Record is <a href ="http://www.sendspace.com/file/z07o4w"> here. </a>
Released September 26, 1995 by BMG Records.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-11 08:23:07 +0000
I got into this record by way of the song David Lynch used over the opening credits of his film <i>Lost Highway</i> : 'I'm Deranged'
On further listens, a lot didn't really grab me, but Hallo Spaceboy is a gem.
I believe this record was the tour Bowie did with NIN and Bowie and Trent would regularly do a couple of numbers together.
Posted by Chopper on 2007-06-11 09:22:32 +0000
A Chopper favorite.
Bowie's best effort in two decades, this is a lengthy concept album with another paranoid, George Orwell, world-gone-very bad plot.
Outside was supposed to be the first of five volumes in a still-unfinished nonlinear narrative of art and murder. The plan was to release one album a year from 1995 to 1999 culminating into something "big" for the millenium. The second and third volumes were rumored to be titled Contamination and Afrikaan.
This album features a weird mix of muscians from all sorts of earlier eras - Carlos Alomar, Mike Garson, Erdil Kizilcay, Reeves Gabrels, and the strangest of all, Briano Eno, who not only handled synthesizers, but co-produced and co-wrote almost all the tracks.
As a result, this work ends up being a disturbing, yet fun, blend of music. There is the hard sounding "Hallo Spaceboy," the happy-go-lucky "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town," and the always experimental sound de jour ("Outside").
Most tracks contain hard beating, repetitive hip-hop sounds, eerie, synth sounds ("No Control"), and Mike Garson's always glistening piano ("A Small Plot Of Land"). Reeves Gabrel's influence was kept to a minimum.
Everything on this album is solid, but some of the high points are a bunch of funk influenced songs - "Strangers When We Meet" and "We Prick You." The 90s had a unique sound in general and this album certainly played to that - "No Control" and one of my favorites, the very dark "Hearts Filthy Lesson."
Like Diamond Dogs, Bowie weaves several in-character monologues based on the short story that comes with the liner notes. I still have not figured everything out, but I got the sense that this was another weird concept album set in a time where murder and mutilation of bodies has become a new underground art craze.
In support of Outside, Bowie began a tour in September, 1995. Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his US tour partner - not opening act - NIN & Bowie toured as a co-headlining act. NIN appeared on stage first, playing an equal amount as Bowie. While the crew changed sets behind a large sheath backdrop, NIN played Bowie compositions ("Subterraneans," "Hallo Spaceboy," and "Scary Monsters"), followed by two NIN songs with Bowie.
I remember that this arrangement was an effort to keep the younger crowd interested in staying for Bowie. I saw this show at Great Woods and remember how few of these "kids" stayed for Bowie's set. How sad that was.
Posted by tommy on 2007-06-11 09:57:36 +0000
In theory, I dig the concept album about art and murder. I also even kinda like the 'feel' of this album -- it sounds like art and murder.
However, just because 1995 technology allowed you to cram 75 minutes of music onto 1 disk doesn't automatically make it a good idea. Throw away 25% of these songs, and clip the rest of them to under 4 minutes, and this probably turns into a good album.
On further listens, a lot didn't really grab me, but Hallo Spaceboy is a gem.
I believe this record was the tour Bowie did with NIN and Bowie and Trent would regularly do a couple of numbers together.
Bowie's best effort in two decades, this is a lengthy concept album with another paranoid, George Orwell, world-gone-very bad plot.
Outside was supposed to be the first of five volumes in a still-unfinished nonlinear narrative of art and murder. The plan was to release one album a year from 1995 to 1999 culminating into something "big" for the millenium. The second and third volumes were rumored to be titled Contamination and Afrikaan.
This album features a weird mix of muscians from all sorts of earlier eras - Carlos Alomar, Mike Garson, Erdil Kizilcay, Reeves Gabrels, and the strangest of all, Briano Eno, who not only handled synthesizers, but co-produced and co-wrote almost all the tracks.
As a result, this work ends up being a disturbing, yet fun, blend of music. There is the hard sounding "Hallo Spaceboy," the happy-go-lucky "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town," and the always experimental sound de jour ("Outside").
Most tracks contain hard beating, repetitive hip-hop sounds, eerie, synth sounds ("No Control"), and Mike Garson's always glistening piano ("A Small Plot Of Land"). Reeves Gabrel's influence was kept to a minimum.
Everything on this album is solid, but some of the high points are a bunch of funk influenced songs - "Strangers When We Meet" and "We Prick You." The 90s had a unique sound in general and this album certainly played to that - "No Control" and one of my favorites, the very dark "Hearts Filthy Lesson."
Like Diamond Dogs, Bowie weaves several in-character monologues based on the short story that comes with the liner notes. I still have not figured everything out, but I got the sense that this was another weird concept album set in a time where murder and mutilation of bodies has become a new underground art craze.
In support of Outside, Bowie began a tour in September, 1995. Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his US tour partner - not opening act - NIN & Bowie toured as a co-headlining act. NIN appeared on stage first, playing an equal amount as Bowie. While the crew changed sets behind a large sheath backdrop, NIN played Bowie compositions ("Subterraneans," "Hallo Spaceboy," and "Scary Monsters"), followed by two NIN songs with Bowie.
I remember that this arrangement was an effort to keep the younger crowd interested in staying for Bowie. I saw this show at Great Woods and remember how few of these "kids" stayed for Bowie's set. How sad that was.
However, just because 1995 technology allowed you to cram 75 minutes of music onto 1 disk doesn't automatically make it a good idea. Throw away 25% of these songs, and clip the rest of them to under 4 minutes, and this probably turns into a good album.