''The Next Day'' is the 25th studio album by English musician
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
, released in March 2013. It was his first studio release in ten years, having retreated from public view after his 2004 heart attack. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
, the album was recorded in New York City at the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios between May 2011 and October 2012. It featured contributions from collaborators old and new, including
Gerry Leonard
Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan.
Hinterland
From Clontarf in Dublin, Le ...
,
Earl Slick
Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn, New York, October 1, 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim ...
,
Gail Ann Dorsey
Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...
,
Steve Elson,
Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell (born May 3, 1964) is an American drummer and songwriter who has worked with numerous high-profile acts, including The B-52s, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Cyndi Lauper, Nena, Grayson Hugh, Spandau Ballet, Gustavo Cerati and Dav ...
and
Zachary Alford
Zachary "Zack" Alford is a professional drummer, known for his work with the B-52's, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tomoyasu Hotei. Alford was brought in by Danny Kortchmar to drum on Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'' album.
Alford contribut ...
. The sessions were recorded in secret; all personnel involved signed
non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
s.
Primarily an
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
album, ''The Next Day'' contains many call-backs to Bowie's earlier works. The lyrics are generally bleak, and draw on his reading of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Russian history
The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Veli ...
in their coverage of tyranny and violence. The characters range from soldiers and assassins to
school shooters and street gangs. The album was released through ISO Records in association with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. The designer
Jonathan Barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook (born 1966), is a British graphic designer, film maker and typographer. He trained at Saint Martin's School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, both in London.
Work
Barnbrook designed the cover artwork of David Bowie's ...
adapted the cover art from Bowie's 1977 album ''
"Heroes"'', and places a white square with the album's title obscures his face and the ''"Heroes"'' title is crossed out.
The debut
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
"
Where Are We Now?
"Where Are We Now?" is a song by English musician David Bowie. Recorded in secret between September and October 2011 at the Magic Shop in New York City, it was released by ISO and Columbia Records as the lead single of his 25th studio album ''T ...
" and announcement of the album were posted online on 8January 2013, Bowie's 66th birthday, surprising fans and media who had assumed he had retired from music. Preceded by a
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
campaign, ''The Next Day'' topped charts worldwide and debuted at number one and two on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and US
''Billboard'' 200, respectively. It was Bowie's first UK number-one album since 1993 and his highest charting US album since 1976. Several singles with accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s were released throughout 2013.
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...
s and
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
es appeared on ''The Next Day Extra'', which was released in November.
''The Next Day'' received critical acclaim and was regarded as Bowie's best work in decades; it placed on several year-end lists. Many reviewers highlighted the vocal and musical performances, and made positive comparisons to his earlier works, though some felt the album lacked innovation and was overlong. Among the first
surprise album
A surprise album or surprise release refers to the release of an album with little or no prior announcement, marketing or promotion. The strategy contrasts traditional album releases, which typically feature weeks or months of advertising in the f ...
s of the 2010s, ''The Next Day'' was included in the 2014 revised edition of Robert Dimery's book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''.
Background
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
underwent
angioplasty
Angioplasty, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atheroscle ...
for a blocked
artery
An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pul ...
in late June 2004, leading to the delay of his final live
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
, the
A Reality Tour
A Reality Tour was a worldwide concert tour by David Bowie in support of the ''Reality'' album. The tour began on 7 October 2003 at the Forum Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing through Europe, North America, Asia, including a return to New Zealan ...
. He largely withdrew from public view after the surgery. Over the following years, he was spotted walking around New York City, at several local venues, and making occasional appearances at concerts and on television; he gave his final live public performance in November 2006. The only studio recordings he made were minor contributions to other artists such as
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...
and
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
. He mostly cut off contact with many of his prior collaborators, including
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
, his longest working partner, whom he began speaking with after 2006.
Rumours circulated that Bowie was in poor health, particularly after he declined repeated invitations to perform at the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London. Others speculated he was suffering from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, although Visconti refuted these rumours in 2013, stating: "He does not have cancer. If there's one thing I would like to dispel it's the rumours about his ill-health. He's incredibly fit and takes care of himself. Obviously after the heart attack he wasn't too thrilled but he has an amazing family and friends."
In November 2010, Bowie contacted Visconti while in London, wanting to record some
demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming)
...
. Visconti returned to New York a few days later and joined Bowie in the studio with his former musicians, guitarist
Gerry Leonard
Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan.
Hinterland
From Clontarf in Dublin, Le ...
and drummer
Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell (born May 3, 1964) is an American drummer and songwriter who has worked with numerous high-profile acts, including The B-52s, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Cyndi Lauper, Nena, Grayson Hugh, Spandau Ballet, Gustavo Cerati and Dav ...
. The four worked for five to seven days at 6/8 Studios in Manhattan's East Village, a tiny rehearsal room which Leonard likened to "a little dungeon". The demos, written during Bowie's hiatus, were created on digital recorders and complete with basslines and drum patterns. According to Visconti, the ensemble primarily wrote notes on the demos and did not record any material until the final day. After about a dozen demos were made, primarily consisting of keyboards and wordless guide vocals for melodies, Bowie returned home and went silent for four months. Visconti later said that he spent the time writing and developing the material.
Recording
![Tony Visconti, circa 2000 (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Tony_Visconti%2C_circa_2000_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In April 2011, Bowie began a low-key search for a New York studio. According to biographer
Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, writer and director. Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of Acting.
Acti ...
, the first venue chosen, the identity of which remains undisclosed, was discarded before recording began as the studio's personnel quickly exposed the secret.
Bowie instead chose Crosby Street's Magic Shop, a venue close to his home. The studio's owner, Steve Rosenthal, recalled: "It's not an exaggeration to say that we didn't know what was going on until the day that David showed up." Recording began on 2May 2011; Bowie and Visconti acted as co-producers.
Engineer
Mario J. McNulty
Mario J. McNulty (born December 1978) is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer and audio engineer based in New York City, United States. He has worked with David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, The B-52s, Julian Lennon and many other ...
, who had worked on ''
Reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
'' (2003), joined Bowie and Visconti at the Magic Shop. McNulty set up workstations for each player in the location's small "live" studio room, which had little separation between the players. Bowie was set up with a
Baldwin piano, his
Korg Trinity
The Korg Trinity is a synthesizer music workstation released by Korg in 1995. It was also the first workstation to offer modular expansion for not only sounds, but also studio-grade feature such as ADAT, various sound engine processors, audio r ...
synthesiser, a six-string and
twelve-string acoustic guitars, a tambourine, and a
digital mixer
In professional audio, a digital mixing console (DMC) is a type of mixing console used to combine, route, and change the dynamics, equalization and other properties of multiple audio input signals, using digital signal processing rather than a ...
to reference the demos. Like the early sessions for ''
Outside
Outside or Outsides may refer to:
General
* Wilderness
* Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans
Books and magazines
* ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras
* ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...
'' (1995), Bowie emphasised studio experimentation. At Bowie and Visconti's request, McNulty applied studio processing on the mixing board so it would "sound like a record on playback". Bowie disappeared with the music "to make sure he was on the right track", then brought the band back together to take the next step in recording when he was ready. Visconti described the recording sessions as "intense", but they stuck to regular hours.
First block
The on and off Magic Shop sessions lasted until the autumn of 2012, and included several of Bowie's prior collaborators. For the first two weeks in May 2011, Leonard was joined by bassist
Gail Ann Dorsey
Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...
and former ''
Heathen __NOTOC__
Heathen or Heathens may refer to:
Religion
*Heathen, another name for a pagan
*Heathen, an adherent of Heathenry
Music
*Band of Heathens, a North American rock and roll band
*Heathen (band), a North American thrash metal band
*The Hea ...
'' (2002) and ''Reality'' guitarist
David Torn
David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.
Background
Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...
. Dorsey described the tracks as "different from anything else that's going on in the world". Campbell, who had touring commitments with
the B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
, was replaced by ''
Earthling
Earthling or Earthlings may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Earthling'' (film), a 2010 sci-fi film
* ''Earthlings'' (film), a 2005 animal rights documentary
* ''The Earthling'', a 1980 drama film
* "Earthling" (''Fringe''), a 2009 TV episode ...
'' (1997) drummer
Zachary Alford
Zachary "Zack" Alford is a professional drummer, known for his work with the B-52's, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tomoyasu Hotei. Alford was brought in by Danny Kortchmar to drum on Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'' album.
Alford contribut ...
, who would play on most of the album's tracks. According to Alford, most of the songs were completed in two to five takes, recording one to two tracks per day.
Leonard recalled that the sessions moved relatively quickly, but never felt rushed: "David likes to work hard in short bursts and get it done."
Songs recorded during the first block included "Atomica", "Born in a UFO", "Dancing Out in Space", "Heat", "How Does the Grass Grow?", "If You Can See Me", "Like a Rocket Man", "
The Next Day
''The Next Day'' is the 25th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released in March 2013. It was his first studio release in ten years, having retreated from public view after his 2004 heart attack. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime c ...
", "So She", "
The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
"The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" is a song by English musician David Bowie; it serves as the second single from his twenty-fourth studio album ''The Next Day''. The song's official music video was released on 25 February 2013 and the song itself wa ...
" and "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die". Many of the May tracks received subsequent work later on, including additional
overdubs
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
by other musicians. After the initial May sessions, recording halted until September. During breaks from the studio, Visconti would go out listening to music from ''The Next Day'':
"I was walking around New York with my headphones on, looking at all the people with Bowie T-shirts on—they are ubiquitous here—thinking, 'Boy, if you only knew what I'm listening to at the moment.
Second block, overdubs and vocals
Recording went on hiatus during mid-2011, when Bowie demoed "Boss of Me" and "I'll Take You There" with Leonard at the guitarist's home in
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
. The second block of recording commenced in September with Leonard, Alford and ''Heathen'' bassist
Tony Levin
Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...
. Songs taped during the week-long session included "Boss of Me", "Dirty Boys", "God Bless the Girl", "I'd Rather Be High", "I'll Take You There", "The Informer", "
Love Is Lost
"Love Is Lost" is a song by English rock musician David Bowie from his album ''The Next Day''. James Murphy's "Hello Steve Reich Mix for the DFA" was released as the fifth single from Bowie's 24th studio album ''The Next Day'' as a promotio ...
" and "
Where Are We Now?
"Where Are We Now?" is a song by English musician David Bowie. Recorded in secret between September and October 2011 at the Magic Shop in New York City, it was released by ISO and Columbia Records as the lead single of his 25th studio album ''T ...
".
After the second block, Bowie recorded vocals on and off from September to January 2012, at Human Worldwide Studios, where the majority of the backing vocals and other overdubs were added. Lead vocals recorded during this time included "Boss of Me", "God Bless the Girl", "Heat", "How Does the Grass Grow?", "The Informer", "Love Is Lost", "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" and "Where Are We Now?"; he also tracked every instrument aside from drums on an instrumental track titled "Plaid" in January. Bowie initially struggled with lyrics and vocals; Visconti said, "In the beginning he was finding his voice." Dorsey and Leonard were initially afraid the artist would abort the album, and Magic Shop assistant engineer Brian Thorn stated: "I had no idea if the album would even be released. I was prepared to sit on it for as long as I needed to."
The musicians were given little information beforehand. Saxophone overdubs were provided by
Steve Elson, who had worked with Bowie on records from ''
Let's Dance'' (1983) to ''Heathen''. The new arrival
Henry Hey
Henry may refer to:
People
* Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portuga ...
, whose previous credits included works with
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
and
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
, contributed piano overdubs over several sessions at both the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide on "Where Are We Now?", "The Informer", "God Bless the Girl" and "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die". Hey was hired by Bowie at Visconti's recommendation after the two had worked together on a
Lucy Woodward
Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has recorded for Atlantic Records, Atlantic, Verve Records, Verve, and GroundUP Music, GroundUP and has sung background vocals for Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Snarky Puppy, Celine Di ...
jazz album. Visconti told Pegg: "I loved his versatility and flawless technique.
.. ehas a lovely, calming personality." Bowie frequently requested input from the musicians. Hey enjoyed the method, telling Pegg: "It's a great way to work as it allows people to put forth their most prominent instinct on a passage."
Third block and final overdubs
In March 2012, Leonard was brought back to the Magic Shop for guitar overdubs, while Bowie continued tracking lead vocals. From March to May, the second batch included "Dirty Boys", "I'd Rather Be High", "I'll Take You There", "If You Can See Me", "Like a Rocket Man", "The Next Day" and "You Feel So Lonely You Die". The third and final block of recording commenced in late July 2012. Visconti took over on bass, while Campbell and long-time guitarist
Earl Slick
Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn, New York, October 1, 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim ...
joined the sessions.
Songs recorded included a new version of "Born in a UFO", "
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
" and "(You Will) Set the World on Fire"; Slick contributed overdubs to "Dirty Boys" and "Atomica". Slick was "pleasantly surprised" by the invitation to play on the album and described the sessions as "relaxed and fun". Bowie tracked a final round of vocals from September to October 2012: "Born in a UFO", "Dancing Out in Space", "So She", "Valentine's Day" and "(You Will) Set the World on Fire".
Secrecy
Bowie was careful to keep the recording of the album secret, requiring people involved to sign
non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
s. The Magic Shop ran with a skeleton crew of only one or two employees on days when Bowie was there.
Visconti remembered having difficulty keeping silent, telling ''
Q'' magazine in 2013 that "the hardest thing has been the past two years telling people I was working on a secret project
ndthey'd immediate
ssume it was Bowie. Slick also struggled with the secret, telling ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
*Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* '' ...
'' that "it was rough. I was bursting to tell people that I'd been back in the studio with David, that he looks good, he's singing his ass off, that we got this great album. And I couldn't say a thing." Bowie's label were also unaware of the sessions;
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
' PR firm in the UK learned of the project only a few days before the album was announced.
Studio manager and assistant engineer Kabir Hermon recalled having a few close calls throughout recording. In October 2011,
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
guitarist
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...
, who played on ''
"Heroes"'' (1977) and ''
Scary Monsters'' (1980), posted on his blog about a dream he had in which he received an invite from Bowie to work on a new project. The post initially attracted publicity despite Fripp having zero knowledge about Bowie's return to the studio. Once the new album was officially announced, claims that Fripp turned down an invitation to play on it were denied by the guitarist himself, who told ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that he was not approached to contribute. Another close call occurred in July 2012, when Slick was spotted by a cameraman outside the studio.
Music and lyrics
Commentators generally characterise ''The Next Day'' as a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
album,
or
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
.
Comparing the rock sound to Bowie's previous works, reviewers likened it to the music of ''Scary Monsters''.
Visconti remarked: "If people are looking for classic Bowie they'll find it on this album, if they're looking for innovative Bowie, new directions, they're going to find that on this album too."
The tracks feature similar styles and references to many of Bowie's past albums, from ''
Ziggy Stardust'' (1972) and ''
Low
Low or LOW or lows, may refer to:
People
* Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low
Places
* Low, Quebec, Canada
* Low, Utah, United States
* Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station
* Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...
'' (1977), to ''
Never Let Me Down
''Never Let Me Down'' is the 17th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20 April 1987 through EMI America Records. After a series of miscellaneous projects, Bowie hoped to make his next record differently following his ...
'' (1987) and ''
Hours'' (1999). Some critics viewed ''The Next Day'' as an extension of its two predecessors,
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' stating that it is "as though it were indeed recorded on the next day and not after 10 years of unexplained inactivity".
Dark themes pervade the lyrics of ''The Next Day'', leading Pegg to call it one of Bowie's "bleakest" albums. In contrast to the spiritual ideals that encapsulated ''Heathen'' and ''Reality'', Pegg relates the lyrical themes on ''The Next Day'' to Bowie's
1967 self-titled debut, ''
Lodger'' (1979) and ''
Tin Machine
Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass ...
'' (1989). Many of the tracks concern conflict, from physical, emotional and spiritual, to cultural and ideological. Pegg adds that "in song after song we are confronted by images of tyranny and oppression, violence and slaughter." Several probe the mind-sets of individuals,
many of whom feel abandoned or lost, either out of reach or out of their depth.
In his book ''Ashes to Ashes'' (2019), biographer Chris O'Leary found "repeated images of emigration and exile, of teenagerhood trying to survive in inhospitable climes; assassins and hitmen, revolutionaries and soldiers". Regarding the assortment of characters, ''
Uncut
Uncut may refer to:
* ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship
* ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997
* '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
''
David Cavanagh
David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist, best known for his the critically acclaimed 2000 book ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'', which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records, and for his editorship of '' Select'' ...
wrote that ''The Next Day'' transports listeners "from one scenario to another, often across continents and centuries, requiring us to readjust and get our bearings".
According to Visconti, Bowie spent time during his sabbatical from music reading books on medieval
English history
England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...
,
Russian history
The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Veli ...
and
monarchs
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...
of Great Britain, which were reflected in the album's lyrics; Pegg compares it to the material on ''
Hunky Dory
''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following the release of his 1970 album, '' The Man Who Sold the World'', Bowie took time off from recording and tourin ...
'' (1971) and ''
Station to Station
''Station to Station'' is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 23 January 1976 through RCA Records. Regarded as one of his most significant works, the album was the vehicle for Bowie's performance persona, ...
'' (1976).
''The Guardian''
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
found the lyrics "so dense and allusive you occasionally feel in need of a set of
York Notes
York Notes are a series of English literature study guides sold in the United Kingdom and in approximately 100 countries worldwide.
They are sold as revision material for GCSE and A-level exams particularly as literary guides to introduce stude ...
to get through them".
The presence of younger characters was also highlighted by Pegg and Cavanagh.
Of the 29 songs recorded during the sessions, 14 were chosen for ''The Next Day'' final tracklist. In April 2013, Bowie personally sent a list of 42 words, which he considered relevant to ''The Next Day'', to novelist
Rick Moody
Hiram Frederick Moody III (born October 18, 1961) is an American novelist and short story writer best known for the 1994 novel ''The Ice Storm'', a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 19 ...
. Moody told ''
The Rumpus
''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as original fiction and poetry. The site runs two subscription-base ...
'' that he requested a "sort of work flow diagram" for the album, assuming he would not receive a response and was surprised when he received a list of words "without further comment". Pegg dissected the list and attributed three words to each track:
Songs
![Iggy Pop - pinkpop87](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Iggy_Pop_-_pinkpop87.jpg)
''The Next Day'' opens with the
funk rock
Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer sta ...
title track, which employs agroove with gaunt guitars .
The lyrics describe a condemned man who according to Pegg, the target is "the oppressive and corrupt edifices of organized religion in general, and of the Christian church in particular". Bowie proclaims "Here I am, not quite dying", which O'Leary interpreted as a response to
the Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...
' "Is David Bowie Dying?" (2011). "Dirty Boys" marks an "abrupt detour" from the opening track,
using a slower-tempo, stuttering staccato rhythm emphasised by Slick's guitar and Elson's baritone saxophone, which Visconti likened to "stripper music from the 1950s".
A few commentators drew comparisons to
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...
's Bowie-produced 1977 album ''
The Idiot
''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Идиот, Idiót) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–69.
The title is an ...
'',
particularly the songs "
Nightclubbing" and "Tiny Girls".
The lyrics spy on a delinquent street gang, which Pegg parallels to Bowie's "
The London Boys
"The London Boys" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1966. It was originally written and demoed in 1965 with the Lower Third for potentia ...
" (1966). Visconti described the track as "a euphemism, and song" for all
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...
stars.
The lyrics of "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" follow a washed-out celebrity's view of newer up-and-comers. Hunter-Tilney called the track "a sexagenarian take on the Hollywood depravity" of ''
Aladdin Sane
''Aladdin Sane'' is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (1972), it was the fi ...
'' "
Cracked Actor
''Cracked Actor'' (or full title, ''Cracked Actor: A Film About David Bowie'') is a 1975 television documentary film about the musician David Bowie, made by Alan Yentob for the BBC's ''Omnibus (UK TV series), Omnibus'' strand. It was first sho ...
" (1973).
In ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'',
Rob Sheffield
Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.
He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...
considered "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" about "two lovers looking at the night sky, where they see the whole universe buzzing with activity
..They feel the stardust in their hearts blaze to life. And they suddenly feel like they're part of the cosmos, if only because they're together."
Pegg finds Sheffield's take to be proof that Bowie's songs offer more than one interpretation. According to Visconti, "Love Is Lost" is "not about a love affair, but how everyone has cut down their feelings in the internet age". The lyrics are written from the perspective of a 22-year-old in their darkest hour: he or she has lost their sight while looking into the past.
The distorted snare drum effect is similar to those used on ''Low''. Overall an organ-heavy rock drudge,
Pegg places the rhythm track somewhere between "the trick-shot
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
of '
Ashes to Ashes'
980
Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) a ...
and the robotic glide of early
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
" over a "coolly remorseless keyboard" and "splashes of snarling guitar".
"Where Are We Now?" details Bowie's life in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in the late 1970s. He casts himself as "a man lost in time" comparing and contrasting the divided
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
-era and modern-day city, and includes references to changes the city went through after the 1989 fall of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
. Recalling ''Reality'' "
The Loneliest Guy
"The Loneliest Guy" is a song written by David Bowie in 2003 for his album ''Reality''. It's a slow-tempo minimalistic piece in which, according to James E. Perone, "Bowie's character also lives in denial: in spite of the shards of glass that he f ...
" (2003) and ''Hours'' "
Thursday's Child" (1999),
the track utilises an elegant, subdued instrumental, includes a piano part from Hey, who augmented Bowie's original. Visconti felt the song's melancholic tone differed from the rest of the album. Featuring glam guitars and 'sha-la-la-la' backing vocals, "Valentine's Day" is, according to O'Leary, the catchiest song on the album. Cavanaugh noticed a touch of
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
's "
Satellite of Love
"Satellite of Love" is a song by Lou Reed. It is the second single from his 1972 album ''Transformer''. At the time of its release, it achieved minor US chart success (#119), though it later became a staple of his concerts and compilation albums. ...
" from his Bowie co-produced 1972 album ''
Transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
''.
The dark lyrics concern a
school shooter,
specifically a character named Valentine on the day he will become famous. It was inspired by the increasing number of school shootings in the United States in the preceding years, including the 1999
Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...
. O'Leary analyses the title as "a day to commemorate lovers is some grubby killer's day of indiscriminate revenge".
Deemed by O'Leary the "chaotic centerpiece" of the album, "If You Can See Me" features shifting time signatures and chord progressions, recalling the
drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
styles of ''Earthling'' and anticipating the
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
experimentation of "
Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)
"Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" is a song by English musician David Bowie released on 17 November 2014 as the lead single from the 2014 compilation album ''Nothing Has Changed''. Co-produced by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Viscont ...
" (2014).
Pegg finds it one of the album's "more impenetrable lyrics", featuring "lacerated, fragmented images and occasional nonsense-words", which drew comparisons to ''Outside''.
Visconti suggested that "identities switch between someone who may be Bowie and a politician", to which Pegg dissected that "Bowie is conjuring an abstract everyman, an embodiment of every deranged leader who ever lived." "I'd Rather Be High" offers a culmination of the album's lyrical ideals, concerning a young traumatised soldier in the desert who laments that he would "rather be high" and succumb to his emotions. O'Leary argues that the track presents a broader theme: "civilization's recursive betrayal of its youth". Pegg believes the protagonist "stands for every teenager who has ever been sent to kill and be killed for his country". ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Phil Gallo found the music a piece of
neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop su ...
reminiscent of works by
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and
the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
, with swirling guitars and a military-style drumbeat.
![GerryLeonardLive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/GerryLeonardLive.jpg)
"Boss of Me" is the first of two Bowie–Leonard penned tracks from the sessions; Leonard composed the central riff and chord structure. Pegg and O'Leary consider it the album's weakest link, featuring "hackneyed and inconsequential" lyrics about a small town girl.
Kyle Anderson of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' relates its "
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
-glam strut" to ''Aladdin Sane'' "
Watch That Man
"Watch That Man" is a song written by David Bowie, the opening track on the album ''Aladdin Sane'' from 1973. Its style is often compared to the Rolling Stones' ''Exile on Main Street''. The mix, in which Bowie's lead vocal is buried within the in ...
".
Visconti described "Dancing Out in Space" as "a song about another music artist, possibly a conglomeration of artists". It contains references to
Georges Rodenbach
Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach (16 July 1855 – 25 December 1898) was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist.
Biography
Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland (Andernach). He was ...
's ''
Bruges-la-Morte'' (1892), a story about "a widower obsessed with his dead wife and subsequently with her double", although O'Leary finds the lyrics "a little more than crossword clues without answers". Musically, the track is a camp and "bouncy" pop song with a
Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
-inspired beat. Pegg likens its chord structure and soundscape to ''Heathen'' "A Better Future".
Some compared the rhythm to Pop's "
Lust for Life" (1977), which Bowie co-wrote and co-produced.
"How Does the Grass Grow?" reflects wartime with a lyric that juxtaposes life before and after the conflict. "Dark, dismal and horrifying, yet infused with a perverse beauty", Pegg calls it one of the album's "hidden gems". O'Leary opines that the song acts as one of the album's "connecting hubs" with its thematic links to other songs. Bowie shares the songwriting credit with
Jerry Lordan
Jerry Lordan (born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan, 30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He achieved 3 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting c ...
, as the melody of the "ya ya yay a" line is taken directly from
the Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
' 1960 instrumental "
Apache
The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
". A few outlets contrasted it with ''Lodger'' "
Boys Keep Swinging
"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 27 April 1979 by RCA Records in the United Kingdom as the lead single from his 1979 album '' Lodger''. It was written by Bowie and Brian Eno and recorded in Montreux a ...
" (1979).
The heaviest track on the album,
"(You Will) Set the World on Fire" is a pompous mid-1980s rocker, mimicking Bowie's 1987 cover of Pop's "
Bang Bang
Bang Bang or Bang Bang Bang or similar may refer to:
Food
* Bang bang chicken, a Chinese dish
*Bang bang shrimp, a Chinese dish
People
* Abdul Razzaq (cricketer) (born 1979), nicknamed Bang Bang Razzaq
* Bang Bang (Dubliner) (1906–1981), ...
". It takes place in 1960s
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
amid protests occurring during that time. In Visconti's words, the song is "about a young female singer who gets discovered in a nightclub in the 1960s.
..It's not about anybody specific, but a couple of people who sang alongside
Dylan">obDylan."
"You Feel So Lonely You Could Die" references ''Ziggy Stardust'', using the drum beat of "
Five Years" in the outro,
and the guitar figure of "
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released as the closing track on the album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' on 16 June 1972. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowi ...
" throughout, as well as the vocal arrangement from ''
The Man Who Sold the World'' "
The Supermen
"The Supermen" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1970 and released as the closing track on the album '' The Man Who Sold the World''. It was one of a number of pieces on the album inspired by the works of literary figur ...
" (1970). In ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'', Cat Blackard commented: "This is more than a head-nod to some of his most famous work – the song itself is a likely suspect as a follow-up, or perhaps prelude to that story. The lyrics easily fit into ''Ziggy'' future world of indifferent, over-indulged youths, five years before humanity's end."
The title is a near-verbatim quotation from
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
's "
Heartbreak Hotel
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...
" (1956),
while the song itself is a
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
ballad with a vibrant soul-rock arrangement.
Regarding the lyrics, Visconti stated, "it sounds like a love song,
ut it is actuallyabout Russian history, from the time of the Cold War and espionage, and about an ugly demise". "Heat" is a mood piece musically reminiscent of ''Outside'' "The Motel" and the late 1970s works of
Scott Walker,
who Bowie noted as an influence. Pegg describes the track as "a profoundly imagined, superbly controlled piece of work which gathers up the distilled loneliness, self-doubt and existential anxiety of fifty years of songwriting, and boils them away on a slow, relentless simmer". The lyrics reference author
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
; Pays believes they relate to spiritual uncertainty.
Outtakes
"God Bless the Girl" was intended for the album but became a bonus track on the Japanese release. Described by O'Leary as ''The Next Day'' edition of ''
Young Americans
''Young Americans'' is the ninth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 7March 1975 through RCA Records. The album marked a departure from the glam rock style of Bowie's previous albums, showcasing his interest in soul and ...
'' (1975) and "
Underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
" (1986), its building music combines an acoustic
Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
riff with electric ambient guitar out of ''Heathen''. The lyrics describe a girl who was "aiming for the stars but landed on the clouds" and has run out of options. "So She" is an up-tempo 1960s-inspired pop song
that references the beat of ''Reality'' "Days", the ambient guitars and layered vocal harmonies of ''Hours'', and a
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
from that album's single "
Seven
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artist ...
" (1999). According to Visconti, it is "a wistfully sung love song. It kind of makes me feel romantically sad. Harmonically it is quite sophisticated for such a short piece". "Plan" is the first instrumental on a Bowie album since "Brilliant Adventure" from ''Hours''. The music is reminiscent of the ambient tracks from ''Low'' and ''"Heroes"'',
giving what Pegg calls a "sinister and hypnotic" effect. "I'll Take You There" is the second of two Bowie–Leonard penned tracks from the sessions. The song is a driving rocker that recalls Bowie's 1980s works, from the guitar stylings of "Ashes to Ashes" to the "thrashier numbers" on ''Never Let Me Down'' and ''Tin Machine''.
Its direct lyrics follow the hopes and dreams of two refugees who aspire to start anew in the United States.
The lead vocal of "Atomica" was unfinished by the time of the album's release. Visconti reflected that "some songs, like 'Atomica', needed more work and were assigned to the back burner for future releases". Similar to the album's title track, the song features a guitar-heavy sound with, in Pegg's words, a "bass-slapping post-glam groove" that recalls the 1988 re-recording of "
Look Back in Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
" (1979). Musically, "The Informer" is driven by a funky beat against, in Pegg's words, "an intricate sound-sculpture" of layered instruments that he compares to the ''Scary Monsters'' track "
Teenage Wildlife
"Teenage Wildlife" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album '' Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)''. Running at almost seven minutes, the song was the longest track on ''Scary Monsters'', and Bowie's longest composition since "Station ...
" (1980). The lyrics are in debt to
Martin McDonagh
Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...
's dark comedy ''
In Bruges
''In Bruges'' is a 2008 black comedy-drama crime film directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut and starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen in hiding, with Ralph Fiennes as their enr ...
'' (2008), in which a narrator admits to committing an unspecified tragedy that led to a violent death, but his true identity, whether a police informant or contract killer, is unclear. The title of "Like a Rocket Man" recalls
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
's "
Rocket Man" (1972). Described by O'Leary as "catchy
ndsubversive", the lyrics concern a girl addicted to
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
, amid themes that echo Bowie's mindset during his ''Station to Station'' period. Pegg analyses it as Bowie poking fun at his younger self. "Born in a UFO" was developed from an unreleased track recorded during the ''Lodger'' sessions, musically resembling late-1970s new wave, particularly other ''Lodger'' tracks like "Red Sails" and "
D.J.
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
", and early
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
and
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talkin ...](_blank)
. It lyrically delves into the world of a science fiction B-movie of the 1950s. Pegg and O'Leary consider it a tribute to
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
, its title referencing "
Born in the U.S.A.
''Born in the U.S.A.'' is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released by Columbia Records on June 4, 1984. It topped the charts in nine countries, including the US and UK, becoming his most commercially su ...
" (1984) and its verse melody mirroring "
Prove It All Night
"Prove It All Night" is the penultimate song on Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'', and the first single released from it.
Content
In keeping with a storied tradition of rock songs, these lyrics equate love ...
" (1978).
Artwork and packaging
The album's
cover art
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...
is an adapted version of the ''"Heroes"'' cover, with a white square containing the album's title in austere black Doctrine font obscuring Bowie's face, and a line drawn across the original album's title. It was designed in September 2012 by graphic artist
Jonathan Barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook (born 1966), is a British graphic designer, film maker and typographer. He trained at Saint Martin's School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, both in London.
Work
Barnbrook designed the cover artwork of David Bowie's ...
, who previously designed the typography for ''Heathen'' and co-designed the ''Reality'' artwork. Barnbrook told the ''NME'' that the design underwent many changes; "the starting point was an image he had of this concert he did at
Radio City. He was telling me about how isolated he felt at that time, and that was the basis of the feeling he wanted." The image, depicting a stick-thin Bowie leaning at a 45-degree angle gripping a microphone stand, was flipped upside down and used as the download image for the "Where Are We Now?" single. On the decision to use the ''"Heroes"'' cover, Barnbrook commented:
When Visconti first saw the cover, he assumed it was a joke conceived by a fan. Describing the cover in his book ''Ashes to Ashes'', O'Leary argues that it signifies "the day ''after'' being heroes". Barnbrook released several abandoned designs for the 2013 ''
David Bowie Is
''David Bowie Is'' was a touring museum exhibit displaying history, artifacts and information about the life, music, films, tours, and art of English singer-songwriter and actor David Bowie.
The show opened in March 2013 at the Victoria and A ...
'' exhibition at the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in London. Alongside the image used for the "Where Are We Now?" single, other rejected designs included the ''Aladdin Sane'' cover defaced with red paintbrush strokes and the ''
Pin Ups
''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a cover ...
'' (1973) cover with black circles obscuring Bowie and
Twiggy
Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London.
...
's faces. According to Pegg, another rejected design departed from the obscured theme and instead depicted the album's title against "a riot of op-art monochrome patterns" in the style of
Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France.
Early life and education
Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...
.
Announcement
By the time ''The Next Day'' was being recorded, journalists and biographers were speculating that Bowie had retired.
In ''The Complete David Bowie'', Pegg states how, for Bowie, keeping the album secret provided a work environment in which he could work in peace and retain full control of the project's direction and outcome. Pegg adds that since the release of ''Reality'', the rise of
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
and
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s enacted a new age that embraced spoilers and leaks, making it increasingly difficult to keep projects completely secret. So, Bowie wanted to "maintain a total information blackout" until he was ready to announce.
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
had achieved a similar scenario with their 2007 album ''
In Rainbows
''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings and in North America ...
'', although unlike ''The Next Day'', it was widely known they were recording at the time.
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
president
Rob Stringer
Robert Adrian Stringer (born; August 13, 1962) is a British music industry executive. He is the chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. He is also a Director of Luton Town F.C.
Stringer was listed Second on the 2022 ...
did not learn of the project's existence until October 2012, when he was invited to hear a few tracks.
Bowie decided in late 2012 to surprise release "Where Are We Now?" as the opening
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on 8January 2013, his 66th birthday, with no prior announcement. To accompany the release, he enlisted
Tony Oursler
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
, whom he previously worked with on projects in 1997, to create a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
that reflected the song's introspective mood. In the video, Bowie's head appears projected alongside Oursler's wife Jaqueline Humphries's on two animal puppets, while the lyrics appear over grainy footage of Berlin. Alan Edwards, who was in charge of Bowie's PR in the UK for years, learned of the single only four days in advance. With little time to plan, Edwards informed some of his most trusted journalist colleagues to run headlines on the morning of release to appear as though there had been no pre-planning. The video was uploaded to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in the early hours of the morning; Bowie's website announced that listeners could buy the single on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and pre-order ''The Next Day''. Within a couple of hours, he made headlines around the world. "Where Are We Now?" peaked at number six on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, becoming Bowie's highest-charting single since 1985's "
Absolute Beginners".
Release
The
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
campaign launched to promote ''The Next Day'' on 15February 2013 grew out of the concept behind the album cover, taking seemingly ordinary images and subverting them through the addition of a white square. "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" was released as the second single on 26 February 2013. A music video in the form of a short film premiered the previous day, featuring Bowie and actress
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...
.
It peaked at number 102 in Britain, which O'Leary attributed to excitement winding down after the first single. Two days later, the album was streamed in its entirety on iTunes. Through ISO Records, and in association with Columbia, ''The Next Day'' was released over several dates in different regions: 8March in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries; 11March in the UK and other territories; 12March in North America; and 13March in Japan. Similar to the artist's two previous albums, ''The Next Day'' was released in standard and deluxe editions on
CD, the latter featuring the bonus tracks "So She", "Plan", and "I'll Take You There". The double-
LP edition included both the bonus tracks and the single deluxe CD, while the Japanese CD included the bonus track "God Bless the Girl".
On 4November 2013, the four bonus tracks, plus four previously unreleased tracks and
remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
es of "Love Is Lost" and "I'd Rather Be High", were released as ''The Next Day Extra'', alongside a DVD of videos for the first four singles. The four previously unreleased songs were unfinished by the time the original sessions concluded, further work on lyrics and vocals being carried out in August 2013. Of the 29 songs recorded for ''The Next Day'', 22 saw official release in 2013. According to Visconti, the remaining seven tracks were all discarded by the time Bowie began recording his final album ''
Blackstar
''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...
'' (2016). He told Pegg in 2016 that only one of the tracks had a working title, "Chump", while the rest were identified with numbers related to Bowie's notes.
Commercial performance
''The Next Day'' debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, selling 94,048 copies in its first week. It was Bowie's ninth number-one album in the United Kingdom, and his first in twenty years since ''
Black Tie White Noise
''Black Tie White Noise'' is the 18th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following the disbandment of Bowi ...
'' (1993). The album fell to number two the following week, selling 35,671 copies. In its third week, it slipped to number three on sales of 23,157 units. In the United States, the album entered the
''Billboard'' 200 at number two with first-week sales of 85,000 copies, earning Bowie his largest sales week for an album in the
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
era.
It debuted behind
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
's ''
What About Now'' and became Bowie's best US chart placement, beating ''Station to Station'' number three position. ''The Next Day'' has sold 208,000 copies in the US as of December 2015.
Elsewhere, ''The Next Day'' topped the charts in several countries, including Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland, and reached number two in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.
It peaked at number five in Greece, Hungary and Japan,
number 13 in Mexico,
and number 55 in South Korea.
Later singles and promotion
![James_Murphy_by_Sachyn_Mital](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/James_Murphy_by_Sachyn_Mital.jpg)
A music video for the title track was released online on 8May 2013. Featuring actor and Bowie's friend
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...
as a debauched priest, the video challenged Christian teachings and caused short-term outrage related to its themes and messages. Pegg states that in addition to its religious commentary, the video is "yet another dire warning not to place our faith in the hands of ideologues, of prophets, of messiahs, of people who begin by giving you everything that you want." On 17June, "The Next Day" was released as a 7" single on square white vinyl.
"Valentine's Day" was released as the album's fourth single on 19August 2013 as a limited 7" vinyl picture disc. Its accompanying music video provides commentary on
gun control in the United States
Gun politics within American politics is defined by two primary opposing ideologies about civilian gun ownership. Those who advocate for gun control support increased regulation of gun ownership; those who advocate for gun rights oppose increas ...
. "Love Is Lost" was remixed by
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instruments), Nancy Whang (synthesizer, keyboards, vocals), Pat Mahoney (dr ...
's
James Murphy in mid-2013. The full ten-minute remix debuted on 10October on
Shaun Keaveny
Shaun William Keaveny (born 14 June 1972) is a British broadcaster who presented the Breakfast Show on radio station BBC Radio 6 Music for 11 years, and the afternoon show for a further 3 years.
Education and early life
Keaveny grew up on the ...
's BBC Music6 show and subsequently appeared on ''The Next Day Extra'', while a four-minute edit was unveiled at the
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
ceremony on 30October; ''The Next Day'' was nominated but lost to
James Blake's ''
Overgrown
''Overgrown'' is the second studio album by English electronic musician James Blake. It was released on 5 April 2013 by Blake's Atlas Records, along with A&M Records and Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record lab ...
''. An accompanying video, directed by Bowie himself and costing $12.99, debuted the following day. The full-length and edited remix were packaged with the "Venetian Mix" of "I'd Rather Be High" for a limited-edition 12" single, released on 16December. Bowie also appeared in a
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
advertisement with model
Arizona Muse
Arizona Grace Muse (born September 18, 1988) is an American fashion model.
Early life
Muse was born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her father is American and her mother is British.
Career
Muse began modeling as a tee ...
where he played a
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
and sang "I'd Rather Be High".
In contrast to the heavy promotion for both ''Heathen'' and ''Reality'', Bowie did not conduct interviews or play live for ''The Next Day'', the only promotion being the music videos, occasional photoshoots and the list of words sent to Moody. Visconti, who became Bowie's "voice" throughout the year and gave several interviews about the album, told the ''Times'' in January 2013 that Bowie would "never do another interview again".
Regarding the media silence, Leonard commented that Bowie was using the album, artwork and videos themselves as artistic statements, rather than "getting on the phone with everybody and setting it up with all kinds of chatter", concluding that "I really think it's just part of his aesthetic right now". ''The Next Day'' was nominated for
Best Rock Album
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sever ...
at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...
in 2014, while "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" was nominated for
Best Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...
.
Critical reception
''The Next Day'' was acclaimed by music critics, and praised as Bowie's strongest album in decades.
At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 81, based on 44 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Several deemed it a return to form and successful comeback; in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', Andy Gill hailed it as the best comeback in rock history, one that maintained Bowie's quality of work.
Critics deemed it the artist's best and most rewarding work since ''Scary Monsters'' and ''Outside''. In ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...
assessed it as Bowie's "twilight masterpiece",
and David Chui of
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
called it his strongest work to date.
''Mojo'' Mark Paytress judged it the artist's "most impassioned and convincing work in decades".
''The Next Day'' was described as a dark, bold and creative release for Bowie.
In ''The Guardian'', Petridis called it "thought-provoking, strange and filled with great songs".
Chris Roberts of ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'' deemed over half of the record "fantastic" and the rest "very, very strong".
In ''Q'' magazine,
Andrew Harrison applauded "a loud, thrilling, steamrollingly confident rock and roll album full of noise, energy, and words that – if as cryptic as ever they were – sound like they desperately need to be sung".
''
Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an enginee ...
'' Oliver Keen welcomed ''The Next Day'' as an "intelligent, memorable and even a little provocative" addition to Bowie's discography.
Several critics highlighted the ensemble's performances. ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' Jason Heller welcomed the return of Bowie's voice: "rich, delicate, smoky, wise. And, yes, shaded with the first expectant blush of mortality."
In ''Uncut'', Cavanagh found his singing authoritative and particularly appreciated his use of a wide assortment of voices.
''
Paste'' Douglas Heselgrave also commended Bowie's engagement with the songs, arguing that it is "as if he has rediscovered the joy and satisfaction of writing and performing challenging music".
Many critics praised Bowie's modernised sound. In the ''NME'', Emily Mackay said that "Above all, this album is about songcraft. Rather than reinventing Bowie, it absorbs his past and moves it on, hungry for more."
''Billboard'' Phil Gallo wrote that Bowie and Visconti "have struck gold in creating a work that is modern and well-connected to the artist's fabled sonic-past".
Drawing comparisons to his previous works, Edna Gundersen of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' wrote: "The glitter rock, plastic soul and
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
albums of the '70s stand among Bowie's tallest achievements, and the elegance, urgency and versatility of his 2013 return provide powerful proof that pop music's craftiest chameleon has lost none of his sound vision."
Several found the songs densely packed with puzzles that make repeating and rewarding listens for fans.
''
Record Collector
''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide.
History The early years
The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...
'' Jason Draper, in his four-out-of-five star review, summarised ''The Next Day'' as "an album that's only ever going to reveal itself fully as time goes on".
Some critics felt the album was overlong.
One of the few negative UK reviews was in ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
'', where
Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsm ...
called ''The Next Day'' an album of "quotidian mediocrity" that was undeserving of its wide acclaim and the "wave of hyperbole it generated point
dto a wider malaise in contemporary music" because it proved that anything of low artistic merit could achieve success via "artfully timed PR". Although he found it the artist's most "substantial" album since ''Let's Dance'', Michael Gallucci of ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' found the album lacked direction and focus in some tracks.
''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' magazine's Alfred Soto criticised ''The Next Day'' as "an album that didn't need to be made", arguing the collision of different ideas resulted in "colorless abstractions" such as "Where Are We Now?" and "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die". He also criticised the artist for taking a long hiatus, only to return with an album that sounded like its predecessor.
A few also deemed it inferior to his 1970s works.
Other reviewers found ''The Next Day'' to be lacking in innovation.
Cavanaugh found its middle section subpar, but highlighted the lyrics, aggression and intelligence throughout.
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' Ryan Dombal found the music bounces from style to style, "casually suggesting past greatness while rarely matching it".
Despite these criticisms, ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' Geeta Dayal argued that it serves as a reminder that Bowie is "still working to refine his vision".
Jim Beviglia of ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwri ...
'' concluded that ''The Next Day'' "proves that Bowie... is back, invigorating his listeners even as he stupefies them".
''The Next Day'' placed on lists ranking the best albums of 2013 by ''The A.V. Club'' (10), ''Consequence of Sound'' (40), ''The Guardian'' (20), ''NME'' (10), ''PopMatters'' (47), ''Rolling Stone'' (16) and ''Uncut'' (2).
Subsequent events and legacy
The media frenzy surrounding Bowie lasted throughout 2013. Regarding the artist's legacy in the buildup to ''The Next Day'' release, Chui stated: "Even before ''The Next Day'', Bowie's legacy remained much intact and he had nothing really more to prove. But Bowie is simply not another artist who rests on his past laurels. He remains a restless and creative spirit who always looks ahead and not back, as ''The Next Day'' indicates.
..If any lesson is to be learned from Bowie's return, it's that you could never truly count the man out."
Petridis hoped Bowie would continue making records, as "listening to a new album by most of his peers makes you wish they'd stick to playing the greatest hits."
Bowie's first project following ''The Next Day'' was the
experimental jazz
Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...
track "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", recorded with bandleader
Maria Schneider Maria Schneider may refer to:
* Maria Schneider (politician) (born 1923), East German politician
* Maria Schneider (actress) (1952–2011), French actress
* Maria Schneider (musician) (born 1960), American musician and composer
* Maria Schneider (ca ...
, and released on the compilation album ''
Nothing Has Changed
''Nothing Has Changed'' (stylised as ''Nothing has changed.'') is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 18 November 2014 through Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in t ...
'' in 2014. Diagnosed with
liver cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...
the same year, he recorded his final album, ''Blackstar'', while suffering from the disease. According to Visconti, ''Blackstar'' was the artist's "parting gift" for his fans before
his death on 10January 2016, two days after its release.
''The Next Day'' was among the first
surprise album
A surprise album or surprise release refers to the release of an album with little or no prior announcement, marketing or promotion. The strategy contrasts traditional album releases, which typically feature weeks or months of advertising in the f ...
s of the 2010s. According to Pegg, the surprise release of "Where Are We Now?" was the first of its kind by a major artist and the approach was utilised by artists such as
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
for her albums ''
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
'' (2013) and ''
Lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage.
There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...
'' (2016). Summarising the significance of the release, Pegg writes:
In ''The Complete David Bowie'', Pegg praises the album's diverse moods, from the nostalgia of "Where Are We Now?" to the force of the title track. He primarily agrees with critics in praising the performances, particularly Bowie's and Visconti's production, but likewise finds the album overlong and drags in its middle section, which he attributes to the "sheer quantity" of the tracks. He concludes that "if the only charge to be levelled against ''The Next Day'' is that it offers a surfeit of riches, then there's nothing much amiss". O'Leary considers that Bowie could have easily made it a
triple album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
during the analog age, but as it stands in the
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
era, ''The Next Day'' is "a fluctuating set of tracks whose sequence and length depends on the listener's mood and patience".
In 2016, Bryan Wawzenek of ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' placed ''The Next Day'' at number 13 out of 26 in a list ranking Bowie's studio albums from worst to best, finding "strong songwriting" amid non-innovative but overall enjoyable music. Including Bowie's two albums with Tin Machine, ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' ranked ''The Next Day'' number 11 out of 28 in a 2018 list, Pat Levy calling it "a late in the game home run for Bowie" and vastly superior to its predecessor ''Reality''.
The album was included in the 2014 revised edition of Robert Dimery's book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''.
Track listing
''The Next Day Extra''
In addition to the physical release there is a 7-track digital EP bundle that excludes the deluxe edition bonus tracks.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of ''The Next Day''.
*
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
– vocals ; guitar ; string arrangement ; acoustic guitar ; keyboards ; percussion
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Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...
– string arrangement ; guitar ;
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
; strings ; bass guitar
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Earl Slick
Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn, New York, October 1, 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim ...
– guitar
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Gerry Leonard
Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan.
Hinterland
From Clontarf in Dublin, Le ...
– guitar ; keyboards
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David Torn
David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping.
Background
Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...
– guitar
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Gail Ann Dorsey
Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...
– bass guitar ; backing vocals
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Tony Levin
Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...
– bass guitar
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Zachary Alford
Zachary "Zack" Alford is a professional drummer, known for his work with the B-52's, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tomoyasu Hotei. Alford was brought in by Danny Kortchmar to drum on Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'' album.
Alford contribut ...
– drums ; percussion
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Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell (born May 3, 1964) is an American drummer and songwriter who has worked with numerous high-profile acts, including The B-52s, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Cyndi Lauper, Nena, Grayson Hugh, Spandau Ballet, Gustavo Cerati and Dav ...
– drums ; tambourine
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Janice Pendarvis Janice Gadsden Pendarvis is an American singer, songwriter, and voiceover artist. She has worked with artists such as Sting, David Bowie, Steely Dan, Peter Tosh, Brandy, the O'Jays, Philip Glass, Jimmy Cliff, Laurie Anderson, the Naked Brothe ...
– backing vocals
* Steve Elson – baritone saxophone ;
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
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Henry Hey
Henry may refer to:
People
* Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portuga ...
– piano
* Maxim Moston – strings
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Antoine Silverman
Antoine Silverman is a New York violinist, music contractor, and music arranger. The son of folk guitarist, writer and singer Jerry Silverman, Antoine began classical violin lessons at the age of three. By 5, he had discovered bluegrass as well, ac ...
– strings
* Anja Wood – strings
* Hiroko Taguchi – strings
Production
* David Bowie – production
* Tony Visconti – engineering, mixing, production
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Mario J. McNulty
Mario J. McNulty (born December 1978) is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer and audio engineer based in New York City, United States. He has worked with David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, The B-52s, Julian Lennon and many other ...
– engineering
* Kabir Hermon – assistant engineering
* Brian Thorn – assistant engineering
* Dave McNair – mastering
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Jonathan Barnbrook
Jonathan Barnbrook (born 1966), is a British graphic designer, film maker and typographer. He trained at Saint Martin's School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, both in London.
Work
Barnbrook designed the cover artwork of David Bowie's ...
– cover design
* Jimmy King – photography
* Masayoshi Sukita – original photograph of Bowie for ''"Heroes"''
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Next Day, The
2013 albums
Albums produced by David Bowie
Albums produced by Tony Visconti
Columbia Records albums
David Bowie albums
Surprise albums
David Bowie video albums