Apparently Bowie put this band together to play the type of music he enjoyed listening to, and he said it revitalized his career. This album and the band were all about Reeves Gabrels, who I was totally unaware of before this and he is the star of the Tin Machine project.
Heavens In Here is a wickedly grooved up blues romp, with Reeves ripping it up, and Bowie just being Bowie; this is by far my favourite track on the album The title track is just a very weird sounding rockabilly romp. Prisoner of Love is more like a tune from Bowie’s Ziggy era. They obviously all like Velvet Underground, as this is very Lou Reed. I Can’t Read is a bit of a mess sonically, and they are just trying to be weird. Under The God is an old school rock n’ roll riff, with a punk rock vibe. Amazing has a very west coast vibe mixed with Bowie’s Low period. Working Class Hero flows, and is that Bowie being autobiographical? Bus Stop sees the return of Bowie’s flirtation with R’n’B beats, with a punk vibe. Pretty Thing I just don’t like, as it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Video Crimes is all weird noises and attitude. Baby Can Dance closes out the album, and it’s a bit of a mess. Tin Machine 2 is a much better album, and is way ahead of this record.
6/10 from The Grooveman.
