Reality (David Bowie album)

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Reality
David Bowie - Reality.jpg
Studio album by David Bowie
Released 16 September 2003
Recorded January–May 2003
Studio David Bowie's house, SoHo
Looking Glass Studios, Broadway
Mike Garson's home studio, Bell Canyon
Genre Rock[1]
Length 49:25
Label
Producer
David Bowie chronology
Best of Bowie
(2002)Best of Bowie2002		 Reality
(2003)		 Live Santa Monica '72
(2008)Live Santa Monica '722008
Singles from Reality
  1. "New Killer Star"
    Released: 29 September 2003
  2. "Pablo Picasso"
    Released: 25 December 2003
  3. "Never Get Old"
    Released: February 2004

Reality is the twenty-fourth studio album by English rock musician David Bowie. It was released in 2003 on his Iso Records label, in conjunction with Columbia Records.

Recording and production

The album was recorded and produced in New York's Looking Glass Studios and co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. Consisting mostly of original compositions, the album also includes two cover songs, The Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" and George Harrison's "Try Some, Buy Some". These two tracks were originally slated for Bowie's never-recorded Pin Ups 2 album from the early 1970s.[2]

Bowie started writing the songs for Reality as the production for his previous album Heathen was wrapping up. Some songs he wrote quickly: "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" was written in 30 minutes. Other songs, such as "Bring Me the Disco King", was a song Bowie had tried his hand at as early as the 1970s and had tried again with 1993's Black Tie White Noise as well as Heathen in 2002.[2]

Bowie and Visconti produced both the stereo and 5.1 mix in the studio as the album was recorded.

On the album's title, Bowie said:

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I feel that reality has become an abstract for so many people over the last 20 years. Things that they regarded as truths seem to have just melted away, and it's almost as if we're thinking post-philosophically now. There's nothing to rely on any more. No knowledge, only interpretation of those facts that we seem to be inundated with on a daily basis. Knowledge seems to have been left behind and there's a sense that we are adrift at sea. There's nothing more to hold on to, and of course political circumstances just push that boat further out.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[3]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[4]
BBC Very positive[1]
Blender 2/5 stars[5]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[6]
Pitchfork (7.3/10)[7]
Rolling Stone 3/5 stars[8]
USA Today 3/4 stars[9]

A contemporary review of the album by the BBC called the album "a proper album, with a beginning, a middle and an end. It's direct, warm, emotional honest, even and the surfeit of pleasingly deceptive musical simplicity allows the irony of the central concept – that there is no such thing as reality anymore – an opportunity to filter through. It's also rather lively and convincing." The same review called this and his earlier album Earthling Bowie's "best album since Scary Monsters."[1]

Release history

Over the promotional period, the album was released in a variety of formats. The standard release was a single jewel case CD version, followed by the CD with a three track bonus CD in digipak format. The album was then released as a multichannel hybrid SACD, and then reissued with a bonus live DVD recorded in London.[10]

Live performances

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Main article: A Reality Tour

Bowie took the album on tour in 2003 and 2004 on what was originally planned to be a 7-month tour.[2]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by David Bowie, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "New Killer Star"   4:40
2. "Pablo Picasso" (Jonathan Richman) 4:06
3. "Never Get Old"   4:25
4. "The Loneliest Guy"   4:11
5. "Looking for Water"   3:28
6. "She'll Drive the Big Car"   4:35
7. "Days"   3:19
8. "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon"   4:04
9. "Try Some, Buy Some" (George Harrison) 4:24
10. "Reality"   4:23
11. "Bring Me the Disco King"   7:45
  • "Bring Me the Disco King" was originally recorded by Bowie back in 1992/93 during the studio sessions for his album Black Tie White Noise, but for reasons unknown was not released until it made an appearance on this album (in re-recorded form).[11]
Limited edition bonus disc
No. Title Length
1. "Fly"   4:10
2. "Queen of All the Tarts (Overture)"   2:53
3. "Rebel Rebel" (2002 re-recording) 3:10
4. "Love Missile F1 Eleven"   4:15
5. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (radio mix) 3:27
6. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (7th Heaven Edit) 4:19
7. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (7th Heaven Mix) 7:23
Limited DVD tour edition

The DVD features a promotional concert where the whole album was played live track by track. It was recorded at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London on 8 September 2003. On the regular CD a recording of The Kinks' song "Waterloo Sunset" was released as a bonus track. On the Canadian reissue, the live DVD was truncated down to five tracks.

DualDisc edition

A DualDisc edition was released initially in the Boston and Seattle regions of the US only. The CD side contains the album, whereas the DVD side contains the album in 5.1 surround sound and bonus material (photo gallery, lyrics, biography, and discography). Of most interest is the otherwise unavailable Reality film featuring full length videos of "Never Get Old", "The Loneliest Guy", "Bring Me the Disco King" and "New Killer Star". About half a year later this edition was released countrywide in the US and Canada.

The original test marketed DualDisc version differs in packaging and in the design on the inlay card from the version that was later released countrywide.

Personnel

Additional personnel
Design

Charts

References

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  8. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/reality-20030910
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  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Reality in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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