Outside (David Bowie album)
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''Outside'' (stylised as ''1. Outside'' and subtitled ''The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper-cycle'') is the 20th studio album by English musician
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, released on 25 September 1995 through
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
in the United States and Arista Records, BMG and
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
in other territories. Reuniting Bowie with musician Brian Eno following the late 1970s
Berlin Trilogy The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: '' Low'', '' "Heroes"'' (both 1977) and '' Lodger'' (1979). The trilogy originated following Bowie's move from Los Angeles, California, to Europe to rid himsel ...
, the two were inspired by concepts "outside" the mainstream, such as various
outsider Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a South Korean film featuring Won Mi-kyung Literature * Outside ...
and performance artists. Recorded throughout 1994, the experimental sessions saw Bowie conceive a world where "art crimes", such as murder, pervade society. The resulting ''Leon'' project initially faced resistance from labels due to its uncommercial nature. The project's bootlegging led to additional sessions in 1995 to revise the concept and record more commercial material, inspired by a diary Bowie wrote for '' Q'' magazine. Influenced by the television series ''
Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...
'', the nonlinear narrative of ''Outside'' concerns the residents of the fictional Oxford Town,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and follows detective Nathan Adler as he investigates the murder of a 14-year-old girl. The tracks show perspectives of specific characters, while
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
between-song segues convey more character ideals; the story and Adler's diary entries were presented in the album's CD booklet. Musically, ''Outside'' displays styles from art rock,
industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...
and
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, to electronica and ambient. The album cover is a self-portrait painted by Bowie himself. Released at the height of
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
in the UK, ''Outside'' received mixed reviews from critics. While most praised the music, others found the concept pretentious and hard to follow. Nevertheless, many considered it Bowie's finest record since 1980's '' Scary Monsters''. ''Outside'' peaked at number 8 in the UK and number 21 in the US. The
lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...
, "
The Hearts Filthy Lesson "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (no apostrophe in "Hearts") is a song by David Bowie, from his 1995 album '' Outside'', and issued as a single ahead of the album. It showcased Bowie's new, industrial-influenced sound. Lyrically, the single connects ...
", performed poorly but the following singles, " Strangers When We Meet" and a remix of " Hallo Spaceboy" featuring Pet Shop Boys, performed well in the UK. Bowie supported the album through the
Outside Tour The Outside Tour was a tour by English rock musician David Bowie, opening in September 1995 and lasting over a year. The opening shows preceded the release of the '' 1. Outside'' album which it supported. The tour visited stops in North Americ ...
, but was criticised for not playing older hits. Multiple planned sequels to ''Outside'' never came to fruition, leaving the album's story on a cliffhanger. Instead, Bowie used musical ideas from the album and tour for his next record, '' Earthling'' (1997). Retrospectively, ''Outside'' has received more positive assessments, with most continuing to praise the music but criticising the story and length. The album was reissued in 2003 and remastered in 2021 as part of the box set ''
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) ''Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 26 November 2021. A follow-up to the compilations '' Five Years (1969–1973)'', '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', '' A New Career in ...
''.


Background and inspiration

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
formalised his marriage to model Iman in a June 1992 ceremony that featured numerous celebrity guests, including multi-instrumentalist Brian Eno, whom Bowie previously worked with on his late 1970s
Berlin Trilogy The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: '' Low'', '' "Heroes"'' (both 1977) and '' Lodger'' (1979). The trilogy originated following Bowie's move from Los Angeles, California, to Europe to rid himsel ...
. Primarily known for his work in the ambient genre at that time, by 1992, Eno was a highly respected producer, working with bands such as U2 on ''
Achtung Baby ''Achtung Baby'' () is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. After criticism of their 1988 release ''Rattle and Hum'', U2 shifte ...
'' (1991).
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio presenter John Peel commented: "He's one of those people...who has drifted into a kind of elder statesman media role where people take everything he says terribly seriously." At the wedding, Eno expressed interest in working with Bowie again after he gave him a tape that showcased the styles Bowie would explore on his then-upcoming album ''
Black Tie White Noise ''Black Tie White Noise'' is the 18th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following the disbandment of Bowi ...
'' (1993). After hearing '' The Buddha of Suburbia'' (1993), the two agreed to collaborate. Bowie and Eno prepared for the new project in late 1993, which included sending each other ideas. The former's
Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...
bandmate
Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...
recalled that one was the equivalent of "a mathematical problem". According to author
Paul Trynka Paul Trynka is a British rock journalist and author. He was the editor of the music magazine ''Mojo'' from 1999 to 2003, and has also worked as editorial director of '' Q'' and editor of ''International Musician''. In 2004, he edited publisher D ...
, the ideas formed "harked back" to Bowie's musical findings during his first trip to America in early 1971. Looking for inspiration, the pair visited the Gugging psychiatric hospital near
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, Austria, in January 1994, which contained a wing whose patients were well-known for their "
Outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...
". Bowie later told ''Interview'' magazine: "Some of them don't even do heir artas an expression of themselves; they do it because their work is them." The experience gave the upcoming album its title. Bowie also found captivation with the Minotaur, a mythical figure from
classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
. He painted the figure throughout the early 1990s and, after seeing a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article discussing it, incorporated it as a motif for ''Outside''. By 1994, Bowie's interest in contemporary art grew to the point where he joined the editorial board of ''
Modern Painters ''Modern Painters'' (1843–1860) is a five-volume work by the Victorian art critic, John Ruskin, begun when he was 24 years old based on material collected in Switzerland in 1842. Ruskin argues that recent painters emerging from the tradition of ...
'' magazine. His interest in
performance artists Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
such as
Rudolf Schwarzkogler Rudolf Schwarzkogler (13 November 1940 – 20 June 1969) was an Austrian performance artist closely associated with the Viennese Actionism group that included artists Günter Brus, Otto Mühl, and Hermann Nitsch. He was born the son of a doct ...
,
Ron Athey Ron Athey (born December 16, 1961) is an American performance artist associated with body art and with extreme performance art. He has performed in the U.S. and internationally (especially in the UK and Europe). Athey's work explores challenging ...
,
Chris Burden Christopher Lee Burden (April 11, 1946 – May 10, 2015) was an American artist working in performance, sculpture and installation art. Burden became known in the 1970s for his performance art works, including ''Shoot'' (1971), where he arranged ...
, and
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
all influenced the new album's concept. Regarding the concept of death as art, Bowie told '' Vox'' magazine:


Recording and production


Initial sessions

Recording for ''Outside'' began in March 1994 at
Mountain Studios Mountain Studios was a commercial recording studio founded by American singer and composer Anita Kerr and husband Alex Grob in 1975 within the Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland. The studio was under the ownership of Queen and then long ...
in
Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...
, Switzerland. Production was handled by Bowie, Eno and David Richards, the co-producer of ''
Never Let Me Down ''Never Let Me Down'' is the 17th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20 April 1987 through EMI America Records. After a series of miscellaneous projects, Bowie hoped to make his next record differently following his ...
'' (1987) and ''The Buddha of Suburbia''. Bowie and Eno were adamant about creating something different from the Berlin albums. The latter explained: "We don't want to make another record of a bunch of songs. There's got to be a bigger landscape in play than that." Returning Bowie collaborators included Gabrels on guitar,
Erdal Kızılçay Erdal Kızılçay (born c. 1950) is a multi-instrumentalist musician of Turkish birth. He has worked with, among others, David Bowie. He plays bass guitar, oud, drums, keyboards, trumpet and violin. He lives in Aegerten, Switzerland. Work with ...
on bass, and
Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookly ...
on piano. Also returning from ''Black Tie'' was
Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of Dav ...
drummer Sterling Campbell, whom Bowie described as "spontaneous and extremely inventive. eplays a song differently every time; there are different shades of his teacher,
Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1949 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums - including seven successive studio albums - during the singer's classic mid- and lat ...
." Departing from the process of Bowie's most recent works, the majority of the tracks were composed on the spot in the studio; some were entirely improvised. During the sessions, Bowie and Eno used experimental techniques previously utilised during the Berlin Trilogy, such as the latter's
Oblique Strategies Oblique Strategies (subtitled ''Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas'') is a card-based method for promoting creativity jointly created by musician/artist Brian Eno and multimedia artist Peter Schmidt, first published in 1975. Physically, it takes ...
cards – "part-
fortune cookie A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", usually an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chine ...
, part-''
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
'' 'Chance' cards" intended to spark creative ideas. Each one contained a written character, such as "You are the disgruntled member of a South African rock band. Play the notes that were suppressed." Bowie elaborated that the cards set the tone for each day, taking the music into "obscure" directions: "And it would very rarely lapse into the cliché." Eno stated that this was done as a way for the musicians to "free you from being yourself". Garson and Gabrels responded favourably to the cards, but Kızılçay was oppressive at first, finding them confusing and useless. He later complained about Eno's methods to biographer
Marc Spitz Marc Spitz (October 2, 1969 – February 4, 2017) was an American music journalist, author and playwright. Spitz's writings on rock and roll and popular culture appeared in ''Spin'' (where he was a Senior Writer) as well as ''The New York Times' ...
, stating "he cannot even play four bars... orplay two harmonies together. ..I don't know how he became so famous." Bowie primarily painted during the sessions. According to Eno, he "almost sat out on the first few days of that record. ..We were creating musical situations and occasionally he would join in if it became interesting." In his diary entry dated 3 March 1994, Bowie wrote that he was happy with the current musical direction and had plans to remake the ''Buddha'' track "Dead Against It", although this never came to fruition. To compose the lyrics, Bowie ran words through an
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
program, which mirrored the
William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
-inspired cut-up technique Bowie had previously used for albums such as ''
Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 at Olympic and Island Studios in London and Ludolph Studios i ...
'' (1974). He explained: "I used bits of poems and articles out of magazines and newspapers, and I retyped them out and put them into the computer...it spews it all back out again, and I make of it what I will." Each musician received their own corner of the studio, which Trynka states contributed to the overall arrangement "as an art happening". Discussing the studio atmosphere, Garson told biographer David Buckley: "It was one of the most creative environments I have ever been in. We would just start playing. There was no key given, no tonal centre, no form, no nothing." The sessions were also filmed by a camera crew; Garson commented that " he crewknew it was special on some level." The backing tracks were completed in 10 days, while
overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
continued on and off until November 1994. Roughly 25 to 30 hours of material was recorded, which was initially edited down to two
CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...
worth of content: an "improvised opera" titled ''Leon''. The material was mixed at Westside Studios in London. Eno initially wanted to release the work with black cover artwork and no name attached. Gabrels elaborated: "Let it leak that it was David Bowie but put it out as a completely separate entity, like
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
's '' The Black Album''
994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...
Use it as a work of art and lapse something that creates interest for the next project." According to biographer Chris O'Leary, the contents were bootlegged and resulted in Bowie's dismissal of the ''Leon'' concept. Gabrels commented on his website in 2003 that ''Leon'' "would have been a very serious musical statement, and maybe pissed off more people than Tin Machine".


Later sessions

Bowie initially faced opposition from record labels due to the uncommercial nature of the ''Leon'' recordings. Gabrels told Buckley: "It was never said to me that it had been rejected for want of commercial material. I just thought the decision was made that 'Leon''would have been insane to put out from a commercial point of view…and that we needed to rerecord some more songs." Bowie elected to record some more conventional tracks, for which sessions took place at the Hit Factory in New York City from January to February 1995. Songs recorded in New York included "Outside", "Thru These Architects Eyes", "We Prick You", "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town", "No Control", a rerecording of the ''Buddha'' track " Strangers When We Meet", and reworkings of " Hallo Spaceboy" and "
I'm Deranged "I'm Deranged" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno in 1995 for the album '' Outside''. Musically and lyrically, it shares many themes with "Look Back in Anger" from '' Lodger'' (1979), including the appearance of an angel figure befo ...
". New personnel additions included guitarist
Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garson. He has als ...
, Bowie's former bandleader who was fired following the 1987
Glass Spider Tour The Glass Spider Tour was a 1987 worldwide concert tour by English musician David Bowie, launched in support of his album '' Never Let Me Down'' and named for that album's track "Glass Spider". It began in May 1987 and was preceded by a two-wee ...
; Tin Machine contributor
Kevin Armstrong Kevin Armstrong (1922–1992 ) was a dual player who played Gaelic football, football and hurling for his local club O'Connell's GAA, O'Connell's and for the Antrim GAA, Antrim senior inter-county teams in both codes from the 1940s until the 19 ...
on "Thru These Architects Eyes"; and
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
drummer
Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...
, whom Bowie felt was "so steady" that "metronomes shake in fear". Armstrong's song "Now", first attempted by Tin Machine during the sessions for their 1989 debut album, was adapted into the title track. According to Trynka, Armstrong recorded his contributions at Westside.


Concept and story

The concept of ''Outside'' originated on 12 March 1994, during what Bowie called a "blindingly orgiastic" recording session. As the band improvised, he conceived numerous characters on the spot, playing each out "for maybe five minutes at a time". He later revealed that "almost the entire genesis for 'Outside''is contained in those three and a half hours". In what Bowie labelled a "non-linear Gothic drama hyper-cycle", he developed a world where "art crimes", which Jason Draper of ''Dig!'' magazine described as "murder and mutilation for public consumption", pervade society, and "concept muggings" merit their own police division funded by the "Arts Protectorate of London". In late 1994, '' Q'' magazine asked Bowie to write a diary for 10 days as a way to contribute to their 100th issue. Fearing the diary would be uninteresting if presented as a pure day-by-day account, he revised the ''Leon'' concept and wrote what became the basis for ''Outside'': ''The Diary of Nathan Adler or the Art-Ritual Murder of Baby Grace Belew''. The same story, with mild revisions, appeared in the album's CD booklet. According to Gabrels, Bowie "looked into he ''Leon'' conceptfurther and revised and rewrote. ..The order and plot were imposed/invented...after the fact." While characters lacked motivations on ''Leon'', they now had distinct personalities and motives on ''Outside'', similar to the
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...
''
Cluedo ''Cluedo'' (), known as ''Clue'' in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players (depending on editions) that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddin ...
''. Taking influences from the television series ''
Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...
'', ''Outside'' concerns the fictional Oxford Town,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and its inhabitants, including: a detective named Nathan Adler; a jeweler named Ramona A. Stone; a 14-year-old girl named Baby Grace Blue; a 78-year-old loner named Algeria Touchshriek; a mixed-race "Outsider" named Leon Blank; Paddy, one of Adler's informants; and a shadowy figure named The Artist/Minotaur. Bowie, who portrayed all the characters, stated that he based all of them on himself, which
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
's Roch Parisien found "therefore, a component of all the previous personas Bowie has enacted over the years." The story of ''Outside'' takes place over two decades, between 1977 and 1999, and is presented in a nonlinear narrative. The album's CD booklet contained Adler's diary entries alongside song lyrics which were sometimes distorted and unreadable. The album also invokes several spoken word segments as between-song segues, which provide more insight into the story and characters' thoughts. Parisien considered the segues reminiscent of the "Cockney campiness" of Bowie's 1960s tracks "Please Mr. Gravedigger" and "
The Laughing Gnome "The Laughing Gnome" is a song by English singer David Bowie, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences, Anthony Newley, it was originally released as a Novelty song, novelty single on Deram R ...
". Described by some as a concept album, ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' Paul Gorman found the use of narrative on ''Outside'' a callback to '' Ziggy Stardust'' (1972) and ''Diamond Dogs''. Bowie described Adler, the protagonist, as an individual who uses nostalgia to look back on simpler times: "He's really rather despondent that things are broken into this fragmented chaotic kind of state." Biographer Chris O'Leary considers the character "more terse" on ''Outside'' than in ''Leon''. Adler's perspective is shown in "The Hearts Filthy Lesson", "No Control" and two segues. Stone, the villain, begins as a punk rock "no-future priestess" and ends as a "good time drone" running a jewelry store. Bowie manipulated his own using various synthesisers to portray her. Her point of view is given in a segue and "I Am with Name". The dismembered body of Baby Grace Blue is found in a town museum. The scene is described in detail in the CD booklet while on the album, the girl's last words appear in a cassette tape ("Segue – Baby Grace (A Horrid Cassette)"). Bowie stated that Grace's voice meant the most to him as he based it on a close friend who was struggling with a relationship at the time. After the body is found, Adler's primary goal is to find the murderer. The character of Algeria Touchshriek "deals in art-drugs and DNA prints". Based on numerous characters from Bowie's 1960s songs, Touchshriek is described in a segue as walking near the museum where the body was found and that he "knew Leon once". Blank, one of Stone's former lovers, is an outsider artist and murder suspect. Bowie characterised him as a blend of musician Tricky and painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Throughout the album, he is primarily viewed through the eyes of others ("Leon Takes Us Outside", "The Motel" and "Strangers When We Meet"), but is given his own perspective on "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town", where he denies his involvement with the killings; Blank is also ascribed to "Thru' These Architects Eyes", although the track has little to do with the ''Outside'' narrative. The Artist/Minotaur is a figure who "lurks behind the art-ritual murder" at the narrative's centre. His point of view is given during "The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)", "Wishful Beginnings" and "I'm Deranged". The residents of Oxford Town convey thoughts on "A Small Plot of Land", while "We Prick You" concerns the ideals of the Members of the Court of Justice.


Musical styles

''Outside'' contains a wide variety of musical styles, including
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, jazz, electronica,
industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...
and ambient. Writers for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' and
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
retrospectively categorised it as art rock and industrial rock. Adam Trainer of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' similarly described the music as "chiefly industrial and
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
, as filtered through the lens of art rock". He further argued that the album's "soundscapes" showcased "the rock/electronic hybridity" that would be labeled by music analysts and the mainstream as post-rock. Biographer
Christopher Sandford Christopher Sandford (1902–1983) of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sa ...
finds the music evocative of the "faux-jazz stylings" found on '' Aladdin Sane'' (1973), while in '' Spin'' magazine, Barry Walters noted the presence of
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
. Other commentators, including Nick DeRiso of ''
Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
'', recognised styles of
techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
, grunge and industrial over "the electronic soundbeds" that exemplified the Berlin Trilogy. Other styles recognised by Bowie's biographers include dark ambient ("Leon Takes Us Outside"), acid jazz ("The Hearts Filthy Lesson"), funk ("I Have Not Been to Oxford Town", "The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)"),
avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...
and classical ("The Motel", "A Small Plot of Land"), and conventional pop ("I Have Not Been to Oxford Town", "Strangers When We Meet"). Furthermore, certain tracks, such as "The Hearts Filthy Lesson", "I'm Deranged" and "We Prick You", combine elements of
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja ...
and drum and bass, genres Bowie would fully explore on his next studio album, '' Earthling'' (1997). Discussing the album's overall sound, Buckley says it is "dense and textural, underpinned by a booming rhythm section". Writing for ''Rock and Roll Globe'', Lee Zimmerman stated: "The music flow in a continuous surge of sound and expression, a forward thrust that left little room for melody, but shared an intriguing atmospheric ambiance instead." Author James E. Perone finds many tracks act as "mood pieces" for the entire album rather than as standalone tracks. According to writer Alan Franks: "The songs have a slow, careful build into the pay-off line but they're absolutely not written as pop songs and they're not particularly written as rock songs. It's almost like what Jacques Brel would be going now if he'd gone heavy." Biographers have also compared certain sounds on ''Outside'' to Bowie's previous albums, such as ''Diamond Dogs'', '' Lodger'' (1979), '' Scary Monsters'' (1980), and ''
Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'' (1984). Regarding the segues, biographer Nicholas Pegg characterises their musical styles as mostly ambient, with guitar, piano and synthesiser backings. Trainer commented that they "speak to the role of the ''Leon'' suites in the development of ''Outside''". The first two tracks, "Leon Takes Us Outside" and the title track, musically set the stage for the rest of the album. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" contains an almost atonal groove that Pegg calls "a slab of industrial techno-rock" over an "eccentric jazz-piano figure". Continuing the jazz flavour is "A Small Plot of Land", which builds to a climax to become, in Pegg's words, one of the album's "more challenging tracks". "Hallo Spaceboy", which was developed from an instrumental written by Gabrels titled "Moondust", is an industrial track that Pegg calls "a hardcore maelstrom of sci-fi noise, hypnotic high-speed drumming and an insistent, speaker-hopping four-note guitar riff". Spitz names it Bowie's "most convincing rocker" since "
Rebel Rebel "Rebel Rebel" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released in the UK in February 1974 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album ''Diamond Dogs''. Written and produced by Bowie, the song is based around a distinctiv ...
" (1974). "The Motel", described by Pegg as the album's centrepiece, is compared by Buckley to
the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary Le ...
' "
The Electrician ''The Electrician'', published in London from 1861–1863 and 1878–1952, was the one of the earliest and foremost electrical engineering periodicals and scientific journals. It was published in two series: The original ''Electrician'' was publi ...
" (1978), while Perone compares "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town" to
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's "
We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...
" (1977). "No Control" brings a darker tone to the album, featuring a "hard-edged synth bassline". Later on, "I Am with Name" reprises the "atmospherics" of the album's opening. "Wishful Beginnings" evokes "a mysterious, abstract melody over slowly building, layered, synthesized electronic sounds". "I'm Deranged" conveys similar musical styles that pervade the rest of the album. Compared to the original version on ''The Buddha of Suburbia'', the remake of "Strangers When We Meet" contains a more lush arrangement influenced by U2's Eno co-produced ''
The Joshua Tree ''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release, ' ...
'' (1987). Pegg writes that it resolves the album's "angst and
black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
" with a "soothing slice of conventional pop". On the other hand, Trainer considered it an "odd" way to end the album, writing that it was "clearly an attempt to...inject a sense of calm whilst perpetuating the noir-ish air of mystery".


''Leon'' recordings

Described by Gabrels as a "three-hour improvised opus", the ''Leon'' recordings are available through bootlegs in three separate "suites", each between 22 and 27 minutes long. A fully mixed 70-minute reel was also released by a private collector in 2003. According to Pegg, the released piece is significantly more uncommercial than the final ''Outside'' album, featuring a slew of "ambient soundscapes" and longer versions of the album's segues. It also features numerous repetitive phrases and loops amongst interplay between the musicians. Trainer found the recordings to be "underdeveloped" compared to ''Outside'', describing them more as "loose jams" typified by "plodding beats and unformed repetitive structures that lack the dynamics he finished ''Outside'' albumwould yield". The first suite is divided into three movements. The opening ten-minute number "I Am with Name" contains longer and more obscene variations of the Stone and first Adler segues. O'Leary notes that more voices appear on ''Leon'' than ''Outside'', highlighting a character who "sounds as if rats are climbing over his body" four minutes into the suite. A more melodic five-minute movement titled "We'll Creep Together" follows, featuring Garson's "rippling" piano over a slew of sound effects such as gunshot noises. "I'd Rather Be Chrome" follows, displaying a repeating
phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
throughout and contains more narration from Adler over, in Pegg's words, a "prowling, catchy riff", before the lyrics delve into topics previously explored on '' Low'' (1977). The second suite, titled "The Enemy Is Fragile", is categorised by O'Leary as the centrepiece of ''Leon''. It features patterns similar to "A Small Plot of Land", along with funk playing from the backing musicians, numerous sound effects and narration from Adler and Stone. Some of the narration reflects themes present in '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991). The piece builds to a climax with various repeated phrases before ending with a drum fill. The rest of the suite consists of the first appearance of the Artist/Minotaur and various synthesisers, with additional piano and saxophone. One section, titled "Nothing to Be Desired", was issued as a bonus track on "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" CD single, and remains the only material from ''Leon'' that was officially released. Following "Nothing to Be Desired" is lengthy variations of the "Baby Grace" and "Algeria Touchshriek" segues. The third and final suite, titled "Leon Takes Us Outside", further develops the character of Blank; the opening section became the opening to ''Outside''. It begins as a jazzy instrumental with guitar, piano and synthesisers, with more repetitive phrases and narration from Adler and Stone; one sequence fully conveys Adler's story. According to O'Leary, the suite closes with feedback and a drum fill. Shortly after the release of ''Outside'', Bowie expressed interest in making the ''Leon'' material officially available, although the idea never came to fruition.


Release

Without a label for the third time in three years, ''Outside''s release was delayed while Bowie attempted to find an American distributor, later commenting, "Nobody would take ''Outside'' when we first recorded it." In June 1995, Bowie signed a contract with Virgin America Records, telling ''
Music Connection ''Music Connection'' is a United States-based monthly music-trade magazine, which began publication in 1977. It caters to career-minded musicians, songwriters, recording artists and assorted music-industry support personnel. The magazine began ...
'' in September that the label were "extremely supportive" regarding the ''Outside'' concept and allowed Bowie full creative control in the studio. Additionally, Virgin acquired the rights to Bowie's work from '' Let's Dance'' (1983) to ''Tin Machine'', reissuing them throughout the rest of the year with bonus tracks. In Britain, Bowie entered a new deal with BMG, who issued ''Black Tie'' and ''Buddha'' in the country. BMG were now affiliated with
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
, Bowie's label throughout the 1970s and whom he had departed in 1982. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" was released as the
lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...
on 11 September 1995. It was accompanied by a
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
directed by
Samuel Bayer Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...
that was initially banned from MTV due to provocative imagery. Commercially, the single performed poorly, peaking at number 35 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and number 92 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100. Pegg and Trynka state that Bowie desired to display a video of "artistic merit" rather than for chart appeal. ''Outside'', stylised as ''1. Outside – The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper-cycle'', was released on 25 September 1995 by Virgin America in the US and Arista, BMG and RCA in other territories on LP and CD formats. The CD release was the full 75-minute album, while the LP release was an abridged version titled ''Excerpts From 1. Outside'', which featured shortened edits of "Leon Takes Us Outside" and "The Motel" and removed the tracks "No Control", "Wishful Beginnings", "Thru' These Architects Eyes", "Strangers When We Meet", along with multiple segues. The Japanese CD release included the
outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
"Get Real". The cover artwork is a 1995 painting on canvas by Bowie himself called ''Head of DB''. Commercially, ''Outside'' peaked at number 8 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and number 21 on the US ''Billboard'' 200; Bowie's profile in America had been raised through the popularity of Nirvana's ''
MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'' version of " The Man Who Sold the World", as well as artists who cited Bowie's influence such as Nine Inch Nails,
the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Ch ...
and Marilyn Manson. Due to advance orders, ''Outside'' became Bowie's fastest-selling album since ''Tonight''. Bowie promoted ''Outside'' through various television appearances. "Strangers When We Meet" was issued as a double A-side single with a new recording of "The Man Who Sold the World" mixed by Eno on 20 November 1995. It reached number 39 in the UK and was supported by a music video, again directed by Bayer. Bowie performed the song at the European MTV Awards the same month. "Hallo Spaceboy" was released as the third and final single on 19 February 1996 in a new remix featuring English duo Pet Shop Boys. The idea originated from member
Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and ...
, who added lines referencing
Major Tom Major Tom is a persona of David Bowie's, referenced in songs "Space Oddity", " Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy", "Blackstar" and " Angel With A Shotgun" Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. "Space Oddity ...
from "
Space Oddity "Space Oddity" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album ''David Bowie''. After the commercial f ...
" (1969). Pet Shop Boys subsequently appeared in the song's video, directed by longtime Bowie director David Mallet, and performed the song with Bowie at the
Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
in February and on ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' in March. The single itself performed well commercially, peaking at number 12 in the UK. The remix later replaced "Wishful Beginnings" on the March 1996 European reissue of ''Outside'' titled ''1. Outside Version 2''.


Context

In 1995, the UK music scene was dominated by
Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
bands such as
Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...
, Blur,
Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...
and Oasis, all of whom were indebted to Bowie's 1970s works. In his book ''The Last Party'', British journalist John Harris states, "David Bowie was a far greater influence on Britpop than any artist of the '60s." Pegg writes that while older artists such as
Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...
and
Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
were releasing successful Britpop records in 1995, Bowie stood in tangent with industrial rock artists like Nine Inch Nails and techno artists such as Tricky,
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...
and
the Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat gen ...
. Buckley says that the only record that was stylistically similar to ''Outside'' at the time was Scott Walker's ''
Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 * ...
'', released four months prior. Further analysing the cultural landscape beyond music at that time, Pegg states that ''Outside'' arrived alongside the "glamorous cruelty" of ''
Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...
'' (1994); it "inhabited the trashy
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...
''milieu''" of films such as ''
Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of '' 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology comic. He is the magazine's longest-running ...
'', ''
Tank Girl ''Tank Girl'' is a British comic book character created by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, and first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline''. After a period of intense popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ...
'' and ''
12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film '' La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in ...
'' (all 1995); and exhibited elements of " extraterrestrial conspiracy theories" brought to the forefront on television by ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
''. ''Outside'' was also one of the first albums in the age of the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
and showcased the same "pre-millennial angst" as Pulp's late 1995 single " Disco 2000". Tracks from ''Outside'' were also used in entertainment. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" was played over the end credits of ''
Seven 7 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 7 or seven may also refer to: * AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era * 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era * The month of July Music Artists * Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...
'' (1995), while "A Small Plot of Land" was the theme song for the 1996 BBC miniseries ''
A History of British Art ''A History of British Art'' is a 1996 BBC six-part television documentary series tracing the history of British art from 1066 to the modern day. Written and presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon (born 26 December 1960 ...
''. Ultimately, Pegg concludes: "For the first time since 980's'' Scary Monsters'', Bowie had released an album that accessed the zeitgeist at all levels."


Critical reception

Critical reviews of ''Outside'' were mixed on release. While the majority praised the music as challenging, many felt the overarching concept was hard to follow, with some finding it "pretentious". Among positive reviews, critics considered ''Outside'' Bowie's best record since ''Scary Monsters''. A writer for '' Time Out'' magazine elaborated: " heedifice of sounds, cultures, rhythms, samples and textures, with randomised lyrics that don't much tell a story as create word-moods, regards the open-minded listener with Bowie's best album for 15 years." In ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'',
Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...
welcomed "an excellent David Bowie album, a genuine creative rebirth. Threatening and murky... His gift for the charismatically disturbing seems to have reasserted itself." Later on in ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...
'' magazine, Murray considered it Bowie's "official" comeback album, praising the music as a callback to the Berlin Trilogy and concluded: " t'sa mad, bad, dangerous album – by turns, chilling, pretty, ugly, scary, gripping and vastly intriguing." Some reviewers found the music among Bowie's most innovative; a writer for '' Melody Maker'' announced that Bowie "is poised to be a healthy influence once more on a fifth generation of glamorous chameleons." Furthermore, an ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' reviewer stated, "Bowie's scalpel is certainly closer to the pulse than for years." Other publications, such as ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'', considered Bowie's vocal performances throughout the record some of his finest. Regarding the lyrics, David Fricke of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' appreciated them as "smart", "effective" and "sly", especially on "I Have Not Been to Oxford Town" and "A Small Plot of Land". However, he criticised the spoken segues, arguing that they "damn near sink the record". Paul Verna of ''Billboard'' found the album "stumbles" on the segues, stating that they "advance the plotline but hold little musical interest". They argued that if listeners "cherry-pick" throughout, ''Outside'' "stands a chance of reestablishing Bowie as a vital artist". Other reviewers expressed more mixed assessments. ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
''s David Browne found the majority of the record sounding like "fodder" and felt that it would benefit from a visual aid, such as through tour performances. Sandy Masuo of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' enjoyed certain tracks but felt overall, Bowie was experimenting in genres that, by 1995, were being made more successfully by other artists. '' Select'' magazine's Gareth Grundy also found a lack of musical innovation, albeit highlighting "Hallo Spaceboy", "No Control" and "We Prick You" as standouts. Some reviewers believed the album would appeal to Bowie's longtime fans, but displease newer ones. ''Q''s Tom Doyle said: "Regulars might feel short-changed on the tune front and those legions who came in on ''Let's Dance'' will most certainly be left completely and utterly bewildered. Perhaps, though, that's entirely the point." The album also attracted negative responses. Grundy, in particular, called ''Outside'' "the daftest thing Bowie's done" since the Glass Spider Tour. Additionally, ''Ikon''s Taylor Parkes complained that "Bowie's desperate desire to be considered 'highbrow' has snuffed out any potential of accidental alchemy" and promptly dismissed the record as a "sorry sack of shit... facile, confused and immature... quite simply, rubbish."


Tour

In an interview with ''Music Week'' in early 1995, Bowie expressed no interest in performing the ''Outside'' material live, calling it "far too ambitious a project". Nevertheless, after enduring pressure from Virgin, Bowie rescinded and began rehearsals to tour America in August 1995, thereafter extending the number of dates by early September and adding a European leg. The tour's lineup included Gabrels, Garson and Alomar, with new additions including vocalist George Simms from the 1983
Serious Moonlight Tour The Serious Moonlight Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English musician David Bowie, launched in May 1983 in support of his album '' Let's Dance'' (1983). The tour opened at the Vorst Forest Nationaal, Brussels, on 18 May 1983 and ended in ...
, musical director Peter Schwartz, drummer
Zachary Alford Zachary "Zack" Alford is a professional drummer, known for his work with the B-52's, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tomoyasu Hotei. Alford was brought in by Danny Kortchmar to drum on Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'' album. Alford contrib ...
and bassist
Gail Ann Dorsey Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...
, both of whom would continue to work with Bowie frequently in subsequent years. The
Outside Tour The Outside Tour was a tour by English rock musician David Bowie, opening in September 1995 and lasting over a year. The opening shows preceded the release of the '' 1. Outside'' album which it supported. The tour visited stops in North Americ ...
commenced on 14 September. Nine Inch Nails opened the American shows. Frontman
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
was intimidated by the idea at first but graciously accepted. The setlists mostly consisted of the ''Outside'' material and more unknown tracks from Bowie's career, along with reworkings of older tracks to fit the new album's styles. Towards the end of the opening sets, Bowie joined Nine Inch Nails on stage, where the two artists played songs from their own catalogues such as "
Subterraneans "Subterraneans" is a song by David Bowie, the closing track of his 1977 album '' Low''. As with most of Side 2, "Subterraneans" is mostly instrumental, with brief, obscure lyrics sung near the song's end. "Subterraneans" was first recorded in 19 ...
" (1977) and " Hurt" (1994), respectively. The fusion of the two artists was met with resistance from both artists' fanbases. ''Mojo''s Chris Jones reported that during one performance, Bowie was pelted with debris from the confused crowd. The American leg concluded at the end of October. The tour's partnership between Bowie and Reznor facilitated the latter's undertaking of numerous ''Outside'' and ''Earthling'' remixes, as well as his appearance in the music video for "
I'm Afraid of Americans "I'm Afraid of Americans" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released as a single from his album '' Earthling'' on 14 October 1997 through Virgin Records. The song was co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno and originally recorded during th ...
" (1997). The European leg commenced in November 1995 with shows at the
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...
in London, with Morrissey as the opening act. Tensions between Bowie and Morrissey rose, leading the latter to depart shortly into the tour's leg; the remaining dates were opened by various local bands. The tour concluded on 20 February 1996. The UK shows, particularly Morrissey's appearances, were generally panned by concert reviewers. Throughout the tour, many criticised Bowie's decision not to sing well-known hits, to which he replied: "If they didn't know that I wasn't going to be laying the hits they must have been living under a rock." Despite the tour's poor reception from contemporary reviewers, Pegg states that it showcased Bowie's musical progression and was his finest tour in 20 years. Recordings from the tour were later released in 2020 on the live albums ''Ouvrez le Chien (Live Dallas 95)'' and ''No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95)'', as part of the series ''
Brilliant Live Adventures ''Brilliant Live Adventures 995–1999' is a box set by English musician David Bowie, released incrementally throughout late 2020 and early 2021 as a series of six live albums taken from various concerts performed in support of '' Outside'' (1 ...
'' (2020–2021).


Legacy


Proposed sequels

The story of ''Outside'' ends on a cliffhanger, with a "to be continued..." tagline in the CD booklet. Bowie initially envisioned the album as the first in a series of records that would be released each year until the end of the millennium. He stated, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, by a narrative device, to chronicle the final five years of the millennium. The over-ambitious intention is to carry this through to the year 2000." He further explained to ''Ikon'': Having recorded hours of extra material during the sessions, he considered releasing a companion album to ''Outside'' before revealing in early 1997 that the follow-up would be called ''2. Contamination'', and had sketched out characters for the project (including some "17th-century people"). He also mentioned the possibility of releasing an album called ''Inside'' which would have been a making-of about ''Outside'': "Our working method ill bedetailed on it, a couple of jams and more of those voices." However, none of these projects came to fruition. Following his experience on the Outside Tour, Bowie took musical ideas and themes from ''Outside'' and utilised them to create ''Earthling''. In 2016, one day after Bowie's death, Eno recalled: "About a year ago we started talking about ''Outside'' – the last album we worked on together. We both liked that album a lot and felt that it had fallen through the cracks. We talked about revisiting it, taking it somewhere new. I was looking forward to that."


Retrospective assessments

Following Bowie's death, the editors of '' Prog'' magazine stated that ''Outside'' would be due for a re-evaluation as one of his finest works. Like on its original release, later reviewers continue praising the music as challenging, innovative and among his finest, but find the story self-indulgent. Perone argues that its nonlinear narrative makes for a hard-to-follow listening experience, and one where certain tracks that are inherently tied to the album's theme—particularly the segues—prove ineffective as standalone tracks. Nevertheless, in the decades following its release, Trynka contends that the rise of iTunes and nonlinear listening patterns through
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have made reactions to ''Outside'' more positive, with Garson later calling it a career highlight. Parisien later argued: "The effort required to adequately 'process'
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pays off in a richly voyeuristic experience where Bowie once again reflects fringe culture onto the mainstream and forces us to consider that the differences are not so great." On the other hand, Zimmerman stated that beyond the tracklisting itself, the album "offered little in the way of cohesive melodies". Some also found the production dated, with Spitz calling it Bowie's "most of-its-time work since his late-sixties hippie folk material". Several have criticised ''Outside'' as overlong; at nearly 75 minutes, it is Bowie's longest studio album. At the time, Bowie remarked that it was "extremely long by most current CD standards" and that accessibility was not a top priority when making it. However, he and Eno later regretted its long duration, with the former stating in 1997, "There's too much on it. I really should have made it two CDs." Sandford agrees, stating that it could have used more polishing and trimming. Furthermore, Perone finds that it "really begs to be listened to n onesitting", while Trainer stated the second half drags. Reviewing ''Outside'' on its 25th anniversary, Trainer said it stands out as "an odd, infuriatingly dense, and often brilliant record from (and of) an artist sho 'sic''.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''_having_been_one_of_popular_music's_leading_lights_in_the_70s,_was_newly_inspired"._He_criticised_the_production_as_dated_and_concept_as_too_underdeveloped_to_have_a_long-lasting_impact,_but_noted_that_its_best_tracks_rank_among_Bowie's_greatest._He_concluded_that_the_record_"remains_a_compelling,_complicated,_frustrating_and_flawed_listen",_and_due_to_its_incomplete_state,_he_argued_that_fans_can_finish_it_on_their_own._In_his_book_''The_Complete_David_Bowie'',_Pegg_finds_''Outside''_was_made_for_fans_of_''Diamond_Dogs'',_''Low''_and_''Lodger''_rather_than_''Let's_Dance''._Describing_it_as_"a_triumphantly_queasy,_deliciously_unpleasant_album",_he_concludes:_"''Outside''_remains_as_brilliant_and_intriguingly_inconclusive_as_it_was_surely_always_supposed_to_be." In_a_2016_retrospective_ranking_all_of_Bowie's_26_studio_albums_from_worst_to_best,_Bryan_Wawzenek_of_''Ultimate_Classic_Rock''_placed_''Outside''_at_number_19,_writing,_"It's_a_solid_framework_for_Bowie_and_Eno_to_get_creative_within_–_the_backgrounds_are_reliably_intriguing,_if_not_always_satisfying."_Two_years_later,_the_writers_of_''
'sic''.html"_;"title="sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html"_;"title="'sic">'sic''_having_been_one_of_popular_music's_leading_lights_in_the_70s,_was_newly_inspired"._He_criticised_the_production_as_dated_and_concept_as_too_underdeveloped_to_have_a_long-lasting_impact,_but_noted_that_its_best_tracks_rank_among_Bowie's_greatest._He_concluded_that_the_record_"remains_a_compelling,_complicated,_frustrating_and_flawed_listen",_and_due_to_its_incomplete_state,_he_argued_that_fans_can_finish_it_on_their_own._In_his_book_''The_Complete_David_Bowie'',_Pegg_finds_''Outside''_was_made_for_fans_of_''Diamond_Dogs'',_''Low''_and_''Lodger''_rather_than_''Let's_Dance''._Describing_it_as_"a_triumphantly_queasy,_deliciously_unpleasant_album",_he_concludes:_"''Outside''_remains_as_brilliant_and_intriguingly_inconclusive_as_it_was_surely_always_supposed_to_be." In_a_2016_retrospective_ranking_all_of_Bowie's_26_studio_albums_from_worst_to_best,_Bryan_Wawzenek_of_''Ultimate_Classic_Rock''_placed_''Outside''_at_number_19,_writing,_"It's_a_solid_framework_for_Bowie_and_Eno_to_get_creative_within_–_the_backgrounds_are_reliably_intriguing,_if_not_always_satisfying."_Two_years_later,_the_writers_of_''Consequence_(publication)">Consequence_of_Sound_ ''Consequence''_(previously_''Consequence_of_Sound'')_is_an_independently_owned_New_York-based_online_magazine_featuring_news,_editorials,_and_reviews_of_music,_movies,_and_television._In_addition,_the_website_also_features_the_Festival_Outlook__...
''_ranked_''Outside''_number_seven_in_a_similar_list,_above_acclaimed_records_such_as_''Blackstar_(album).html" "title="Consequence_(publication).html" "title="sic">'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic'' having been one of popular music's leading lights in the 70s, was newly inspired". He criticised the production as dated and concept as too underdeveloped to have a long-lasting impact, but noted that its best tracks rank among Bowie's greatest. He concluded that the record "remains a compelling, complicated, frustrating and flawed listen", and due to its incomplete state, he argued that fans can finish it on their own. In his book ''The Complete David Bowie'', Pegg finds ''Outside'' was made for fans of ''Diamond Dogs'', ''Low'' and ''Lodger'' rather than ''Let's Dance''. Describing it as "a triumphantly queasy, deliciously unpleasant album", he concludes: "''Outside'' remains as brilliant and intriguingly inconclusive as it was surely always supposed to be." In a 2016 retrospective ranking all of Bowie's 26 studio albums from worst to best, Bryan Wawzenek of ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' placed ''Outside'' at number 19, writing, "It's a solid framework for Bowie and Eno to get creative within – the backgrounds are reliably intriguing, if not always satisfying." Two years later, the writers of ''Consequence (publication)">Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' ranked ''Outside'' number seven in a similar list, above acclaimed records such as ''Blackstar (album)">Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of '' ...
'' (2016) and ''Station to Station'' (1976), stating that the album "succeeded because Bowie bought in completely to its concept and strangeness".


Reissues

In 2003, Columbia Records reissued ''Outside'' on CD in the UK, with another reissue following a year later that contained bonus tracks, including 14 remixes and B-sides. In 2015, almost 20 years after its original release, Friday Music released the full-length album on vinyl as a double-LP set. In 2021, the album was remastered and included as part of the box set ''
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) ''Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 26 November 2021. A follow-up to the compilations '' Five Years (1969–1973)'', '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', '' A New Career in ...
''.


Track listing


Personnel

According to the liner notes and biographer Nicholas Pegg: Musicians * David Bowie – vocals,
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
, guitar, keyboards * Brian Eno – synthesisers, treatments, strategies *
Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...
 – guitar *
Erdal Kızılçay Erdal Kızılçay (born c. 1950) is a multi-instrumentalist musician of Turkish birth. He has worked with, among others, David Bowie. He plays bass guitar, oud, drums, keyboards, trumpet and violin. He lives in Aegerten, Switzerland. Work with ...
 – bass, keyboards *
Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookly ...
 –
grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
* Sterling Campbell – drums *
Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garson. He has als ...
 – rhythm guitar *
Joey Baron Bernard Joseph Baron (born June 26, 1955 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer who plays frequently with Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Music career Baron was born on June 26, 1955, in Richmond Virginia. When he was nine, ...
 – drums * Yossi Fine – bass * Tom Frish – additional guitar on "Strangers When We Meet" *
Kevin Armstrong Kevin Armstrong (1922–1992 ) was a dual player who played Gaelic football, football and hurling for his local club O'Connell's GAA, O'Connell's and for the Antrim GAA, Antrim senior inter-county teams in both codes from the 1940s until the 19 ...
 – additional guitar on "Thru' These Architects Eyes" * Bryony, Lola, Josey and Ruby Edwards – background vocals on "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" and "I Am With Name" Production * David Bowie – producer, mixing and additional treatments * Brian Eno – producer * David Richards – co-producer, mixing and additional treatments; mastering * Kevin Metcalfe – mixing Design * Denovo – album design, concept and image manipulation * David Bowie – album cover concept; ''Head of DB'' (11"x11") acrylic painting on canvas 1995 * John Scarisbrick – photography *
Jennifer Elster Jennifer Elster is an American experimental artist, filmmaker, writer, photographer, musician, and performer. She is the founder of ''The Development'', a film and art studio based in New York City. She is best known for her performance artwork, ...
 – stylist


Charts


Weekly charts


Certifications and sales


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Outside 1995 albums Albums produced by David Bowie Albums produced by Brian Eno Albums produced by David Richards (record producer) Arista Records albums Art rock albums by English artists David Bowie albums Dystopian music Cyberpunk music Industrial rock albums Science fiction concept albums RCA Records albums Virgin Records albums