Maps of Music

hours… (1999)

Where the lyrics of hours… take you, and where it was really made.

The cover shows a tired Bowie cradled by a younger Bowie in a Pietà pose, and the album was first sold as a full download on BowieNet before its CD came out.

Key places

Looking Glass, New York City (1999)

Recording site Looking Glass Studios — Listed as a recording location for Hours in New York City. The album was recorded in mid-1999 at studios in Bermuda and New York City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Chung King Studios, New York City (1999)

Recording site Chung King Studios — Listed as a recording location for Hours in New York City. The album was recorded in mid-1999 at studios in Bermuda and New York City. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Big Sky Studios, West London (1999)

Album cover Big Sky Studios — The cover photograph was taken by Tim Bret Day at Big Sky Studios in West London. An outtake from the same session was included in the CD booklet. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Hours: 22nd studio album by David Bowie
• First released 21 September 1999 on BowieNet for download, then CD on 4 October 1999 through Virgin Records
• One of the first albums by a major artist available to download over the internet
• Began as the soundtrack to the video game Omikron: The Nomad Soul (1999)
• Final collaboration between Bowie and guitarist Reeves Gabrels, who had worked with him since 1988
• Recorded in mid-1999 at studios in Bermuda and New York City
• A fan wrote lyrics and sang backing vocals on one track after a BowieNet song contest in late 1998

Background

• Bowie stayed mostly out of the studio in 1998 and focused on ventures outside music, including BowieNet
• Late 1998: composed the Omikron soundtrack; game developed by Quantic Dream, published by Eidos Interactive
• David Cage chose Bowie over applicants including Björk, Massive Attack and Archive
• Bowie appeared in the game as singer of an in-game band with Gabrels and bassist Gail Ann Dorsey
• Between late 1998 and early 1999 Bowie and Gabrels wrote many songs, some for Omikron and some for a Gabrels solo album
• Writing was more conventional than the experimental cut-up style of Bowie's other 1990s records

Recording

• After Placebo collaboration in February and March 1999, Bowie and Gabrels entered Seaview Studios in Bermuda, his new home after he sold his Swiss house
• Bowie and Gabrels did most of the work themselves; Mark Plati and Sterling Campbell returned
• Other musicians: Mike Levesque, Everett Bradley, Chris Haskett and Marcus Salisbury
• Gabrels vetoed a TLC backing vocal idea and hired his friend Holly Palmer instead
• Alex Grant, winner of the BowieNet songwriting contest, was flown to New York for the vocal and overdub session on 24 May, broadcast live on BowieNet

Cover

• Based on the Pietà: short-haired Earthling-era Bowie resting in the arms of a long-haired, younger Bowie
• Photographed by Tim Bret Day at Big Sky Studios in West London

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London.
• Studied art, music and design; took up saxophone in 1961.
• Adopted the stage name David Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

Career

• Breakthrough with "Space Oddity" in 1969, reaching the UK top five.
• Glam rock success in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust persona and album.
• Berlin Trilogy (Low, "Heroes", Lodger) with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti in the late 1970s.
• Greatest commercial success with Let's Dance in 1983.
• Fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine from 1988 to 1992 before resuming a solo career.
• Final studio album Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

Legacy

• Sold over 100 million records worldwide.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Mixed reviews from critics; many praised single tracks but criticised the album as a whole
• Mojo's Mark Paytress: said it was 'no masterpiece' but called it a worthy end to a trilogy
• Q: called it a richly textured and emotionally vivid set
• Rolling Stone's Greg Tate: called it an album that improves with each new hearing
• Alternative Press: called it a masterpiece that returns Bowie to basics
• The A.V. Club's Keith Philips: said it hit the mark more often than it missed, citing 'Survive', 'Seven' and 'What's Really Happening?'
• The Guardian's Adam Sweeting: found it sludgy and laborious apart from 'Thursday's Child'
• Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman: praised 'Thursday's Child' as a lovely ballad but found the rest subpar
• The Independent and The Observer: compared it unfavourably to Hunky Dory
• Time Out: dismissed it as Bowie's most pointless and desultory record since Tin Machine II
• Spin's Barry Walters: gave it six out of ten, praising 'Thursday's Child' but finding the rest mediocre
• Pitchfork's Ryan Schreiber: criticised it as having the vitality of a rotting log
• PopMatters' Sarah Zupko: gave it four out of ten, citing poor pacing
• Select's John Mullen: saw it as an improvement over Earthling but found a lack of urgency

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine: said it may not be a classic but is the work of a masterful musician
• Biographers: praise individual tracks but find the album as a whole lacking; Bryan Wawzenek and others place it near the bottom of ranked lists
• O'Leary: calls it the most neglected of Bowie's later records
• Stereogum (2013): ranked it 22nd out of 25
• Ultimate Classic Rock (2016): ranked it 22nd out of 26
• Consequence of Sound (2018): Sackllah ranked it Bowie's worst album

Records

• UK Albums Chart: peaked at number 5, Bowie's highest UK placement since Black Tie White Noise
• US Billboard 200: peaked at number 47, his first studio album since Ziggy Stardust to miss the top 40
• Top ten in France, Germany and Italy; top 20 in Japan
• Singles: 'Thursday's Child' number 16 in the UK; 'Survive' number 28; 'Seven' number 32

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's initial title was The Dreamers, changed after Gabrels said it made him think of Mariah Carey or Celine Dion albums and of Freddie and the Dreamers.
• The full album appeared on BowieNet for download on 21 September 1999, making Bowie the first major artist to release a complete album online for download.
• The British retailer HMV criticised the move, saying the album was not released on a level playing field.
• Japanese CD editions included 'We All Go Through' as a bonus track.
• A photo outtake from the cover shoot, showing Bowie burning on a crucifix, was included in the CD booklet.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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