9: May 25th — 1. Outside and Earthling
Outside and Earthling Tracklist:
Hearth’s Filthy Lesson (from Outside)
David Bowie - Thursday’s Child (from Hours)
David Bowie - Survive (from Hours)
Blog question: What can we see of the earlier Bowie in these two albums? Does he manage to make a contribution to EDM and other forms of dance music the way he did with his earlier work? Does he recapture some of the weird magic with Eno on Outside? Are there actual songs lurking under the heavy production of Earthling?
Earthling feels like a solid contribution to EDM and dance music. It has the proper feel of EDM but added a lot of unique sounds to it that make it Bowei-esque. I didn't feel like his quirky addition to the EDM sound was very 'early Bowie.' Instead, I noticed a lot of mystical and Eastern sounds that I associate with the middle mud of his career, but not that early/classic Bowie sound. I feel like he actually uses Eastern sounds a lot to add spice to his music but I don't know if he's popularly known for that at all. I loved Outside, but it did not feel like EDM music at all, nor early Bowie. I liked how the story played a big part in the album here, and obviously the queer space boy character is on par with his earlier alien characters. The lyrics are less interesting. It's all very slow, weird and mystical--almost hippie-like. Theres also a lot more theatrical cuts in the album attributed to the persona's characterization like Broadway--perhaps this reflects his concurrent acting career experience? - Isabel Nakoud
ReplyDeleteI felt that “1. Outside” used quite a few elements from some of Bowie’s earlier works. Most evidently, “1. Outside” has a very clear focus on a storyline, which was seen in Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”, “Aladdin Sane” up to “Station to station”. While some of his major albums in between do make use of personas and some semblance of a storyline, none of these commit to a storyline like “1. Outside” does. The frequent use of spoken interludes and segues, and explicitly referring to the story in his songs make this album seem like a novel with a side of music. Therefore, “1. Outside” incorporates the story element of Bowie’s previous albums but dials it to a hundred: While plot and storylines loosely connect songs in previous albums, it seems to be the main focus of this album since listeners are left wondering who actually killed Baby Grace Blue by the end of it. The conceptual weirdness has to be owed to Eno’s influence as well, since it’s no coincidence that their collaboration after a long time created this extremely unique album. In addition to Eno’s magic and the use of storylines, I was pleasantly surprised by the use of piano solos again in this album. It brought me back to the use of piano in Aladdin Sane and after doing research I found that Garson worked on this record as well! Therefore, I find it interesting how Bowie was able to reuse elements of his discography but turn it into something wildly different in “1. Outside”.
ReplyDelete- Natasha Mubeen
There are many similarities between Bowie’s earlier work and the two albums 1. Outside and Earthling, especially in regards to the incorporation of EDM.
ReplyDeleteIn 1. Outside, for instance, songs like “A Small Plot of Land” include many unique elements, like Mike Garson’s piano playing calling back to Aladdin Sane, and a lot of musical experimentation that contributes to a sort of menacing and unsettling atmosphere that is quite similar to the feel of parts of the Berlin Trilogy. Towards the end of the song, the almost chant-like manner with which Bowie repeats the line “Poor soul” reminds me of Low, in particular. Through this return to experimentation, we can definitely see Eno’s influence, especially in songs like “The Motel,” which has a very ambient and solemn sound that provides an interesting contrast to the heavier, more energetic and industrial sound of its predecessor in the album, “Hallo Spaceboy.” Thus, these many complexities within and between songs contribute to the overall sense of complexity and depth within the album.
Meanwhile, Earthling has less of an experimental sound, and musically focuses more deeply on electronica. In “Looking For Satellites,” this translates to a very otherworldly, sort of sci-fi sound which relates to a lot of Bowie’s older work, from “Space Oddity” to Ziggy and beyond. Though it is hard to come up with a very coherent theme for the album as a whole, individual songs are still able to provide us with some sense of understanding of the ideas being conveyed. In “I’m Afraid of Americans,” for instance, there is again this focus on American culture, particularly criticisms of it, which has been seen in a lot of Bowie’s previous works, as well as the recurring themes of religion and spirituality which are present in other songs throughout the album. Thus, these albums provide a deeper dive into electronic music, while also drawing from the vast influences of Bowie’s earlier works, to create something new.
- Lillian Gabrelian
Admittedly I do not listen to a lot of EDM, so I do not feel I can accurately speak to how Bowie may or may not have added to the genre. I will say most of Earthling seems a lot funkier in terms of beat and weirdness than I usually expect EDM to be, but that is about all I can say. While our professor's comment was correct - this album is pretty heavily produced - there are still songs, or at least parts of songs, I enjoyed like “Dead Man Walking” and “I’m afraid of Americans.” Some part of me was disappointed by Outside - it is one of the first really long albums Bowie was physically able to make, and I still did not really feel that attached to any part of it. Eno’s influence with the synth lines and effects is very visible on both albums.
ReplyDeleteThematically, a lot of these albums feel similar to what Bowie has lyrically explored in the past. He seems focused again on the outsider, only now rather than drawing power from otherness, Bowie appears to find more sadness and loneliness in it. In the title track for Outside the guitar and baselines seem to lurch much more than usual, which adds to the effect of listlessness for the whole album. He explores other genres - a jazz influence is clear in the piano part on Small plot of land, and Hallo space boy seems to recall the German rock that influenced the Berlin Trilogy. However, both of these albums feel very new and different for Bowie, if not for the genres themselves.
- Elizabeth Gulli
Although I am unfamiliar with the music genre of EDM, it was interesting to get to listen to Bowie's take on the style. Earthling is filled with electronic music that, although personally not my favorite, are extremely interesting. Songs on the album such as "Dead Man Walking" has a screeching guitar riff that almost seems like a chainsaw. It's less of the dance-club ready songs from "Let's Dance," almost signaling the end of his 80's and intro to the 90's in yet another way.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, 1. Outside is an interesting, technno themed concept album that really seems to be like an ending for the "pop" phase for Bowie. Brian Eno's influence is keenly present in the songs, specifically in the tales that he weaves from song to song. The added style of jazz/piano/style also brings an out of this world feel to the songs, as well as harkening to past usage of the piano from albums before. Songs such as "Strangers when we meet" posses such a spacey quality, seeming both futuristic in tone as well as familiar from the past.
In regards to his past styles, it does seem very familiar in the sense of Bowie experimenting with something new and putting his own spin on things. Even with the last week's listen of "Let's Dance" shows how common it is for him to explore something growingly popular of the time. In regards to general themes, it is the same ideas Bowie continues to cover about topics, such as political commentary on the United States in the song "I'm Afraid of Americans," which harkens back to Ziggy Stardust and beyond.
“Outside” felt like a vestige of Bowie’s earlier discography. The tracks on this album felt a lot more instrument-heavy than “Earthling”, as the latter album was laden with heavy percussion sounds. Nonetheless, the influence of EDM is noticeable in both albums. Although I’m not too well versed in the EDM genre, the songs on “Earthling” felt a bit dated to me (though I’m sure that the sounds were super novel at the time of their release). A track that stood out to me from Outside was Segue - Baby Grace. At first I thought it was quirky, but upon reading the lyrics, I realized how ominous it was and found it to be quite off putting altogether. I preferred ‘Earthling” to “Outside” because the tracks zoned me out and this reminded me of Eno’s influence on the previous albums (with regards to ambience music). Obviously, this album was radically different from Low, yet for whatever reason, the frantic and energetic pace of the songs had the same effect on me.
ReplyDelete- Oksana
I think Bowie attempted an EDM album with Outside, but I think it worked better with his earlier work. There definitely are a lot of different sounds, a synthesizer, and instruments, but, in my opinion, this album is too dark to make it EDM. Most songs in Outside have a very apocalyptic and ominous vibe to it, which wouldn’t really make me want to dance. Earthling is a better representation of EDM, but with a Bowie spin to it. It is very electric, but also has an aggressive tone. This album is very different from Bowie’s earlier work. However, Outside is a little bit more similar to his earlier music. Bowie is definitely telling a story with this album using a new character and of course the Eno influence is similar in the Berlin Trilogy. Once again, Eno’s collaboration with Bowie produced something experimental and industrial. Despite the heavy production in Earthling, Bowie still manages to tell stories or have a message in his songs. In “I’m Afraid of Americans,” Bowie seems to be mocking Americans and in “Seven Years in Tibet,” he sings about a Tibetan man who has been shot. Bowie still has a fair amount of lyrics in the songs of Earthling.
ReplyDeleteSofia Sabra
I think Bowie went back to his previous storytelling, musical like-genre of music with his album "Outside." All the songs felt very angsty, but had a lot of storytelling elements, the influence of jazz, and crazy lyrics in them especially with "Segue." He utilized a very ominous heavy guitar sound in most of the songs, but there were also some songs that felt jazz like with long piano openings that you might hear in some of his earlier songs like "Aladdin Sane." I could definitely tell Eno influenced the songs in this album because a lot reminded me of the songs during Bowie's Berlin Trilogy. There is that weird magic with Eno that can be heard in songs like "Hallo Spaceboy," "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town," and "Leon Take Us Outside." Both of these albums were definitely a step forward from the 80s, in the sense that Bowie sang songs that felt more genuine and true to his unique, avant-garde style of music. I wouldn't say that Bowie could make a contribution to EDM with these two albums as they seem too dark or punk rock/metal like to fit into what I consider EDM. Then in Earthling, I personally thought some of the songs were overproduced and it almost felt like too many sounds were going on at the same time for me to enjoy the songs themselves. I did enjoy the concept of Bowie returning to his British roots after such a long pause in this type of embrace within his songs. For a lot of the albums after his Ziggy Stardust era, they were highly influenced by American pop, jazz, etc. and were mainly catered to a US audience. To me, these songs aren't really mainstream dance songs that you might hear on the radio or played at events. Overall, I think Bowie was able to capture a futuristic, spacey, techno mix of sounds that fit in well for the 90s while recapturing some of the pre-80s old Bowie sounds, visuals, and lyrics.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Cohen
Brian Eno’s contributions to 1. Outside was extremely evident in its interesting use of sounds and instruments, reminding me a lot of the ambient music styles found in Low and ”Heroes”. While it wasn’t necessarily an album I would find myself returning to relisten often, I appreciated its experimental quality that was in stark contrast to many of his 80’s pop-style music. My favorite tracks off of this album were “We Prick You” and “Strangers When We Meet”, the former of which was just a very different sound and the latter of which reminded me of a much more produced and experimental “Life of Mars”.
ReplyDeleteLike many comments above, I agree that Earthling was a better representation of EDM music than 1. Outside, especially the track “Dead Man Walking”, which felt like it could be played in a European techno club. More than just the songs on this record, I loved the extended metaphor of the album name Earthling, as both an ode and contrast to the alien-esque characterization of Ziggy Stardust. Along with the imagery on the album cover of a red-haired Bowie in a coat with an inverted Union Jack on the back and several song names like “Battle for Britain” and “Looking for Satellites”, Bowie alludes to his previous persona and brings back a spacey, futuristic vibe in his music through beats, rather than lyrics, as he had in the past.
Tanvi Gaitonde
I do think that Bowie recaptures some weird magic with Eno on Outside. The type of musical experimentation and creation brings us back to Low, but is much more intense and odd in my opinion. For example, the weird backgrounds and almost whispering voice in Wishful Beginnings This album seems to build off the underlying themes of some of his previous work but is more unique and far out than others. While Earthling seemed to be less experimental than Outside, it was still very trippy. While I don’t know a lot about EDM music, sounds like “I’m Afraid of Americans” seemed to be an early version of tech music. It is crazy to see how Bowie was a pioneer of EDM as he was with so many other genres in earlier albums.
ReplyDelete-Sydney Beale
Overall, I found myself to not be a huge fan of these albums. Starting with “1. Outside,” this album felt colder and not as fun as some of the past albums we’ve listened to, still being full of spacey sounds ranging from ambient to intense, but this time having this overarching ominous feel. Supplemented by some very strong electronic EDM effects, the music sounded even more bizarre and alien, almost like music from the soundtrack of a sci-fi movie, being very unconventional, mysterious, and almost ethereal. It’s also more subdued so I wouldn’t necessarily say this is strictly EDM in the sense that you could find this playing at a club to dance to, but it certainly captures the electronic aspect and heavy rhythms. I was reminded of Eno because this album sounded like the ambience of an alien planet, especially in “Outside” & “Leon Take Us Outside.” I felt that “The Hearts Filthy Lesson” is more rocker, but it’s still subdued, retaining that mysterious air to it -- it also has a grunge aspect to it. This album switches between an ethereal ambience to grunge rock to EDM or a mixture of any of them, all the while still retaining the ominous mood. I also thought it was very interesting that there were songs explicitly titled “Segue” and these songs were always the most unusual songs of the album, having strange, spoken monologues. I found myself enjoying “Earthling” a little more, with it having a lot of electronic songs, combined again with some grunge. However, it still does feel less cohesive and more artsy, making it feel pretty experimental and less like an album that would be played on the radio. “The Last Thing You Should Do” and “Telling Lies” at the beginning actually immediately gave me the feeling of a song that would be found in an old sci-fi video game’s soundtrack, which I think shows just how heavy of an influence the electronic aspects had on Bowie’s music by this time.
ReplyDelete-Mila Daniel
My first thoughts after listening to these albums was truly, "Holy Shit." I think that me being a huge Eno fan makes me very biased going into the albums that he produced for Bowie. He just has a way of making any song sound like it has this special sort of sauce on it. I think vocally we see Bowie really pushing himself to some places he had never been before. Additionally, as a fan of more noisey music like shoegaze, I think that I enjoy the aesthetic choices on songs like the striking piano on "A Small Plot of Land" and the driving low-end and vocal processing on "I'm Deranged." This same idea carries on to most of Earthling as well, especially on the opening track and tracks like "The Last Thing You Should Do" and the closer, "Law." I am admittedly not a fan of EDM music but I feel like Eno does it in such a way that it is so pleasing aurally that you kind of forget that it is even EDM in the first place. I think that these albums contribute less to dance music in general but I feel like 'Earthlings' utilizes EDM aesthetics in a way that I've seen it mashed with many different styles of indie, alternative and modern experimental. I think that there is a weirdness on these albums that harkens back to what Bowie was trying to do initially and listening to them for the first time, they signify in my mind a 'second golden age' of Bowie. Everything on 'Earthlings' has this weird but very attractive 'alienness' to it and I think that the songs with their heavy production still are very solid and the production only makes them better. I think this class has really put Bowie more into perspective for me because throughout his career, he really did try everything.
ReplyDelete- Charlie Whitcomb (:
DeleteIn Outside and Earthling, we see Bowie come back to his roots of rock music. In Outside we see that Bowie reconnected with Brian Eno to produce this album connected back to this dystopian world centered around ideas of the 21st century. He definitely captures some of the weird magic with Eno on this album due to the fact that it is was more experimental with its sounds than Earthling. Bowie and Eno were really influenced by art and performance pushing their boundaries with sound. This album ended up being one of his longest, darkest, weirdest albums to date. He was trying to find his roots in the original rock and roll while always drawing from the art around him. After Outside came Earthling which ended up doing better on the charts than its experimental predecessor. This album has a lot of influence from electronic music and definitely going more for party music for the time. This album definitely had a great influence on EDM in the way that it was one of the first albums to use bass and drum to create this electronic sound. Throughout the entire album, they really tried to find their own music and rhythm rather than sampling from other artists. Overall, both albums worked to find their roots of rock and roll and bring them back to the surface as they were entering the 21st century.
ReplyDelete- Ella Barnes
As others have noted, it is clear that Brian Eno worked on 1. Outside. The emphasis on the experimental and instrumental makes the album sort of reminiscent of Low and Heroes, or even earlier works like Ziggy Stardust. Admittedly, I wasn't paying very close attention to the storyline while listening to the album but after researching it a bit, I am surprised that Bowie went with a concept so dark after his venture into commercial success. My favorite tracks off the album were "Outside", "A Small Plot of Land", "Hallo Spaceboy", and "Strangers When We Meet". Mike Garson's piano work throughout the album is great and adds a lot of intrigue to the tracks. The striking notes add drama and uneasiness to the dystopian soundscape Bowie creates on 1. Outside. I also liked the electric guitar throughout the album; it brought energy to the tracks and backed up Bowie's voice very well. I think what the album is trying to achieve is very interesting and mostly accomplishes what it set out to do. The industrial rock vibe, which can be more clearly seen in "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" music video, reminded me of Nine Inch Nails (I'm not extremely familiar with their work so apologies if this is a wrong assessment) and dated the album a little bit. It is extremely 90s but most of the songs still hold up today.
ReplyDeleteAs for Earthling, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the production. I am not well versed in EDM at all so I'm not sure if I can speak to the album's contribution to the genre. Its heavy incorporation of electronic noises was interesting but probably could have been toned down a bit on some tracks. It often feels that Bowie is drowning in the noise. On Earthling, I really liked "Seven Years in Tibet" and "I'm Afraid of Americans". Both of these tracks had electronic elements but I wouldn't necessarily classify them as EDM. The electric guitar on both of these tracks was really powerful which drew me in. I can't help but wonder if Bowie took some inspiration from the popular grunge acts of the day for these songs. In regards to theme, I though Tanvi's analysis of Earthling and its relation to Ziggy Stardust was super interesting. The use of space-agey laser sounds and other futuristic noises on the album can be seen as a re-imagining of Ziggy Stardust for the Y2K era.
Overall, I had came in with very low expectations for these albums and came out liking them more than I expected. I prefer 1. Outside to Earthling but both of them show an intriguing return to the experimental for Bowie.
- Addison Harms
Parts of "Earthling" kind of felt like someone was trying to hypnotize me. "Looking for Satellites" is a huge example of that, I think I got that idea from the repetition and the sci-fi kind of sounds in the background. The inclusion of satellite and moon imagery in "Looking for Satellites" was of course reminiscent of an earlier Bowie. I also think the track "I'm Afraid of Americans" and the inclusion of the Union Jack on Bowie's coat on the "Earthling" album cover is worth bringing up as something that might even contradict Bowie's former idolization and heavy influence of American culture and music, although I guess that shift to being critical of America had already taken place in the music Bowie released after marrying Iman.
ReplyDeleteI think "Outside" would have been very at home in the middle of the Berlin Trilogy. I don't really have anything even remotely intelligent to say for this album, I don't have any technical knowledge of music and all of Bowie's collaborations with Eno feel very abstract and experimental to me in a way that I don't really understand. In fact, "Outside" is even more incomprehensible to me than the other Eno albums. I was completely lost. "Wishful Beginnings" is just unsettling for the sake of being unsettling, just listening to it stressed me out, which I guess varies pretty starkly from the elevator music that we heard Eno used to make. I'm pretty sure Eno brought along his Oblique Strategies for "Outside" especially. There was a lot of hollow symbolism (or maybe it's just too abstract for me to get anything from it) that definitely sounded like it was straight out of Eno's flashcards, and the whole album created the atmosphere of a Blade Runner sequel.
Sofia Potter
The albums “Earthling” and “Outside” reminded me a lot of Bowie’s earlier albums “Low” and “Heroes” because of the electronic influence and ambient sound. The Krautrock inspired, electronic style of music from earlier in Bowie’s albums definitely is also seen in these two albums in the 90s, but with a lot more edm influence. This is definitely his most dance music oriented album, which makes a lot of the songs sound the same, especially since most of them are based around a drum beat of some sorts. I honestly wasn’t a fan of either of these albums, there weren't really any songs that stood out to me, mostly because they didn’t sound very “Bowie-esk”, and because I'm not the biggest fan of EDM. I do think despite my opinions, these two albums contributed greatly to EDM and dance music, especially since David Bowie was already such an influential figure, and since EDM was a relatively new type of music in the mid 90s, when these albums came out. I think Bowie did incorporate some unique sounds and instruments that added a lot to the start of EDM as well. I think, like I said these albums reminded me of the Brian Eno inspired albums, that “Outside” does recapture some of the Brian Eno magic, but it isn’t done as well as the actual Eno/Bowie albums.
ReplyDeleteAs I listened to both 1. Outside and Earthling, I was struck by how different these projects felt from Bowie’s prior work while still being able to hark back to many of his earlier discography’s iconic elements. For example, 1. Outside reminded me greatly of what Bowie achieved with his album Low, utilizing untraditional sounds to craft atmospheric instrumentals and unique narratives. Another interesting comparison between the music produced in the Berlin Trilogy and 1. Outside is the deliberate inclusion of tracks lacking singing. Bowie’s approach to writing such songs differed in each era, however, with Low’s orchestral pieces notably having no words at all. Alternatively, the songs on 1. Outside, similarly included for world-building, feature speeches with vocals altered technologically and by Bowie himself. The title of each track following this structure begins with the word “Segue,” and together, I feel, they make a clear statement to the audience that Bowie’s intentions with this album are artistic, not commercial. Therefore, Bowie is further distancing himself from the period of Let’s Dance, devised to crank out hits, and is returning to his experimental, storytelling roots. In this album, there is even a return of the wild piano and instrument battles from Aladdin Sane in “A Small Plot of Land.” Thus, I would say some of Bowie’s weird magic is recaptured in the dystopian fantasy of 1. Outside. Now, regarding Earthling, I did not love this album as much, as I found some of it to be pretty repetitive, but I can totally understand how it has inspired modern EDM with its fast-paced, futuristic backing tracks. Side note, if people are familiar with it, the tune that opens “Little Wonder,” “Battle for Britain (The Letter),” and “Telling Lies” almost sounded to me like the Powerpuff Girls Theme song, which is why I think I recognized its continual usage.
ReplyDelete- Devin Bosley
I really enjoyed listening to Outside and Earthling. Both albums, but especially Outside, felt different from a lot of David Bowie’s previous albums, but both were interesting to listen to. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them, based on things that had been said in class about Bowie’s 1990s albums. I really liked Outside. It was very cool to me. I like the speaking parts and some of the other odd additions that make the songs so unique. In these two albums, Bowie definitely retains his love for more unusual sounds and musical instruments in many of the songs. He also sings with a deeper voice in these albums as he also does in other albums that were released not long before these two were released. I think he does contribute to dance music with these albums. Since they did not receive the praise that some of his earlier albums received, I would assume that the contribution was not experienced by as many individuals, but the songs have nice rhythms to them and are very fun. I am sure that Bowie added his own twist to dance music, and that this twist contributed to the development and progression of the musical genre.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
The album 1. Outside has a grungier, more electronic song. It reminds me of the cyber goth music like Skinny Puppy. They released an album in 1995 called Bites which came out the same year as 1. Outside. It isn't as eccentric as Bowie's album, but I feel like he was influenced by the electronic alternative dance music scene during that time. Especially in the track, The Hearts Filthy Lesson. The guitar and drums in the instrumental along with the instrumental overlays definitely remind me of something Abby from NCIS would play in her lab. In the 2 minute mark, the piano reminded me of Aladdin Sane. I can definitely picture this album being played in a gothic club. The elements of rock music and electronic music gives a different texture to the songs than his more popular albums. Additionally, in using his lower range, his voice reminds me of Andrew Eldritch, this is best exhibited in No Control. Bowie's contribution to EDM and dance music incorporates so many layers of sounds giving a lively energy to unusual and rather darker sounds. The Motel reminded me of Lady Grinning Soul with the captivating lighthearted yet melancholy piano that dances around guitar until last part of the song. The electric guitar overpowers it and Bowie's voice becomes more raspy and aggressive. There are songs under the production of Earthlings. You would need to really focus on what Bowie is singing to actually hear them as they sound like they're a part of the song itself. Later electronic bands such as Crystal Castles utilize the technique of the vocalist's lyrics as a part of the instrumentals.
ReplyDelete