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Posted by MF DU on 2007-05-23 15:59:25 +0000

2 Words: Reeves Gabriels. I saw RG in a band (probably a solo band he led - cant remember all the details, sorry) opening for Living Colour on their 1992 (1991?)Time's Up tour in the third row @ the Orpheum (not that far from where we saw Iggy Pop). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Mr. Gabriels attended Berklee. We talked a friend's dad into driving me and him from Merrimack NH to Boston so our Fourteen year-old asses could go. I've been a fan since then - I didn't learn until much later that Gabriels was such a key Bowie collaborator, but I knew from the first time I heard him that the guy has got the goods - lots of loud and experimental streaks, fun distortion and dissonance as well. A jazzier Page Hamilton? A crazy guitar night - RG and Vernon Reid on the same stage. As an album, I don't come back to Tin Machine and its sequel a whole heck of a lot, but as a staunch Bowie fan, it comforts me in some kind of Chuck Klosterman-esque way that both cds are on my nearby and readily available cd shelves should the urge come about...

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-05-23 15:57:51 +0000

You might want to change your password, DU -- I think Chopper hacked yr. account.

Posted by pamsterdam on 2007-05-23 18:27:46 +0000

Aw, leave DU alone. He's just expressing the sincerest form of flattery...

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-05-23 18:44:41 +0000

This cute bunny is for MF DU:

Posted by Chopper on 2007-05-24 08:51:01 +0000

Everyone thought Bowie was crazy when this record was released. The project was intended as a back-to-basics album by Bowie, with a hard rock sound and simple production. Unlike previous Bowie bands (e.g., The Spiders from Mars), Tin Machine acted as a single unit. Bowie put together a whole new, full-scale band with guitarist Reeves Gabriels (a Boston native) and the Sales brothers (as in Soupy's kids - who played with Iggy Pop and Todd Rundgren). All band members admittedly were obscure middle-aged musicians who Bowie was determined to hide himself behind. He was just a band member. None of their records was a substantial hit and the band didn't last too long. But amazingly, it's fun. Without all the usual distractions, Bowie just had a blast "being in a band." He went back to his 60's rock roots (title track), while Gabriels indulges the listener with heavy metal rips. The combination of talent is so weird it's guaranteed to make you sit up and take note. The album was not really far off from contemporary offerings like those of Living Color - a band that the critics did like to be sure. Apart from a cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero," the material is entirely Bowie's, with the others often co-credited. In my opinion, Bowie's lyrics are in top form - angrily political in some places, simply warped in other places, with the always glad to have it "love-song" mixed in.

Posted by MF DU on 2007-05-24 09:57:17 +0000

I like it - can we eat it for dinner? Tastes like chicken...

Posted by pamsterdam on 2007-05-24 10:24:49 +0000

I remember so clearly when this record came out - at the end of my junior year in high school. My friends and I had a heated discussion around our lockers (note: in mine Robyn Hitchcock, in Emily's David Bowie circa Let's Dance, in Mark's Morrissey, in Stef's the Cure, in Amy's a mix of all of the above [she's a Libra]). In the end, we decided that it was DB "stickin' it to the man" by doing whatever the hell he wanted to, and in a way, that was the best gift he could have given his fans. The Sales brothers are Soupy's spawn? You got chocolate in my peanut butter!

Posted by MF DU on 2007-05-24 11:06:17 +0000

re: The Sales brothers are Soupy's spawn? You got chocolate in my peanut butter! DÜ approved and agreed.

Posted by tommy on 2007-05-25 10:36:57 +0000

Similar scene played out at Billerica Memorial High School. At that time, I wasn't listening to much that wasn't hardcore punk, but I liked this a lot better than I expected. Even some of the metal kids ended up liking this album a bit.

Posted by Epoisses on 2007-05-25 13:38:50 +0000

I remember being underwhelmed by Tin Machine when they were on 'SNL'. This sounds pretty good, though.

Posted by cdubrocker on 2007-05-25 14:09:47 +0000

SNL soundmix = sh*t