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Earthling
Recorded: 1996; Looking Glass Studios, NYC.
Released: BMG, February 1997.
Chart Peak: 6 (UK); 39 (US).
Key Personnel: Reeves Gabrels (gtr, synth,
programming); Mark Plati (programming etc.); Mike
Garson (pno); Gail Ann Dorsey (bs); Zachary Alford
(dms, perc).
Producers: David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels and
Mark Plati.
Bowie would be mocked as a ‘dad at the disco’ for
this collection of mostly drum ‘n’ bass tracks, but
there is a rush of excitement in the opening moments
which banishes cynicism: ‘Little Wonder’ features
the return of cheeky, cockney Bowie, its agile, sweet
melody perfectly offset by crunchy guitar and
clattering drum machine – like Outside’s ‘Hallo
Spaceboy’, it’s a classic which stands outside of
style. But the trick soon wears thin. Despite some
innovative structures, like the slightly loopy ‘Looking
for Satellites’, and ruthlessly efficient rock songs like
‘Dead Man Walking’, the album soon develops into
a drearily repetitive loop, each chorus followed by
two bars of chattering drums and then a heavy guitar
riff. As a whole, the album is conservative and
formulaic – even the self-referential title and Union
Jack cover seemed to indicate a jaded palate.
Those faults would have been forgivable had the
album been released two years earlier; its
appearance just as the nineties drum ‘n’ bass craze