Reality (David Bowie album)
| Reality | ||||
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| Studio album by David Bowie | ||||
| Released | 16 September 2003 | |||
| Recorded | The Looking Glass Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 49:25 | |||
| Label | Iso Records, Columbia | |||
| Producer | David Bowie, Tony Visconti | |||
| David Bowie chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Reality | ||||
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Reality is the 23rd studio album by English rock musician David Bowie. It was released in 2003 on his Iso Records label, in conjunction with Columbia Records.
Critical reviews
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
| Blender | [3] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Pitchfork | (7.3/10)[5] |
| Rolling Stone | [6] |
| USA Today | [7] |
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."[8]
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.[9]
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).[10]
- 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 |
- 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
- David Bowie – vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, saxophone, stylophone, synthesiser
- Sterling Campbell, Matt Chamberlain – drums
- Gerry Leonard – guitar
- Earl Slick – guitar
- Mark Plati – bass guitar, guitar
- Mike Garson – piano
- David Torn – guitar
- Gail Ann Dorsey – backing vocals
- Catherine Russell – backing vocals
- Additional personnel
- Matt Chamberlain – drums on "Bring Me the Disco King" and "Fly"
- Tony Visconti – bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Mario J. McNulty – additional percussion and drums on "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon", additional engineering [11]
- Carlos Alomar – guitar on "Fly"
- Greg Tobler – assistant engineer
- Design
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Czech Album Chart | 1[citation needed] |
| Danish Album Chart | 1[citation needed] | |
| Austrian Album Chart | 3[citation needed] | |
| French Album Chart | 2[citation needed] | |
| German Album Chart | 3[citation needed] | |
| Greek Album Chart | 2[citation needed] | |
| Italian Album Chart | 4[citation needed] | |
| Portuguese Album Chart | 2[citation needed] | |
| Russian Album Chart | 2[citation needed] | |
| Norway Albums Chart | 2[citation needed] | |
| UK Albums Chart | 3[citation needed] | |
| Billboard 200 | 29[citation needed] | |
| Euro Albums Chart | 1[citation needed] |
References
- ^ Reality (Review), metacritic, retrieved 16 January 2013
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Reality - David Bowie". Allmusic. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ "Reality – Blender". Blender. Retrieved 16 June 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Caroline Sullivan (12 September 2003). "David Bowie, Reality". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ Eric Carr (16 September 2003). "David Bowie: Reality". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/reality-20030910
- ^ Edna Gundersen (15 September 2003). "Listen Up (David Bowie: Reality)". USA Today. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ David Bowie Reality Review, retrieved 11 January 2013
- ^ (Portuguese) Ivan Claudio (24 September 2003). "Jovialidade sem botox". Retrieved 13 November 2010.
- ^ David Wild. "Bowie's Wedding Album". Rolling Stone (21 January 1993): 14.
- ^ [1]
