Black Tie White Noise

by David Bowie

Overview

Black Tie White Noise was the beginning of David Bowie's return from the wilderness of post-Let's Dance, the first indication that he was regaining his creative spark. To say as much suggests that it's a bit of a lost classic, when it's rather a sporadically intriguing transitional album, finding Bowie balancing the commercial dance-rock of Let's Dance with artier inclinations from his Berlin period, all the while trying to draw on the past by working with former Spider from Mars guitarist Mick Ronson, collaborating with Let's Dance producer Nile Rodgers, and even covering inspiration Scott Walker's "Nite Flights." On top of that, the record was inspired by his recent marriage to supermodel Iman -- the record is bookended with "The Wedding" and "The Wedding Song" -- and then tied up and presented as a sophisticated modern urban soul record, one that draws from uptown soul (including, rather bafflingly, a duet with Al B. Sure!) and state-of-the-art dance-club techno, while adding splashy touches like solos from avant jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie and a nod to modern alt-rock via a nifty cover of Morrissey's "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday." That's a lot of stuff for one record to handle, so it shouldn't come as a great surprise that the album doesn't always work, but its stylish restlessness comes as a great relief, particularly when compared to the hermetically sealed previous solo Bowie record, 1987's Never Let Me Down. Black Tie White Noise displays greater musical ambition than any record he'd made since Scary Monsters, and while much of the record feels like unrealized ideas, there are songs where it all gels, like on the paranoid jumble of "Jump They Say," the aforementioned covers, the impassioned "You've Been Around," and the self-consciously smooth title track. Moments like these are the first in a long time to feel classically Bowie, and they point ahead toward the more interesting records he made in the second half of the '90s, but they are encased in a production that not only sounds dated years later, but sounded dated upon its release in the spring of 1993, two years into the thick of alternative rock. At that point, the club-centric, mainstream-courting Black Tie White Noise seemed as an anachronism during the guitar-heavy grunge-n-industrial glory days -- something Bowie tacitly acknowledged with its 1995 successor, Outside, which was every bit as gloomy as a Nine Inch Nails record -- but separated from the vagaries of fashion, it's an interesting first step in Bowie's creative revival. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	08/05/2022
Label:	Parlophone / Rhino
UPC:	0190295253431
Rank:	51884

Album Credits

Performance Credits

David Bowie   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Saxophone,Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Al B. Sure!   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Richard Tee   Guest Artist,Keyboards
Mick Ronson   Guest Artist,Guitar
Mike Garson   Guest Artist,Piano
Chico O'Farrill   Guest Artist,Conductor,Horn Conductor
Reeves Gabrels   Guest Artist,Guitar
Lester Bowie   Guest Artist,Trumpet
Nile Rodgers   Guest Artist,Guitar,Choir/Chorus
Tawatha Agee   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Sterling Campbell   Drums
Curtis King   Vocals (Background)
Frank Simms   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
David Richards   Keyboards
John Regan   Bass
George Simms   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Richard Hilton   Keyboards
Philippe Saisse   Keyboards
Poogie Bell   Drums
Maryl Epps   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Gerardo Velez   Percussion
Fonzi Thornton   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Maryel Epps   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Gerado Velez   Percussion
Dan Wilensky   Saxophone
Brenda White-King   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Barry Campbell   Bass
David Spinner   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Lamya Al-Mughiery   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Connie Petruk   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Michael Reisman   Harp,Bells,Tubular Bells
Wild T. Springer   Guitar
Pugi Bell   Drums
Curtis Rance King, Jr.   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Dennis Collins   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)
Curtis King, Jr.   Choir/Chorus,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Andy Grassi   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Andy Smith   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Chico O'Farrill   Arranger,Horn Arrangements
Jack Bruce   Composer
Tahra Valmont   Composer
Engels   Composer
David Richards   Programming
Lee Anthony   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Scott Engel   Composer
Michael Riesman   String Arrangements
Scott Walker   Composer
Jon Goldberger   Engineer
Pete Brown   Composer
Mark E. Nevin   Composer
Richard Hilton   Programming
Martine Valmont   Composer
Nile Rodgers   Composer,Producer
David Bowie   Composer,Producer
Morrissey   Composer
Andrew Grassi   Engineer
Stephen Hart   Mixing
Dave Richards   Programming
Gary Tole   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Reeves Gabrels   Composer
Louis Alfred III   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Michel Valmont   Composer
Budd Tunick   Production Manager,Production Coordination
Oscar Jaimes   Copyist
Neil Perry   Assistant Engineer
Peter Gabriel   Photography
Jae-E   Producer,Remixing
Nick Knight   Photography
Steve Rooke   Digital Remastering
Mark Nevin   Composer
Valmont   Composer
Neal Perry   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Tahra Hembara   Composer
Martine Souleillan   Composer