Reality (David Bowie album)

Reality
Studio album by David Bowie
Released 16 September 2003
Recorded January–May 2003
Studio David Bowie's house, SoHo
Looking Glass Studios, Broadway
Mike Garson's home studio, Bell Canyon
Genre Rock[1]
Length 49:25
Label
Producer
David Bowie chronology
Best of Bowie
(2002)		 Reality
(2003)		 Live Santa Monica '72
(2008)
Singles from Reality
  1. "New Killer Star"
    Released: 29 September 2003
  2. "Never Get Old"
    Released: February 2004
  3. "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon"
    Released: July 2004

Reality is the twenty-third studio album by English rock musician David Bowie. It was released on 16 September 2003 on his Iso Records label, in conjunction with Columbia Records.

Recording and production

The album was recorded and produced in New York's Looking Glass Studios and co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. Consisting mostly of original compositions, the album also includes two cover songs, The Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" and George Harrison's "Try Some, Buy Some". These two tracks were originally slated for Bowie's never-recorded Pin Ups 2 album from the early 1970s.[2]

Bowie started writing the songs for Reality as the production for his previous album Heathen was wrapping up. Some songs he wrote quickly: "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" was written in 30 minutes. Other songs, such as "Bring Me the Disco King", was a song Bowie had tried his hand at as early as the 1970s and had tried again with 1993's Black Tie White Noise as well as Heathen in 2002.[2]

Bowie and Visconti produced both the stereo and 5.1 mix in the studio as the album was recorded.

On the album's title, Bowie said:

I feel that reality has become an abstract for so many people over the last 20 years. Things that they regarded as truths seem to have just melted away, and it's almost as if we're thinking post-philosophically now. There's nothing to rely on any more. No knowledge, only interpretation of those facts that we seem to be inundated with on a daily basis. Knowledge seems to have been left behind and there's a sense that we are adrift at sea. There's nothing more to hold on to, and of course political circumstances just push that boat further out.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
BBCVery positive[1]
The Guardian[5]
Pitchfork(7.3/10)[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
USA Today[8]

A contemporary review of the album by the BBC called the album "a proper album, with a beginning, a middle and an end. It's direct, warm, emotional honest, even and the surfeit of pleasingly deceptive musical simplicity allows the irony of the central concept – that there is no such thing as reality anymore – an opportunity to filter through. It's also rather lively and convincing." The same review called this and his earlier album Earthling Bowie's "best album since Scary Monsters."[1]

Release history

Over the promotional period, the album was released in a variety of formats. The standard release was a single jewel case CD version, followed by the CD with a three track bonus CD in digipak format. The album was then released as a multichannel hybrid SACD, and then reissued with a bonus live DVD recorded in London.[9]

Live performances

Main article: A Reality Tour

Bowie took the album on tour in 2003 and 2004 on what was originally planned to be a 7-month tour.[2]

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "New Killer Star"    4:40
2. "Pablo Picasso"  Jonathan Richman 4:06
3. "Never Get Old"    4:25
4. "The Loneliest Guy"    4:11
5. "Looking for Water"    3:28
6. "She'll Drive the Big Car"    4:35
7. "Days"    3:19
8. "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon"    4:04
9. "Try Some, Buy Some"  George Harrison 4:24
10. "Reality"    4:23
11. "Bring Me the Disco King"    7:45
Limited edition bonus disc
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Fly"    4:10
2. "Queen of All the Tarts (Overture)"    2:53
3. "Rebel Rebel" (2002 re-recording)  3:10
4. "Love Missile F1 Eleven"  Martin Degville, Tony James, Neal Whitmore 4:15
5. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (Radio mix)  3:27
6. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (7th Heaven edit)  4:19
7. "Rebel Never Gets Old" (7th Heaven mix)  7:23
Limited DVD tour edition

The DVD features a promotional concert where the whole album was played live track by track. It was recorded at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London on 8 September 2003. On the regular CD a recording of The Kinks' song "Waterloo Sunset" was released as a bonus track. On the Canadian reissue, the live DVD was truncated down to five tracks.

DualDisc edition

A DualDisc edition was released initially in the Boston and Seattle regions of the US only. The CD side contains the album, whereas the DVD side contains the album in 5.1 surround sound and bonus material (photo gallery, lyrics, biography, and discography). Of most interest is the otherwise unavailable Reality film featuring full-length videos of "Never Get Old", "The Loneliest Guy", "Bring Me the Disco King" and "New Killer Star" directed by Steven Lippman. About half a year later this edition was released countrywide in the US and Canada.

The original test marketed DualDisc version differs in packaging and in the design on the inlay card from the version that was later released countrywide.

Personnel

Additional personnel
Design

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2003) Position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[12] 13
Austrian Albums Chart[13] 3
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[14] 4
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[15] 3
Danish Albums Chart[16] 1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[17] 14
Finnish Albums Chart[18] 8
French SNEP Albums Chart[19] 2
German Media Control Albums Chart[20] 3
Irish Albums Chart[21] 6
Italian Albums Chart[22] 4
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[23] 47
New Zealand Albums Chart[24] 14
Norwegian Albums Chart[25] 2
Portuguese Albums Chart[26] 6
Swedish Albums Chart[27] 5
Swiss Albums Chart[28] 5
UK Albums Chart[29] 3
US Billboard 200[30] 29

Year-end charts

Chart (2003) Position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[31] 91
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[32] 76
French Albums Chart[33] 95
Italian Albums Chart [34] 116

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
France (SNEP)[35] Gold 104,400[36]
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Gold 100,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 Easlea, Daryl (2002). "David Bowie Reality Review". BBC. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Buskin, Richard (October 2003), "David Bowie & Tony Visconti Recording Reality", Sound on Sound, retrieved 30 July 2013
  3. ↑ Reality (Review), metacritic, retrieved 16 January 2013
  4. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Reality – David Bowie". Allmusic. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Caroline Sullivan (12 September 2003). "David Bowie, Reality". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Eric Carr (16 September 2003). "David Bowie: Reality". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  7. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/reality-20030910
  8. ↑ Edna Gundersen (15 September 2003). "Listen Up (David Bowie: Reality)". USA Today. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Ivan Claudio (24 September 2003). "Jovialidade sem botox" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  10. ↑ David Wild. "Bowie's Wedding Album". Rolling Stone (21 January 1993): 14.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "australian-charts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "David Bowie – Reality – austriancharts.at" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  14. ↑ "ultratop.be — David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). ultratop.be/nl, Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  15. ↑ "ultratop.be — David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). ultratop.be/fr,, Hung Medien (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "danishcharts.com". danishcharts.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  17. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "finnishcharts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  19. ↑ "lescharts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). lescharts.com (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "Album Search: David Bowie – Reality" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  21. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 18 September 2003". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "italiancharts.com David Bowie – Reality". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  23. ↑ デヴィッド・ボウイ-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Reality by David Bowie" Check |url= value (help). oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  24. ↑ "charts.org.nz David Bowie – Earthling" (ASP). Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  25. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  26. ↑ "poruguescharts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  27. ↑ "swedishcharts.com David Bowie – Reality" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  28. ↑ "David Bowie – Reality – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  29. ↑ "David Bowie > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  30. ↑ "allmusic ((( Reality > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  31. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2003". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  32. ↑ "Rapports annuels 2003". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  33. ↑ "Classement Albums - année 2003". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  34. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 2003" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  35. ↑ "French album certifications – David Bowie – Reality" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  36. ↑ "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr. SNEP. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  37. ↑ "British album certifications – David Bowie – Reality". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 October 2012. Enter Reality in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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