David Bowie's unique brand of music is his gift to the Universe. He recorded many albums in his long career, albums which spanned a wide spectrum of genres. Every now and then I come across one that I have never heard, never even knew existed. That has always seemed like a gift to me, and now when it happens, it's like a gift from The Other Side. And what a splendid gift this 1993 album "Black Tie White Noise" is!
When this album was conceived and recorded, Bowie had just emerged from his "Tin Machine" phase of loud guitar-driven rock. He had recently married supermodel Iman. Hip-hop was in full bloom. These factors shaped the contents and execution of the album, which turned out to be a collection of sophisticated dance-rock tracks, loaded with ear candy elements galore. Bowie's collaborator was Nile Rogers, who had produced "Let's Dance". "The Wedding", an instrumental track, opens the show with urban hip-hop clearly evident in the bass line and the beat. The last of the original tracks is "The Wedding Song", basically the same musical arrangement but including Bowie's smooth romantic vocal. There are 2 relatively slower R&B; love songs, "Don't Bring Me Down & Down" and "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday", and the latter features a strong bluesy guitar solo by Canadian guitarist Wild T. Springer. "Pallas Athena" is technically an instrumental, but spoken, chanted and/or whispered phrases can be heard. And yet another instrumental, "Looking For Lester", features prominent trumpet by jazz musician Lester Bowie (no relation), and Mike Garson's scintillating piano near the end. "Miracle Goodnight" is a bit brighter in mood than the other tracks, and it contains 2 spoken sections and an unusual guitar solo, difficult to describe. Bowie himself plays sax on many tracks, and also on several he uses the very low-pitched, sinister vocal similar to the one on "Cat People" from "Let's Dance". Several cuts feature dissonant tracked vocals or odd harmonies. "Nite Flights" has a darkly seductive and trippy arrangement. And what a total experience is the hot rockin' cover of Cream's "I Feel Free"! I mention these details of talent and diversity to make the point that this album should not be blithely dismissed as "just dance music".
As always, Bowie puts himself into his music, with some significant life events to be found in these lyrics. Bowie and Iman were married in 1992, and this album was inspired by their wedding. In track #2, it is evident that he was not very happy before the marriage: "It's too many lonely nights...I can't pass you by...You've been around/But you've changed me". The instrumental "The Wedding" (track #1) opens with wedding bells chiming, and "The Wedding Song" (track #12) closes the same way. In "The Wedding Song" Bowie expresses his delight: "Heaven is smiling down, heaven's girl in a wedding gown/I'm gonna be so good, just like a good boy should...I believe in magic/Angel for life". He expounds further in track #8: "I love you in the morning sun, I love you in my dreams/I love the sound of making love, the feeling of your skin". The happy couple happened to arrive in L.A. on the day the Rodney King verdict was announced. According to Wikipedia, Bowie described this day, and the riots that followed, as "awesome and numbing...the most apocalyptic experience I've been through in my life". He addresses this issue in the title cut of the album, a duet with Al B Sure, first with horror ("I'm lookin' thru African eyes/Lit by the glare of an L.A. fire/I've got a face, not just my race/Bang bang I've got you babe"), and then with hope ("There'll be some blood no doubt about it/But we'll come thru don't doubt it...Lord just let him hear me/Let him call me brother/Let him put his arms around me"). Another lyric gem can be found in one of the 2 bonus tracks, the very manic "Lucy Can't Dance": "Did the world just explode?/Don't recognize anyone/But you've still got me under your thumb...So I'll spin while my lunatic lyric goes wrong/Guess I'll put all my eggs in a postmodern song".
The album is jam-packed with goodies, too many to enumerate, or my review would be a mile long. So I'll just close with more poetry from "The Wedding Song", and you can discover the rest on your own: "These are silver wings/These are golden eyes/These are floating clouds...".
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Black Tie White Noise
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Audio CD, Import, October 6, 2003
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Editorial Reviews
This CD is an out of print collectible! It is the 1993 Savage Records/BMG release. Catalog 74785-50212-2. There is a hole punch through the UPC.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Product Dimensions : 5.5 x 4.94 x 0.45 inches; 1 Pounds
- Manufacturer : Jdc Records
- Date First Available : February 11, 2007
- Label : Jdc Records
- ASIN : B00000E7Q6
- Number of discs : 1
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#111,139 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #282 in Blue-Eyed Soul
- #3,894 in Dance Pop (CDs & Vinyl)
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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285 global ratings
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Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2017
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Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2016
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Closer to the truth: This Bowie album/cd is one of my favourites from the man. It is the most jazz oriented from Bowie in years and retrospectively along with Black Star is I believe where Bowie felt right at home. I think it was the first attempt by Bowie to make a jazz album, though it didn't seem to sit too well with his audience at the time of it's release for some reason? I love it and it is the most played Bowie album I have and I have many.. I think that if you are a true Bowie fan you'd agree with my thoughts on what he was recording for this album and the extended version gives the original album even more credence to that jazz feel. I think jazz was a huge love of Bowie's and he was wanting to make a hit jazz album for a long time. In the end Black Star was the book end to Black Tie / White Noise and because of the history of Black Star became that hit album.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2013
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There was such a resurgence of interest in Bowie as a personality at the time Black Tie White Noise was released, but not enough in his musical pursuits for this album not to have disappeared from the cultural radar within weeks of it's release in 1993.
It's a shame, and a true waste of a valuable resource, since it's aged far better than any of his other records from the nineties (and this is coming from a fan of nineties' Bowie albums, specifically 1.Outside and Earthling). At least now, in the digital age, it can be discovered in this current wave of Bowie fandom surrounding his return to making albums and headlines (for once, mostly because of the album he's promoting).
The cover versions are alive with wonder and suggestion of entirely new compositions existing within the established framework of the original hits. Frantic and rapturous "hit", Jump They Say, may be his most touching and personally moving track (tales of his sibling's struggles with the unravelling of the mind), and that's saying a lot, considering that many songs featured here are directly/indirectly coloured by his then newfound marital bliss. Specifically, I appreciate his work on the saxophone more on this album than that of any other before or since (besides on the spacier material on Low and "Heroes"), as his note and textural choices paint a picture of his love for Iman, over and over again.
Anyone who wants to skip the Bowie material of the eighties in order to connect his craft to the high watermark left by everything chronologically from Station To Station to Scary Monsters.............start here, and also pick up the equally (and criminally) overlooked soundtrack for The Buddha of Suburbia, which works as a sort of spiritual companion piece to BTWN.
It's a shame, and a true waste of a valuable resource, since it's aged far better than any of his other records from the nineties (and this is coming from a fan of nineties' Bowie albums, specifically 1.Outside and Earthling). At least now, in the digital age, it can be discovered in this current wave of Bowie fandom surrounding his return to making albums and headlines (for once, mostly because of the album he's promoting).
The cover versions are alive with wonder and suggestion of entirely new compositions existing within the established framework of the original hits. Frantic and rapturous "hit", Jump They Say, may be his most touching and personally moving track (tales of his sibling's struggles with the unravelling of the mind), and that's saying a lot, considering that many songs featured here are directly/indirectly coloured by his then newfound marital bliss. Specifically, I appreciate his work on the saxophone more on this album than that of any other before or since (besides on the spacier material on Low and "Heroes"), as his note and textural choices paint a picture of his love for Iman, over and over again.
Anyone who wants to skip the Bowie material of the eighties in order to connect his craft to the high watermark left by everything chronologically from Station To Station to Scary Monsters.............start here, and also pick up the equally (and criminally) overlooked soundtrack for The Buddha of Suburbia, which works as a sort of spiritual companion piece to BTWN.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016
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This album, done for David Bowie's wedding to Iman, is often overlooked.Featuring the trumpet work of Lester Bowie, no relation, David turns on the jazz for a thoroughly delightful sound. Some songs are more rock/oriented but much of the good stuff involves interplay between Lester on trumpet and David on sax. David Bowie hits a real vocal high with Sinatra-like phrasing in the stupidly titled "Don't Bring Me Down and Down." Rarely does he show off his vocal skill so well, so people don't think of David Bowie as a fine singer. Sadly, first Lester Bowie died of cancer, then we lost David in January 2016. It's sad we will never hear this pairing again. Even more sad that we will never hear David's well-tuned pipes again. Buy this album and treasure it.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2016
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Best track on the album is Jump, They Say which is about David's brother who worked in the financial industry and was driven to suicide.
As always a shift in direction from previous recordings. Some very deep synth sounds and some great horn arrangements. And of course
David's voice, which is strong throughout the recording.
As always a shift in direction from previous recordings. Some very deep synth sounds and some great horn arrangements. And of course
David's voice, which is strong throughout the recording.
3 people found this helpful
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Cornishpasty
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good "later" Bowie album
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2016Verified Purchase
Bought this after Bowie's death - up till then I'd pretty well ignored his later work ("later" being anything after "Scary Monsters" in my mind, I didn't particularly like "Let's Dance" - and "Tonight" and "Never Let me Down" were dreadful), but after his death, I was keen to hear his voice again, and, after all he had recently been producing great stuff. I find all his later albums benefit from repeated playing and this is no exception, but it is a bit of a mixed bag, with some excellent tracks and some not so good. Produced by Nile Rogers, it has a dancier, funkier feel to it than many of his later albums, though thankfully less commercial than "Let's Dance". It also has an upbeat feel, being his "wedding" album, though it also deals with the sad issue of his brother Terry's suicide ("Jump they Say" - one of the great songs on the album) I also particularly liked "You've Been Around", a wonderful version of "Night Flights" and "Miracle Goodnight". Not so good was "Don't Let me Down and Down". Didn't particularly like his "I Feel Free" version either, though it was good to hear Mick Ronson's guitar - recorded shortly before he died. Overall a good album - and always good to hear Bowie's voice again.
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Brian G
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only for fans who want all of David's music
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2019Verified Purchase
This is the only official release by David that I have not liked. When I read that David was once again collaborating with Nile Rodgers I that this would be something special. To be brutally honest it is a total let down. For me to say that hurts because of my lad David has left me with what I can only describe as a disjointed lack lustre CD. I have always said that David had pushed his music to new levels, on this one it seems he was in some kind of whirlpool, not quite knowing where he was going to go next. There is only one track that is brilliant and that is the final track.
This release may have met with critical acclaim so I have stuck my neck out to say this is only for fans who wish to have every release from David. I would also point out that the sound reproduction is excellent.
This release may have met with critical acclaim so I have stuck my neck out to say this is only for fans who wish to have every release from David. I would also point out that the sound reproduction is excellent.
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Gareth
5.0 out of 5 stars
90s Bowie classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2019Verified Purchase
When released back in 1993 this album got average reviews. It was a departure from Bowie's rock sound and sees him in quite a different, more mature mood. There's a mixture of acid jazz, soul, electronic and some rock styles on here. There are quite a few covers - I Feel Free, Nite Flights, the obscure Don't Let Me Down and Down, and I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday. Bowie puts his unique spin on them. It's worth tracking down the original version of Tahra's Don't Let Me Down and Down just to hear it.
I really like this album because it's such a department from Bowie's well known style of more straight ahead rock. It does sound a little dated now, especially with the appearance of Al B. Sure! on there, but it's a great listen.
I really like this album because it's such a department from Bowie's well known style of more straight ahead rock. It does sound a little dated now, especially with the appearance of Al B. Sure! on there, but it's a great listen.
3 people found this helpful
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Kingsley Flint
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very overlooked at the time it was released. A wonderful collection of his songs
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2017Verified Purchase
This is fascinating, overlooked at the time. Where were we all? Evidently David was making some of his most interesting experimental music just after his wedding. Now that he is so sadly gone we reconnect with his music in those 'unfashionable' periods when he was, we now see, making amazing music. love this album, full of surprises and delights.
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Steve Price
5.0 out of 5 stars
David Bowie, need I say more?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2016Verified Purchase
For a start I'm biased as I've loved David Bowie since my teens, more years ago than I care to remember. This album to me was never fully appreciated on its initial release, despite it hitting no. 1 in the album chart. Like all his recordings it was a progression from the last, I was always happy to follow where this amazing genius led me. For me this was an indicator of how his later material would take shape, the template that brought us to the quite staggering Blackstar. Despite some lesser views from others I find this album has a continuity and thoroughly satisfying. Highly recommended.
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