Reality

David Bowie

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 2003)
• Original Release Date: September 16, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000AR8NK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,698 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Expectations have long been the mixed blessing of David Bowie's illustrious, if at times frustrating career. Whether he addresses the inherent paradoxes of his own chameleonic past on this loose concept album (or, given his statements arguing that there's "not any ultimate reality," is it anti concept?) is almost beside the point: The real glue that holds it together is the renewed strength of Bowie's songwriting. If his success at reinvention arguably went off the rails sometime between the dance-club affectations of Let's Dance and Tin Machine's noisy, overweening art-rock, he continues the renewed embrace of basics heralded by Heathen here. Not surprisingly that album's producer, Tony Visconti, has returned, framing Bowie's muscular efforts in ever more ambitious and far-ranging productions that paradoxically echo both Bowie's modern Manhattan roots and his 60's-70's musical prime (an era during which Visconti was often a key collaborator). Be they oblique, if cutting commentaries on current geo-politics (the Low/Heroes-era evoking "New Killer Star," "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" and "Looking For Water"), surprising cover choices (Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" all dizzy and beefed-up; a suitably grand, Wall-of-Sound recreation of Ronnie Spector's obscure, George Harrison-penned "Try Some, Buy Some") or more personal concerns (the vaguely Incan "Days"; the rhythmic Low-isms of "Never Get Old"), Bowie's work here is powered by a renewed sense of dramatic focus and musical purpose that's refreshingly free of the shackles of fashion and self-imposed reinvention. It's true you can't go home again; but damned if Bowie hasn't found his most compelling music in decades trying. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who Says Reality Bites?, June 26, 2004

By	Gianmarco Manzione (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

2002's "Heathen" was the beacon on the mountain for Bowie fans who hoped the eloquent and moving minimalism of 1999's "Hours" was not just an aberration on the way to another noisily ambitious effort such as "Outside." Yet even for all "Heathen" did to suggest that Bowie had finally swept his Tin Machine under the rug for good, disonant techno freak-outs like "Took A Trip on a Gemini Spaceship" anticipated the tight rope Bowie walks on "Reality," a record so ambitious in production and sound as to be constantly on the verge of explosion. While "Hours" played like a dressed-up stepchild of "Hunky Dory," "Reality" picks up where "Scary Monsters" left off. As on that 80s masterpiece, each song on Reality approaches but never crosses the boundary between melody and mania. The result is a gorgeously successful restraint and maturity; the kind of reservation of his powers that moments of even his most lauded works have lacked. No song on "Reality" illustrates this more aptly than the stunning and ethereal "Days," one of the most moving productions of Bowie's career. Similarly tender and understated compositions like "Fall Dog Bombs The Moon" or the darkly seductive and jazzy "Bring Me The Disco King" balance nicely with noisier and farther-reaching explosions of melody so radiant as to light the world on fire: "New Killer Star" with its subtle nod to the doo-wop hit "I Will Follow Him," his cover of the Modern Lovers' under-ground punk hit "Pablo Picasso," the bright "Looking For Water." By the time the title track finally comes around, Bowie's vocals sound appropriately drained and the sound itself seems closest to driving off the deep end of the album's steel composure. But such meticulous production might have seemed inhuman without at least this one less-structured and overblown track. There simply had to be a pressure valve and the title tracks happens to be it; but there is hardly a song on here whose melodies are not infectious. When songs like these get stuck in your head, you hope they never leave.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Killer Bowie!, September 17, 2003

By	Brett D. Cullum (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

REALITY is a great art album. Bowie is a painter using sounds and textures, and he removes himself from genres. Yes this CD ranges from techno, industrial and jazz - often in one song. It's a complete statement, and a wholly satisfying journey. Tony Visconti helps produce one of Bowie's best releases in this or any decade. The whole affair begins strongly with NEW KILLER STAR - a rocking song with a hook. Bowie covers "PABLO PICASSO" by Johnathan Ritchman which some may remember off the REPO MAN soundtrack. It wanders in the same vein and winds up with an astro lounge ballad called BRING ME THE DISCO KING. Is it a dig at 70s pop, or a paranoid vision of today? Probably both. This one seems less about his age, and more about the state of the world - an assault on consumerism (both his own and yours) can be found on TRY SOME, BUY SOME or SHE'LL DRIVE THE BIG CAR. NEVER GET OLD is more a statement that we will never have enough than railing against age. The lyrics are pure poetry, and the music and singing is pure Bowie. He's found new life lately, and he still intrigues and challenges his listeners after well over 3 decades. It's a glittering gem of an album. A well expressed work in a world that often gives us singles and sound bytes. Bowie refuses to toss out just one or two hits. This is solid from start to finish. And his best since his last album! :-)

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (Bowie Will) Never Get Old, September 28, 2003

By	Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Bowie has always been accused of possessing a chameleon like persona, but the 'reality' is that he simply has the courage to explore every aspect of music that he takes a fancy to. "Reality" is no exception. Just a shade further towards inventiveness than "Heathen", Bowie pulls together a full album set that possesses his entire creativeness with no filler.

Featuring Tony Visconti as an effectual producer of famed renown, the songs surpass what most expect of Bowie. "New Killer Star" piles on the guitars with a goofy synthesized background loop and "Never Get Old" succeeds with an upbeat rhythm destined to be a dance hit and a radio favorite. The range of song moods is large, with "The Loneliest Guy" harkening back to the Fripp-Eno age with space guitars and synthesized over samplings, while "Days" is reminiscent of the "Hunky Dory" period with it's happy, pop ditty silliness. The biggest surprise is "Bring Me The Disco King", a slow piano lounge lizard song with multiple Bowie over-dubs.

Two big numbers here are "Fall Dog Bombs The Moon" and the title track, "Reality" which have the same driving chords and strong beat Bowie used so effectively in his "Let's Dance" era. But make no mistake. Despite the similarities to previous work, Bowie has brought out some wonderfully new music - music that has matured smartly.