Despite David Bowie constantly changing his musical style and image, many people raised eyebrows when he formed Tin Machine, a rock band with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Maybe the general ambivalence to the band was due to it being a victim of its own timing – David had filled most of the immediately preceding years with some of his most commercial music after all, so maybe a core of the audience weren’t prepared for the band’s harder sound?
Revisiting the Tin Machine albums decades on, they neither sound as shocking or challenging as some fans found them. In fact, both albums from the short lived band sound like just another phase in Bowie’s ever evolving career. In fact, Tin Machine often sound like a harsher cousin to the darker parts of ‘The Next Day’, Bowie’s critically lauded comeback, released a decade after the band’s demise…
It appears that it wasn’t just the record buying public for whom Tin Machine were difficult either. During his 1999 performance on VH1 Storytellers Bowie mocked the band and the second Tin Machine album – the usefully titled ‘Tin Machine II’ – has been off catalogue and unavailable for years; an unusual state of affairs for anything Bowie related. In a world where David’s 1967 debut album full of British whimsy in the music hall style has been available as a vastly expanded deluxe edition, this seems especially harsh for the fate of ‘Tin Machine II’…
Since David’s death in 2016, lots of his work has been loved, re-discovered by some and in some cases re-evaluated. Not so in the case of Tin Machine. Surely it’s time to feel the love for a musical experiment that yieded some great music, even if it wasn’t all gold-standard Bowie?
There’s enough material out there for an excellent and very comprehensive box set. There are two unavailable albums; there are b-sides; there are visual documents. It’d be fabulous if something akin to the set detailed below saw release. Maybe then Tin Machine could experience a little glory, albeit posthumously.
DOLLARS AND SENSE: THE COMPREHENSIVE TIN MACHINE
DISC ONE: Tin Machine
Heaven’s In Here
Tin Machine
Prisoner of Love
Crack City
I Can’t Read
Under The God
Amazing
Working Class Hero
Bus Stop
Pretty Thing
Video Crime
Run
Sacrifice Yourself
Baby Can Dance
The Interview*
bonus track, originally from ‘Under The God’ CD b-side
DISC TWO: Tin Machine II
Baby Universal
One Shot
You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll
If There Is Something
Amlapura
Betty Wrong
You Can’t Talk
Stateside
Shopping For Girls
A Big Hurt
Sorry
Goodbye Mr. Ed
Hammerhead*
*bonus track, originally from ‘You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll’ CD single
DISC THREE: Alternate Versions
Heaven’s In Here (edit)
Prisoner of Love (edit)
Baby Universal (7” edit)
Amlapura (Indonesian version)
You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll (extended version)
Baby Universal (extended version)
Stateside (BBC version)
If There Is Something (BBC version)
Heaven’s In Here (BBC version)
A Big Hurt (BBC version)
Bus Stop (Live at La Cigale, Paris 1989)*
I Can’t Read ((Live at La Cigale, Paris 1989)*
Maggie’s Farm (Live at La Cigale, Paris 1989)*
Baby Can’t Dance (Live at La Cigale, Paris 1989)*
Crack City (Live at La Cigale, Paris 1989)*
If There Is Something**
Amazing**
I Can’t Read**
Stateside**
Under The God**
Goodbye Mr. Ed**
Heaven’s In Here**
You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll**
Shakin’ All Over***
*from b-sides relating to ‘Tin Machine’
** from the hard to find ‘Oy, Vey’ live album
***from ‘You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll’ CD single
DISC FIVE: TinMachineOnFilmOne (DVD)
Live In Amsterdam, 1989 (Japanese TV pro-shot, 42m)
Live, LAX (US TV, 26m)
Live At The Docks, Hamburg, 24/10/91 (full show, pro-shot 1h27m)
DISC SIX: TinMachineOnFilmTwo (DVD)
Live At NHK Hall, Tokyo 1992 (full show, pro-shot 1h25m)
You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll (promo video)
One Shot (promo video)
Baby Universal (promo video)
You Belong In Rock ‘n’ Roll + interview (BBC TV, Wogan 1991)
Heaven In Here (Live, International Rock Awards, tv debut 1989)