it seems like people are generally dismissive of Outside as a dated cyberpunk concept album and a failed attempt at career reinvention through a return to the Berlin era with added imitation of early-90s techno and pop-industrial in the vein of NIN.
obviously, the fact that it's set in the crazy future world of 1999 is a bit silly now, and the art-murder/serial killer angle is seen by many as more than a little trite. but i think that, musically, it's one of his strongest albums. i love the atmosphere of the whole thing, with the distorted, nonsensical voice-overs, the cut-up lyrics, the odd piano breaks floating in miasmas of electronics and guitar crunches. i think it's hard to argue that "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" and "Hallo Spaceboy," at least, are not among Bowie's finest, and i would probably extend that to "The Motel" also.
apparently, however, the album didn't do so well, and the difficulties and delays frustrated Bowie to the point where he chose to move on rather than finish the second Nathan Adler CD (supposedly called Contaminate, i believe), despite having recorded all the necessary material, and he never even began making vol 3 (apparently called Afrikaans). lack of enthusiasm on the parts of both artist and audience, as well as the changes in music and such since 1995, seem to have killed any chance of vols 2-3 being released.
this is disappointing to me. like i said, i'm a big fan of Outside.
but what do y'all think? |
