK ZAPPAS FIST FEW MOTHERS OF INVENTION albums-----some of the voicings/choruses are resonant with that stuff--- like a mothers of invention on acid if you will----but the real kicker on this disc for me is the fantastic song stateside- yeah its not bowie singing lead-- who cares man !!!!!!! this song is classy rockin bluesy gold ! the last 38 seconds of it rips yer skin off and leaves u shredded-then it segues into another amazing spacey trippy song shopping for girls------next up is a rave up w fire engine siren whiplashings and wailing guitars--this whole album of songs-could wake the dead from a drowsy slumber--I see this music as a soundtrack for a new interpretation of fraNKENSTEIN--big hurt---from the monster about his bad brain--the plaintive `sorry' the doctors answer to that mishap----goodbye mr ed--ed koch ?? who knows--but I just assume bowies talking about me--a universal me - who sees it all-----there must be someone on this planet who sees more than anyone else---why not you--the listener -or me--if the shoe fits etc---the closer to this raging album-hidden- has bowie blowing sax to the screaming guitars for a 58 second reminder that what this venture's import would turn out to be to most critics-hidden !! I think for bowie this work erased everything that preceded it in his own ouvre or mind--- he's clearing his throat here---- and starting anew---- for those w ears to listen and hear-----this album can rebirth you too----

David Bowie has come with album after album, filled with rich fertile lyrics. Tin Machine II is no exception. He packs the brilliance into each and every song. Maybe the best well known quote from this album is a lyric from Baby Universal. "A speck of dust has settled in my eye....doesn't matter, I've seen everything anyway." That single quote basically sums up Bowie's career up until that point. He had experimented with a little bit of everything. From the gay scene, to cocaine, to soul, to Berlin, to The Elephant Man, to regained fame and success (Let's Dance), to becoming a mockery for some (Tonight and Never Let Me Down), to forming a band called Tin Machine. He can do whatever he wishes even if there are more critics than praisers. That is why it doesn't matter. Yet this album does matter. I, personally, find this album to match up to the first Tin Machine album. Sure, it's not a pop album, and may not be popular, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserves some attention. The songs to be liking are "Baby Universal," "You Belong In Rock n' Roll," "You Can't Talk," "Shopping For Girls," and "Goodbye Mr. Ed."