Never Let Me Down

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Never Let Me Down
Studio album by David Bowie
Released	April 1987
Recorded	Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland 1987
Genre	Rock, Pop rock
Length	53:07
Label	EMI
Producer	David Bowie and David Richards
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (C+) link
David Bowie chronology
Tonight (1984) Never Let Me Down (1987) Sound and Vision (1989)

Never Let Me Down is an album by David Bowie, released April 1987. It drew some of the harshest criticism of Bowie's career, condemned by critics as a faceless piece of product and ignored by the public—Bowie himself openly apologised in an interview for the album being so bad. However, defenders of the album maintain that many of its songs are underrated and that Bowie at this time was simply facing the inevitable backlash of an overexposed superstar. Featuring more of Bowie's own compositions, the album certainly maintained a greater degree of originality than its predecessor, Tonight.

Tracks from Never Let Me Down formed the backbone of Bowie's highly theatrical Glass Spider world tour in 1987.

Describing the album, critic Ira Robbins wrote "although this casual loud-rock outing... seems on first blush to be slapdash and slight, the first side is actually quite good, offering provocative pop-culture lyrics delivered with first-take enthusiasm and carefree backing."^[1]

Contents 1 Quote from Bowie on Never Let Me Down 2 Track listing 2.1 LP: EMI / AMLS 3117 (UK) 2.2 CD: EMI / CDP 7 46677 2 (UK) 3 Reissues 3.1 CD: Virgin / CDVUS98 (UK) 4 Production credits 5 Charts 6 Notes

[edit] Quote from Bowie on Never Let Me Down

"[Fame] meant absolutely nothing to me. It didn't make me feel good. I felt dissatisfied with everything I was doing, and eventually it started showing in my work. Let's Dance was an excellent album in a certain genre, but the next two albums after that [Tonight and Never Let Me Down] showed that my lack of interest in my own work was really becoming transparent. My nadir was Never Let Me Down. It was such an awful album. I've gotten to a place now where I'm not very judgmental about myself. I put out what I do, whether it's in visual arts or in music, because I know that everything I do is really heartfelt. Even if it's a failure artistically, it doesn't bother me in the same way that Never Let Me Down bothers me. I really shouldn't have even bothered going into the studio to record it. [laughs] In fact, when I play it, I wonder if I did sometimes." ^[2]

[edit] Track listing

All tracks by Bowie unless otherwise noted.

[edit] LP: EMI / AMLS 3117 (UK)

1. "Day-In Day-Out" – 4:38
2. "Time Will Crawl" – 4:18
3. "Beat of Your Drum" – 4:32
4. "Never Let Me Down" (Bowie, Alomar) – 4:03
5. "Zeroes" – 5:46
6. "Glass Spider" – 4:56
7. "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" – 4:05
8. "New York's in Love" – 3:55
9. "'87 and Cry" – 3:53
10. "Too Dizzy" (Bowie, Kizilcay) – 3:58
11. "Bang Bang" (Pop, Kral) – 4:02

• released digitally for the first time in 2007 on iTunes (minus "Too Dizzy")

[edit] CD: EMI / CDP 7 46677 2 (UK)

1. "Day-In Day-Out" – 5:35
2. "Time Will Crawl" – 4:18
3. "Beat of Your Drum" – 5:03
4. "Never Let Me Down" (Bowie, Alomar) – 4:03
5. "Zeroes" – 5:44
6. "Glass Spider" – 5:30
7. "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" – 5:04
8. "New York's in Love" – 4:32
9. "'87 and Cry" – 4:18
10. "Too Dizzy" (Bowie, Kizilcay) – 3:58
11. "Bang Bang" (Pop, Kral) – 4:28

[edit] Reissues

The album was one of the first to feature different mixes on vinyl and CD, with the latter being generally longer. "Too Dizzy" has the dubious status of being deleted from subsequent reissues of the album, most likely because of the irony-free borderline misogyny of the lyrics. In 1995, Virgin Records rereleased the album on CD with three bonus tracks. EMI did the second rerelease in 1999 (featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks).

[edit] CD: Virgin / CDVUS98 (UK)

11. "Girls" (Bowie, Kizilcay) (1987 B-side of "Time Will Crawl" single) – 5:38
12. "Julie" (1987 B-side of "Day-In Day-Out" single) – 3:45
13. "When the Wind Blows" (from the When the Wind Blows soundtrack 1985) – 3:36

• 1995 reissue

[edit] Production credits

• Producers:
  • David Bowie
  • David Richards

• Musicians:
  • David Bowie – vocals, guitar, keyboards, tambourine, background vocals
  • Carlos Alomar – guitar, guitar synthesizer, tambourine, background vocals
  • Erdal Kizilcay – keyboards, drums, bass, trumpet, background vocals, violins
  • Peter Frampton – lead guitar
  • Philippe Saisse – piano, keyboards
  • Carmine Rojas – bass
  • Earl Gardner – flugelhorn
  • Crusher Bennet – percussion
  • Stan Harrison – alto saxophone
  • Laurie Frink – trumpet
  • Steve Elson – baritone saxophone
  • Lenny Pickett – tenor saxophone
  • Robin Clark, Loni Groves, Diva Gray, Gordon Grodie – background vocals
  • Sid McGinnis – lead guitar on Bang Bang, Time Will Crawl and Day-In Day-Out
  • Mickey Rourke – mid-song rap on Shining Star (Makin' My Love)

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1987	Norway's album chart	3

[edit] Notes

v • d • e David Bowie Studio albums David Bowie • Space Oddity • The Man Who Sold the World • Hunky Dory • The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars • Aladdin Sane • Pin Ups • Diamond Dogs • Young Americans • Station to Station • Low • "Heroes" • Lodger • Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) • Let's Dance • Tonight • Never Let Me Down • Black Tie White Noise • Outside • Earthling • 'hours...' • Heathen • Reality With Tin Machine Tin Machine • Tin Machine II Live albums David Live • Stage • Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture • Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby • Santa Monica '72 • LiveAndWell.com • Bowie at the Beeb • Live Santa Monica '72 Soundtracks Christiane F. • Love You Till Tuesday • Labyrinth • The Buddha of Suburbia Compilations The World of David Bowie • Images 1966-1967 • ChangesOneBowie • ChangesTwoBowie • The Best of Bowie • Rare • Golden Years • Fame and Fashion • Sound + Vision • Changesbowie • Early On (1964-1966) • The Singles Collection • The Deram Anthology 1966–1968 • The Best of 1969/1974 • The Best of 1974/1979 • All Saints • Best of Bowie • The Collection • The Platinum Collection • The Best of 1980/1987 • Bowie Box Set (Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen, Reality- 10CD) Concert videos Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars • Serious Moonlight • Glass Spider • A Reality Tour Promotional films and compilations Love You Till Tuesday • Bowie – The Video Collection • Black Tie White Noise • Best of Bowie Tours Ziggy Stardust Tour • Diamond Dogs Tour • Isolar • Isolar II • Serious Moonlight Tour • Glass Spider Tour • Tin Machine Tour • Sound and Vision Tour • It's My Life Tour • Outside Tour • Outside Summer Festivals Tour • Earthling Tour • The 'hours...' Tour • Mini Tour • Heathen Tour • A Reality Tour Related articles Discography • Filmography • Tony Visconti • Brian Eno • Mick Ronson • Mick Woodmansey • Trevor Bolder • Iggy Pop • Mike Garson • Reeves Gabrels • Earl Slick • Major Tom • "Bowie"