Reality (David Bowie album)

Did You Know?

• The cover artwork depicts Bowie as an anime-style character, designed by Jonathan Barnbrook in collaboration with graphic artist Rex Ray.
• Bowie announced the album title in June 2002.
• In July 2004, it was revealed that Bowie had suffered a heart attack backstage and underwent a procedure known as angioplasty.

Recording and production

David Bowie wasted no time after wrapping up his Heathen tour in October 2002, jumping straight into writing new songs. A fresh distribution deal with Columbia Records meant he could record at his own speed, and he was keen to get back into the studio. He brought Tony Visconti back as co-producer, continuing the successful partnership they had revived on Heathen. The two started sketching out ideas for the next album in November 2002. The tour had re-energised Bowie’s love for performing live, so they shaped the new material with live shows in mind. One of the first tracks they laid down was “Reality,” which gave the album its name.

The songwriting took different forms. Some songs, like “She’ll Drive the Big Car,” came together in a more traditional way. Others, such as “Looking for Water,” were built from loops layered over a melody. The time it took to write each song also varied widely. “Fall Dog Bombs the Moon” was finished in just half an hour, while “Bring Me the Disco King” had a much longer journey. Originally written in 1992, it was first intended for Black Tie White Noise, then slated for Earthling, before finally being completed for this album.

Recording started in early January 2003 at Looking Glass Studios in New York City, the same place where Earthling and Hours had been made. Instead of the larger Studio A, Bowie chose the smaller Studio B, which Visconti was renting on a semi-permanent basis. Visconti said this was to get a “real tight New York sound.” The studio was a short walk from Bowie’s apartment, and his familiarity with the space led to relaxed eight-hour workdays, five days a week. The urban surroundings influenced the music, much like the mountainous setting of Allaire Studios had shaped Heathen.

The core musicians were Bowie’s touring band: guitarists Earl Slick and Gerry Leonard, Mark Plati on guitar and bass, pianist Mike Garson, and drummer Sterling Campbell. Live bassist Gail Ann Dorsey and multi-instrumentalist Catherine Russell only sang backing vocals. David Torn, who played on Heathen, added atmospheric overdubs and lead guitar on “New Killer Star.” Matt Chamberlain played drums on “Bring Me the Disco King” and “Fly.” Longtime Bowie guitarist Carlos Alomar also contributed overdubs to “Fly,” marking his final work with Bowie.

Music and lyrics

Compared to Heathen, the music on Reality is mostly straightforward rock and pop rock, with a more direct and aggressive sound. Consisting of mostly original compositions, the album includes two cover songs originally slated for Bowie's scrapped follow-up to his 1973 covers album Pin Ups: the Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso", written by Jonathan Richman, and George Harrison's "Try Some, Buy Some", originally recorded by Ronnie Spector in 1971 before Harrison recorded his own version in 1973. The author James E. Perone writes that the two tracks match the album's autobiographical tones compared to other covers Bowie made throughout his career. Other covers recorded during the sessions included the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset" and Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11". The principle sub-theme of Reality concerns thoughts on ageing. Following an assortment of "extreme" characters from a "gluttonous rock star vampire" to various diminished figures, the biographer Chris O'Leary draws comparisons to The Man Who Sold the World. The opening track, "New Killer Star", recalls the "gentle beginnings" of Heathen before erupting into a groove. Pegg compares its guitar style to Bowie's own Diamond Dogs and Never Let Me Down, as well as Blur's Think Tank. Lyrically, the song depicts the emotional and physical scarring of New York City following the September 11 attacks, with lines such as "see the great white scar over Battery Park". On covering "Pablo Picasso", Bowie explained that he enjoyed its "fantastically funny lyric". With updated lyrics and new chords, his rendition is more upbeat and rockier compared to the minimalist original, but remains tongue-in-cheek. Visconti's production utilises a wall of synthesisers against bursts of guitar and energetic percussion.

Release

Before the album came out, Bowie teased tracks on his BowieNet site through a feature called "Reality jukebox," and the Sunday Times put out CD-ROM featurettes. ISO and Columbia released Reality in Europe and other places on September 15, 2003, and in the US the next day. Like Heathen, it came in two CD versions: a single disc and a double disc that included the outtakes "Fly" and "Queen of All the Tarts (Overture)," plus a studio re-recording of Bowie's 1974 single "Rebel Rebel." The Japanese CD added "Waterloo Sunset" as a bonus. Later, a "Tour Edition" appeared in each region the A Reality Tour visited; the European version from November had "Waterloo Sunset" and a DVD of a full Reality performance recorded on September 8 at Riverside Studios. An SACD came out in December 2003, and EMI released a remixed SACD in September, bundled with Ziggy Stardust, Scary Monsters, and Let's Dance. In February 2004, Columbia put Reality on the new DualDisc format, with the standard album on one side and a 5.1 mix in DVD-Audio on the other. That release was first limited to Boston and Seattle, then went worldwide a year later. The album didn't get an official vinyl release until 2014, from the label Music on Vinyl.

Reality debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart, Bowie's best showing there since Black Tie White Noise ten years earlier, but sales dropped off after just four weeks. It hit number one in Denmark and the Czech Republic, and topped the Billboard European Top 100 Albums. Across Europe, it reached number two in France, Norway, and Scotland; number three in Austria, Belgium Wallonia, and Germany; number four in Belgium Flanders and Italy; number five in Sweden and Switzerland; number six in Ireland and Portugal; and number eight in Finland. It also got to number nine in Canada. The album did less well elsewhere in Europe, peaking at number 14 in the Netherlands and number 25 in Spain. Outside Europe, it charted at number 13 in Australia, number 14 in New Zealand, and number 47 in Japan. In the US, Reality landed at number 29 on the Billboard 200, not matching Heathen's success but doing better than Earthling and Hours.

Critical reception

When Reality came out, music critics mostly liked it. As with several of Bowie’s recent albums, a number of reviewers called it his best work since Scary Monsters, and many compared it favorably to Heathen. Some thought Reality was even better than its predecessor. John Mulvey of Dotmusic said that if Heathen was overpraised by relieved critics, Reality deserved the praise more. Eric Carr of Pitchfork argued that Heathen had hinted at something Reality proved: that Bowie had finally joined the present, still young in mind but old enough not to make a show of it. Carr called the album “pretty good” and said it confirmed Bowie’s place as a modern artist. John Aizlewood of the Evening Standard found Reality more cohesive than Heathen and made it the paper’s CD of the week. He said the album stands on its own, and that with it Bowie had rediscovered himself and regained his dignity. Several critics also saw it as a return to form.

Some reviewers pointed to the lyrics and vocal performances as showing a maturity not seen in earlier work. Others focused on the music. Howard Cohen of the Miami Herald praised Bowie for playing to his musical strengths instead of jumping on an inappropriate youthful bandwagon. Tim De Lisle of The Mail on Sunday wrote that the record pulsed with creative vigor and offered a gleaming showcase for Bowie’s voice, or rather voices. Rolling Stone’s Anthony DeCurtis believed Bowie succeeded in his search for “reality,” with mixed dismay and amusement. AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine complimented how Bowie and producer Tony Visconti updated their 1970s sound. He said Heathen was a mix of Hunky Dory through “Heroes,” while Reality picked up where Heathen left off, blending “Heroes” through Scary Monsters. He concluded that both records proved veteran rockers can make satisfyingly classicist albums without being nostalgic or too comfortable. Ryan Lenz of the Associated Press described the album as an exercise in introspection, not a commentary on contemporary times, but rather a portrait of an artist nearing 60 who finds the world disappointingly clear and never what it seemed.