Maps of Music

Reality (2003)

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

The cover shows Bowie as a cartoon anime-style figure, and he said outright that the picture was not meant to be reality.

Key places

Where Reality was recorded (2003)

Recording site Looking Glass Studios — Recording for Reality began in early January 2003 at this studio in New York City. Bowie chose its smaller Studio B, and the mixing was also done here under Visconti's direction. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Drum sound recaptured at Allaire (2003)

Recording site Allaire Studios — Bowie and Visconti travelled to this studio to play the drum tracks back through the speakers. They wanted the same ambience that had shaped Heathen. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Reality: the 24th studio album by David Bowie
• Released in Europe on 15 September 2003, and in America the following day
• His second release on his own ISO label, distributed by Columbia Records
• Recorded January to May 2003 at Looking Glass Studios, New York City
• Produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti
• Most musicians came from his then-touring band
• Bowie planned the songs to be playable live

Background

• Follows Heathen (2002), which was a renewed partnership with Visconti
• Bowie began writing right after the Heathen Tour ended in October 2002
• The new distribution deal let him record at his own pace
• The success of the Heathen Tour revived his desire to tour
• Reality was his last album of original material for ten years, until The Next Day in 2013

Recording

• Bowie used Looking Glass's smaller Studio B, which Visconti rented on a semi-permanent basis
• The studio was close to Bowie's New York apartment, with eight-hour days, five days a week
• Bowie arrived with four to five basic home demos
• Bass, percussion and rhythm guitar were recorded live first, followed by vocals and overdubs
• Drum sound was recaptured at Allaire Studios by playing tracks back through speakers
• Bowie recorded three vocal tracks for each song

Cover

• Jonathan Barnbrook designed the cover in collaboration with Rex Ray
• Bowie appears as a cartoon, anime-style persona with exaggerated hair and oversized eyes
• The background is made of shapes, ink blobs, balloons and stars

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

• Reality received largely positive reviews from critics on release
• Several reviewers considered it his best album since Scary Monsters
• Many reviews praised the music, lyrics, vocal performances and growing maturity in his songwriting
• Dotmusic's John Mulvey: if Heathen was a little overpraised, Reality is a more deserving case
• Pitchfork's Eric Carr called the album pretty good and said it cemented Bowie's status as a modern artist
• Uncut's Chris Roberts called it a very good sexy-angst album
• The Independent's Andy Gill praised it as a satisfying solidity of songs, though it ends poorly
• The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan praised it as touching and intelligent
• The New York Times' Mim Udovitch praised Visconti's production as impeccable
• Entertainment Weekly's Mark Weingarten said the production still hindered Bowie's work but called the writing an improvement

Reappraisal

• Chris O'Leary: after The Next Day, Reality was a minor album whose songs were built for the stage
• Perone called it a strong album with consistent themes
• Buckley's 2005 book Strange Fascination argued the album lacked a coherent musical identity
• Paul Trynka said the record proves Bowie can still produce new pleasures
• The covers of Try Some, Buy Some and Pablo Picasso have continued to receive praise
• Ultimate Classic Rock placed it 16th of 26 Bowie studio albums in 2016

Records

• UK Albums Chart: entered at number three, his highest UK chart album since Black Tie White Noise
• Topped the charts in Denmark and the Czech Republic
• United States: number 29 on the Billboard 200
• Canada: number nine

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bowie compared the cover to Hello Kitty and said the cover carries a subtext that the picture is not meant to be reality
• Bowie wanted to cover Try Some, Buy Some as early as 1979, and finally did it for this album
• The album's title track was Bowie's loudest, most rock-driven moment, and its lyrics were written in a rock style
• The album was released in a two-disc CD version with the outtakes Fly and Queen of All the Tarts (Overture), plus a re-recording of Rebel Rebel
• The SACD and DualDisc releases came out later, with the DualDisc first limited to Boston and Seattle in the US

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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